At the moment of starting this thread Greece has a 23 point lead and unless I "kill them" with this sentence there is no way they will lose the OG qualifications ticket..
further on that means that except Macedonia there won't be any "yugoslavian" team on the olympics or qualifying tournament atleast and that makes this tournament a complete and utter failure and humiliation of yugoslavian basketball and it's basketball school which is usually placed really high..
and under yugoslavian I mean any team from ex-yugoslavia..
btw. this was the first time every ex-yugoslavian country was present at EC..
and hats of to both EC and WC but for me personally OG are the biggest basketball tournament on the planet.. by far..
And let us see how they did in alphabetical order:
1. Bosnia and Herzegovina - failed to qualify for the second round, got their assess blown by Finland but they finally won the game at the EC where they haven't been for a long time. not only that, they won two games in total and the second one was an easy one against Croatia which was surely a sweet one 'cause croatian's like to see bosnian team as an inferior team to theirs..
IMO in total this was a good tournament for them. finally they assembled their full or almost full team and if their federation actually could have afford some things during prep period I bet their result would be even better.
anyway a solid ground to work on..
biggest issue: Teletović factor - when he is hot entire team plays good, when he takes a day off Bosnia losses, C position - with Varda exiting (and the real reason why he was out of the team was never publicly announced) they are severly weaken at C, no money for proper preps..
future: this team can stay together for atleast 5-7 years and that means the best is still infront of them to come. what comes after is a huge question since bosnian youth categories basicly don't exist on european basketball map.
OG history - never been on the OG tournament
2. Croatia - kicked out from the tournament before the real tournament even started - is there really anything needed to say about our performance? o.k., it is not a medal contender team (eventhough I as a hardcore fan always believe in their potential and year after year I get more and more dissapointed) but being kicked out after group stage. unacceptable.
yes, Tomas and Ukić were a loss but come on. every team has that. the biggest dissapointment of all yugoslavian teams... for sure and not only just for me.. what is even worse for basketball in Croatia they have lost all support even from those hardcore fans like I am..
biggest issue: no team play, no set offence, unexisting defense. and the thing I hate the most simply no passion in the game, no heart..
future: for the last 16 years our future was "bright" and for the last 16 year we managed to do nothing or almost nothing. we are claiming we have a bright future.. with no proper coaching both in NT and the clubs, with Radić at helm of our basketball there is simply no future..
OG history: after two OG tournaments in the 90's Repeša took us to Beijing in 2008. but we are now out of the picture.. again.. oh well, I can atleast use the repeat button on the 1992. OG final tape over and over again..
3. Macedonia - they lost 7 prep games and look at where they are now. impressive to say atleast, they don't possess the quality or the depth like Slovenia or Serbia but with a huge heart and brilliant tactics they have overcome that. surely one of the best stories of european basketball in the last 20 years.. hats off.. their defensive game plan could become a special section in every training book.. everyone will say they played against never as week Greece or against Lithuania on a bad Lith day but I don't think they really care about it.. you have to recognize a great story when there is one.. and they are the biggest story of this EC..
biggest issue: short bench and Gečevski is injured otherwise there are none
future: at 17:30 today they will be making history by playing at EC semifinal and really, I mean really who the fuck cares about what comes after that. but IMO if they don't win the semifinal game this evening they will hardly see London O2 Arena. but this result will surely raise some interest for basketball and that will play a big role in their future. other than that, once Ilievski, Antić and Mekajlebovski are gonne who will remain?
OG history - so close to their first appearance. I hope it won't remain on just that..
4. Montenegro - they destroyed every opponent on their way from B division to EC and then the EC started and noone has seen them actually appearing on it.. have you seen them anywhere? they were supposed to be a tough nut to crack for everyone and at the end they were as cute as koala is..
biggest issue: Peković can easily play a role at sumo fights, I mean wtf Nikola? you have chevaps, you don't have to eat mccrap every fucking day, guards, coach.. no expirience at this level of national team basketball
future:this will surely be a good learning expirience for them and this core of players can play together this entire decade or most of it anyway. what comes after?
