Croatian NT 2010

[pohani komarac]

way to early, but let there be new thread for new team Hopefuly and most probably there will be lot of changes from coach to players. Unfortunaly Kasun said he won't play for NT no more (Repeša's fault)

my first posible wide roster

Roko Ukić (PG 195 84. Millwaukee Bucks)
Zoran Planinić (PG/SG/SF 201 82. CSK)
Marko Popović (PG/SG 185 82. Unics Kazan)
Rok Stipčević (PG 185 86. Zadar)
Toni Prostran (PG 181 91. Zadar)
Damir Rančić (SG 198 83. Zadar)
Marko Tomas (SG/SF 201 85. Cibona)
Bojan Bogdanović (SG/SF 202 89. Cibona)
Hrvoje Perić (SF 203 85. Zadar)
Marin Rozić (SF 201 83. Cibona)
Damjan Rudež (SF/PF 206 86. Cedevita)
Marko Banić (PF 204 84. Bilbao)
Damir Markota (PF 209 85. Bilbao)
Tomislav Zubčić (PF 212 90. Cibona)
Mario Delaš (PF/C 208 90. Split)
Lukša Andrić (PF/C 212 85. Cibona)
Nikola Vujčić (C 211 78. Olympiacos)-said he will do anything to prove new NT coach that he is sill worth of playing for NT so I guss he will be called
Ante Tomić (C 217 87. Zagreb)
Stanko Barać (C 218 86. Caja Laboral)

I hope some young players will make fast impruvment and some guys (Barać, Markota and Rudež) get back on track so we could lead this team to Turkey (or I wish we could lead this team)

Ukić/Planinić
Tomas/Popović
Bogdanović/Rudež
Markota/Banic/Zubčić
Barać/Tomić/Delaš

[the_black_planet]

I don't know about next year but in my opinion Croatia will be one of the near future powerhouses in Europe.The last generation of U19 especially Prostran,Zubcic and Delas are amazing!I think next year Croatia will be in a great need of Damir Markota,in the last Eurobasket they didn't have a single quick and good shooter PF.

[pohani komarac]

I don't know about next year but in my opinion Croatia will be one of the near future powerhouses in Europe.The last generation of U19 especially Prostran,Zubcic and Delas are amazing!I think next year Croatia will be in a great need of Damir Markota,in the last Eurobasket they didn't have a single quick and good shooter PF.

I sure hope so We just need kick out some old chookers as son as posible so young talents don't lear from them how to choke

I agree. Repesa gave him free summer to heal injury and to impruve his status in Bilbao. He is great talent, but big head case...hope his more mature now

[pohani komarac]

[QUOTE=rocketstar47;347331]

Roko Ukić (PG 195 84. Millwaukee Bucks)
Zoran Planinić (PG/SG/SF 201 82. CSK)

something strange

[pohani komarac]

It's oficial. Jasmn Repesa is't coach of Croatian NT. New Coach should be known before 15. 11.

Another news Croatia, Zadar is candidate for U-20 championship next year.

http://www.kosarka.hr/main.asp?dir=news&newsid=29900

[pohani komarac]

Josip Vrankovic new Croatian coach

CRO basketball R.I.P.

http://www.kosarka.hr/main.asp?dir=news&newsid=30260

[Franz]

^^^ Bad coach?

[Picek]

^^^ Bad coach?

unproved..

[pohani komarac]

^^^ Bad coach?

not bad....terible....He couldn't keep his job in Siroki....And under him Cibona was .....whait I never saw worst Cibona....totaly mised players, no team spirit, no play system (give ball to Ayuso), no defence....Hw is even worse than Serbian 2007. coach Slavinic and that is hard to beat

what is even more controversial that he will not efect player selection...it's decided that "Croatian basketball expert board" will make selection (read managers)...

no wonder since waiter is presidend of basketball federation

.....when I know how things working in Croatia it's amazing how we actually are still solid in basketball

[Picek]

finally some more playing minutes for Ukić..
25 minutes and 17 points and 4 assists in win against Raptors

[Picek]

Croatian NT at 2010. WC

come on "fried mosquito", help me with this one since markoishvilli is on the forum only occasionly..
we are back at WC and we don't have a thread opened yet..
two things we do know:
1. our coach is Joke vranković. no expirience whatsoever but maybe that can prove to be a good thing 'cause the only expectation from our team is to pass the group, be better then Iran and Tunisia.
nothing else, that means the pressure is not so big. and since he is without expirience he shouldn't be a "slave" of a system like Repeša was.
Joke said he would like to bring some big names (like Kukoč) to help him with their advices. that could also prove to be a good thing 'cause he is admitting he can use all the help he can get.
if Perasović and Spahija couldn't be selected as our coaches I'm glad it wasn't Pavličević.. or even Anzulović..
let's give him a chance.

