I didn't think about it until recently, but if Croatia or Slovenia don't qualify for next summer's Olympic games it will be the first time since the 1956 Melbourne (AUS) Olympics that Yugoslavia or former Yugoslav republics won't participate in a major international tournament. That to me is just as big a story as the US's recent failures in international competition. Of course, if either Slovenia or Croatia don't win an automatic Olympic birth at Eurobasket they still have a chance next summer to qualify for Beijing in the pre-Olympic tournament, which will keep the YUGO/FYR streak alive. I believe Slovenia has the best chance of the two to make it to China, and if they continue to play well at Eurobasket, I really don't believe that the streak is in any danger, but stranger things have happened. So we will see.
I don't believe that basketball in the Balkans is dead by any means--the Serbs junior national team just won the U-19 WC, so the talent is still there--but after 51 years of competing at every major international tournament, it would be sad to see no former Yugoslav state represented at next year's Olympics.
I don't believe that basketball in the Balkans is dead by any means--the Serbs junior national team just won the U-19 WC, so the talent is still there--but after 51 years of competing at every major international tournament, it would be sad to see no former Yugoslav state represented at next year's Olympics.
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