OG history - they played in Athens but they had a longer name of the country back then, other then that they are quite small to make it. but who knows, maybe one day..
5. Serbia - if Novica Veličković means so much for serbian NT basketball team then serbs should really worry about it. Surely he has a big role in the team and yes injuries disrupted this team but like stated up there, under Croatia, every team goes through that and that can only be used as a good excuse. fact of the matter is that except against Germany for most of the game (not last 5 minutes though) and against France this serbian team played like shit all tournament long and they really didn't deserve to go any further then this. Ivković surely lost some credibility with this result and I personally believe his position as a coach of the NT should be under a big questionmark. Teodosić is a great player but in this team he is a sheriff and that didn't end up good did it? He is not a leader, period.
biggest issue: no real substition for Krstić or atleast not amongst the players called here.. Teodosić being a TO king of this championship. lack of bench or atleast lack of using the bench properly
future: talents are still there and more are coming and there shouldn't be any worries about the future. they just need a young coach with new ideas.
OG history - second tournament in a row they missing out and that should worry them because they are always in a downfall when the olympics are at the doors
6. Slovenia - I said so many times before the tournament started that Maljković is a dinosaur and he proved me right. surely some things he couldn't influence (injury of Nachbar) or cancellation of B. Udrih but still the fact of the matter is that if there wouldn't be a croatian team slovenian team would be called as playing the biggest shit of the basketball of any yugoslavian country. simply a horrible performance and nothing much to add here.
biggest issue: Maljković and injuries/cancellation
future: EC in Slovenia is in two years and they will probably have a new coach who will have only a little time and couple of prep games to prepare the team for the tournament. even if everyone show up for it it is still a question of what they can actually do on the tournament considering they lost a year of their lives because of Maljković
OG history - OG? what is that, something to eat?
how do you see it? with what do you connect this fall? adriatic league?
further on that means that except Macedonia there won't be any "yugoslavian" team on the olympics or qualifying tournament atleast and that makes this tournament a complete and utter failure and humiliation of yugoslavian basketball and it's basketball school which is usually placed really high..
and under yugoslavian I mean any team from ex-yugoslavia..
btw. this was the first time every ex-yugoslavian country was present at EC..
and hats of to both EC and WC but for me personally OG are the biggest basketball tournament on the planet.. by far..
And let us see how they did in alphabetical order:
1. Bosnia and Herzegovina - failed to qualify for the second round, got their assess blown by Finland but they finally won the game at the EC where they haven't been for a long time. not only that, they won two games in total and the second one was an easy one against Croatia which was surely a sweet one 'cause croatian's like to see bosnian team as an inferior team to theirs..
IMO in total this was a good tournament for them. finally they assembled their full or almost full team and if their federation actually could have afford some things during prep period I bet their result would be even better.
anyway a solid ground to work on..
biggest issue: Teletović factor - when he is hot entire team plays good, when he takes a day off Bosnia losses, C position - with Varda exiting (and the real reason why he was out of the team was never publicly announced) they are severly weaken at C, no money for proper preps..
future: this team can stay together for atleast 5-7 years and that means the best is still infront of them to come. what comes after is a huge question since bosnian youth categories basicly don't exist on european basketball map.
OG history - never been on the OG tournament
2. Croatia - kicked out from the tournament before the real tournament even started - is there really anything needed to say about our performance? o.k., it is not a medal contender team (eventhough I as a hardcore fan always believe in their potential and year after year I get more and more dissapointed) but being kicked out after group stage. unacceptable.
yes, Tomas and Ukić were a loss but come on. every team has that. the biggest dissapointment of all yugoslavian teams... for sure and not only just for me.. what is even worse for basketball in Croatia they have lost all support even from those hardcore fans like I am..
biggest issue: no team play, no set offence, unexisting defense. and the thing I hate the most simply no passion in the game, no heart..
future: for the last 16 years our future was "bright" and for the last 16 year we managed to do nothing or almost nothing. we are claiming we have a bright future.. with no proper coaching both in NT and the clubs, with Radić at helm of our basketball there is simply no future..