2. second thing we do know about the WC is that we will be playing in Istanbul against USA, Slovenia, Brazil, Iran and Tunisia.

and that is it..

let's talk about our team
PG
Ukić is our starting PG, too bad F. Ulker got kicked out from EL and he is playing only turkish league but playing time will do him good.
Popović should be our first backup for the spot, hopefully he won't be playing as our starting SG. he produces his best as a PG and he could be a spark coming in from the bench.
and Planinić can play there but only if needed, I wouldn't put this team in his hands, he can make less harm as SG or SF then as PG.
so no more Kus please, Stipčević is not good enough.


SG and SF
This is were it get's tricky. we have Tomas, and he will be either our starting SG or SF 'cause he can play both. question is, if he is our starting SF then who will be our starting SG and vice versa?
not so many solutions circling around
Planinić as well as Tomas can play both. but his shooting abilities aren't the best and since we have Ukić who can be aggressive and attack the basket do we need a same type of player as SG?.. 'cause he can't shoot from outside with good enough percentage..
backups for those two places?
naturally Rozić would have it's place on a team as a defensive specialist but his status is unknown because of his injury..
the rest?
Baždarić plays rather good at Cedevita, if he can stay healthy he deserves to be tested again..
Perić, Rudež, Stojić?
thin, really thin..
I like how Bogdanović is progressing this year but it would be probably too early for him..
althoug defensively he is rocket for Perić, for example..

PF
Banić is a starter.
Luka Žorić has been playing really well.. he deserves a chance..
Andrić picked up his game in last couple of EL games, if he can play that all season long he also deserves a shot.
but they are all similar type of players, Andrić can shoot something (not on a regular bassis though) and open up some space inside, Banić and Žorić can not.
do we even have someone who can do that as PF?
Markota could have been that guy if he only had some brain in his head.
Vukušić? hell no.
Zubčić? God I hope so, one day..
Tomislav Ružić has been playing great this season..
although he is 31 he can be that kind of a player we need..
best Zadar player this season IMO..
only one who deserves some credit for his effort..

C
Barać as a starter, hopefully he will fight through this injury and stay healthy for the remainder of the season..
Tomić right there with him.
the rest?
no more Prkačin and Kasun said goodbye..
I would take Lončar..
and if we need someone with expirience then I would rather have Vujčić (although I hate him) instead of Nicević..
it will be interesting to see what will Vranković decide to do with Žižić.

so to sum it up..
PG Ukić, Popović, Planinić
SG Baždarić, Planinić, Tomas
SF Tomas, Rozić, ?
PF Banić, Žorić, Andrić, Ružić
C Barać, Tomić, Lončar, Vujčić, (Žižić?)

If they would just fight the way Cibona is doing it currently I would be happy with a second round..
'cause let's face it for the moment second round is a max this team can achieve..
good thing is that with Ukić, Tomas, Banić and Barać/Tomić we have a really young core of the team for the period of next 5-7 years..
and with some youngsters coming up and finally getting their playing time more then some overpaid foreigners our future looks bright..
and we could have all our positions covered in a way modern basketball is demanding..

[pohani komarac]

we are back at WC and we don't have a thread opened yet..

actuly we have open thraed, you just need glasses

at this moment i would lead this team

Ukic/Popovic
Tomas/Planinic
Bogdanovic/Rozic (Rudez or Peric if he doesn't get well)
Banic/Loncar/Delas
Vujcic/Barac/Tomic

[Picek]

actuly we have open thraed, you just need glasses

I just saw it..
nevermind, one of the mods will put it together..

[Threads merged] - Levenspiel

Ukic/Popovic
Tomas/Planinic
Bogdanovic/Rozic (Rudez or Peric if he doesn't get well)
Banic/Loncar/Delas
Vujcic/Barac/Tomic

no Delaš, he has EC in Zadar and a gold medal as goal there..
besides he can't bring us anything new so it's pointless to take him just to sit on the bench..
Bogdanović as a first option at SF?

[pohani komarac]

First I have no dreams about reching any medal at world championship, we don't have quality for that. We must win 2 games in group, we must prove we can play decent basketball against anybody, we must slowley start rebuilding team evrything else comes as bonus. Tough I have no belive IN Joke (his nickname sounds much better on english) but I hope he proves me wrong

Why Delas-Screw U medals. We have bunch of them. From Giricek, Sesar and Vujcic generation to Ukic and Tomas generation we have bunch of medals, the most in europ and by that we should be dominant team last decade but we were not. Besides with home court and depth of 90. and 91. generation we should fight for medals with or without Delas. And we will win two U medals next summer I'm 99 % sure

Delas proved he can play decently on high level so with no chances now for same great result it is much better to lead him on this championship so he could step up better in posible crucial eurobasket 11. Why it is crucial...because we have bunch of taleted players frm now 90.-95. generations I'm sure in that 100% and we must stay on highest level competions. Guys like Vujcic and company is getting to old whille with no disrispet to Banic and Loncar they are not players that can brig us anything better.

Why Bogdanovic as starter. Simpley because he is only our player besides Tomas who plays bouth defense ond ofense on quality level. He is still young but he developed quite fast, he only needs more expiriance and self confidance. Most importantly with him in game result won't sufer. Respect to Rozic. He plays great defence but with limited players like him we aren't going nowere....

Same goes For Tomic and Barac. They are only centars from Vujcic and Kasun to 96. born wounderkid wich name I won't tell for now of high level talent...rest are just average players

It's a perfect oportunity to give some youngsters free expiriance without cosing big mess. Reast of talents like Prostran, Zubcic, Katic etc. are totaly unready.

[Markoishvili]

I think we should take this tournament as a learining expierience rather then as a chance to make big result, since even if we bring our very best players at the moment we are not good enough to contend for a medal.

The problem i have with Vrankovic as our NT coach is that he is unproven and not expierenced enough, so he will most likely go with old group of players that will be able to bring respectable result (quarterfinals) in order to gain some confidance with media and federer. I would not be surprised in the least bit if Vrankovic`s team includes guys like Kus, Vujcic and Kasun.

Personally, i feel we should go in opposite direction. For years we have featured players that were highly skilled, but didn`t have tools or willingness to get dirty on the defensive end. I think Cibona is best example how far you can get with good defense. So i think we should go with young, atheltic type of players who will be able to play good defense and then we can upgrade for future competitions.

Playmaker -

Ukic improved a lot and is kind of a natural leader along with Tomas for this new generation. He is distributing the ball much better and his ability to break people down off the dribble will be sorely needed on this team.

As far as his backup goes, even if Popovic is doing good job at Unics this season, i feel Planinic is our 2nd best player at that position. He is Mr. Inconsistent, but if kept on a short leash he can do a good job. Not sure if Vrankovic can control him better then Repesa did.

Swingmens -

Popovic is among best players statistically in Eurocup, but i feel his presence on the court puts us in all kinds of matchup disadvantages. Aside from drawing occassional offensive foul, he doesn`t have the lenght nor the quickness to defend at this level. If he is brought along, his role should be limited as a gunner off the bench. If Popovic is "feeling it" he can lit up the scoreboard, but if his shot is cold he is not dynamic enough of a scorer to justify playing time.

Marko Tomas should be the first option here. I wish he would be a bit quicker, but he does as good job this season as first option for Cibona. His efficiency will go up in NT since he will not be having as big of a burden on his shoulders.

I think Bojan Bogdanovic should be firmly in rotation. He is perfect role player, potentially rich mans Rozic. He is tough, plays good defense and is knockdown three-point shooter. His ballhandling and shot-creating skills leave a lot to be desired, but with Ukic, Tomas and Planinic on the perimeter he should be very comfortable playing off the ball.

If Hrvoje Peric had anything resembling a jumpshot, he would be in, but as good of a slasher and energy guy he is, inability to make perimeter shot is fatal in european ball.

I hope Rozic will be good to go, because our options at this positions are fairly limited.

Kus is having a good season at Benetton and im not totally opposite to idea of him being a backup SG. He was Repesa`s darling and was given way too much playing time and resposibility, so that hurt his cause with fans. Because Kus is perfecty capable backup for 10-15mpg.

I wish we could go young, but we just don`t have any talented players at this positions besides Bogdanovic.

Rancic, Peric, Rudez, Bazdaric, Simon they are just not good enough for NT.

Power Forward

I don`t agree with Picek, Banic is almost automatic from mid-range these days and can make occasional three-pointer. His shooting improved a lot in last few years.

If Delas can improve his defense a bit and stop fouling so much until the end of the season, he should be in. He is incredibly skilled and poised offensively. Has everything except quickness, but is not so slow as people make him up to be. Strenght is biggest issues.

I would also take Leon Radosevic. He is already our best defender at PF position, his lateral quickness is amazing. If he can add some bulk to his frame, he could be Top Euroleague defender. His offensive game is not half that bad as it currently seems. Watching him at New Zealand WC, he showed that he has both solid jumper and ballhandling ability. Radosevic just needs to find more confidance and assert himself better.

Center

Tomic and Barac are shoo-in as our twin towers for the future.

Loncar is next on the list as a good reference in the low post.


We have so many talented youngsters at frontcourt position that would be a shame if Vujcic, Kasun or Nicevic stole any of available playing time.