OG history: after two OG tournaments in the 90's Repeša took us to Beijing in 2008. but we are now out of the picture.. again.. oh well, I can atleast use the repeat button on the 1992. OG final tape over and over again..
3. Macedonia - they lost 7 prep games and look at where they are now. impressive to say atleast, they don't possess the quality or the depth like Slovenia or Serbia but with a huge heart and brilliant tactics they have overcome that. surely one of the best stories of european basketball in the last 20 years.. hats off.. their defensive game plan could become a special section in every training book.. everyone will say they played against never as week Greece or against Lithuania on a bad Lith day but I don't think they really care about it.. you have to recognize a great story when there is one.. and they are the biggest story of this EC..
biggest issue: short bench and Gečevski is injured otherwise there are none
future: at 17:30 today they will be making history by playing at EC semifinal and really, I mean really who the fuck cares about what comes after that. but IMO if they don't win the semifinal game this evening they will hardly see London O2 Arena. but this result will surely raise some interest for basketball and that will play a big role in their future. other than that, once Ilievski, Antić and Mekajlebovski are gonne who will remain?
OG history - so close to their first appearance. I hope it won't remain on just that..
4. Montenegro - they destroyed every opponent on their way from B division to EC and then the EC started and noone has seen them actually appearing on it.. have you seen them anywhere? they were supposed to be a tough nut to crack for everyone and at the end they were as cute as koala is..
biggest issue: Peković can easily play a role at sumo fights, I mean wtf Nikola? you have chevaps, you don't have to eat mccrap every fucking day, guards, coach.. no expirience at this level of national team basketball
future:this will surely be a good learning expirience for them and this core of players can play together this entire decade or most of it anyway. what comes after?
OG history - they played in Athens but they had a longer name of the country back then, other then that they are quite small to make it. but who knows, maybe one day..
5. Serbia - if Novica Veličković means so much for serbian NT basketball team then serbs should really worry about it. Surely he has a big role in the team and yes injuries disrupted this team but like stated up there, under Croatia, every team goes through that and that can only be used as a good excuse. fact of the matter is that except against Germany for most of the game (not last 5 minutes though) and against France this serbian team played like shit all tournament long and they really didn't deserve to go any further then this. Ivković surely lost some credibility with this result and I personally believe his position as a coach of the NT should be under a big questionmark. Teodosić is a great player but in this team he is a sheriff and that didn't end up good did it? He is not a leader, period.
biggest issue: no real substition for Krstić or atleast not amongst the players called here.. Teodosić being a TO king of this championship. lack of bench or atleast lack of using the bench properly
future: talents are still there and more are coming and there shouldn't be any worries about the future. they just need a young coach with new ideas.
OG history - second tournament in a row they missing out and that should worry them because they are always in a downfall when the olympics are at the doors
6. Slovenia - I said so many times before the tournament started that Maljković is a dinosaur and he proved me right. surely some things he couldn't influence (injury of Nachbar) or cancellation of B. Udrih but still the fact of the matter is that if there wouldn't be a croatian team slovenian team would be called as playing the biggest shit of the basketball of any yugoslavian country. simply a horrible performance and nothing much to add here.
biggest issue: Maljković and injuries/cancellation
future: EC in Slovenia is in two years and they will probably have a new coach who will have only a little time and couple of prep games to prepare the team for the tournament. even if everyone show up for it it is still a question of what they can actually do on the tournament considering they lost a year of their lives because of Maljković
OG history - OG? what is that, something to eat?
how do you see it? with what do you connect this fall? adriatic league?
Comment