A New Era: Croatia Basketball Books 2024 Olympic Qualifying Tournament

August 21, 2023 – In the final of the pre-qualification tournament for the Olympic Games, the Croatia national basketball team defeated Turkey 84-71 in Istanbul and thus secured the 2024 Olympic qualifying tournament and continued its journey to Paris.

Croatia was led to victory by Dario Šarić (22 points and 11 rebounds), Mario Hezonja (16 points, 5 rebounds), Jaleen Smith (14 points), Goran Filipović (10) and Ivica Zubac (8 points, 10 rebounds).

This is another huge success for Croatia coach Josip Sesar. From his appointment in April until the end of the summer, he did not record a single defeat with Croatia.

“We had a great summer and we all clicked well, from the headquarters and the team and people from the top of the Federation to the journalists who were here. I’m glad that we gave ourselves the opportunity to have another busy summer qualifying for the Olympic Games. I hope that this atmosphere will spill over to the European Championship qualifiers and that we will all welcome the summer healthy and try to do a good job.

As for the game itself, we knew that they would become aggressive at some point and we prepared the players for that. They came back to only 7 points, but every time we extended the attack we got an open shot and a basket. We deservedly won this tournament.”

There was also a lot of physical contact in this tournament, too.

“There are a few NBA players, and the rest are Euroleague or EuroCup players, so it’s not easy. It’s physical basketball with big bodies, but we prepared very well. We knew which player to defend, and we attacked exactly where we had a chance. I’m overjoyed. Unfortunately, the summer is over, as far as basketball is concerned, but I’m also happy to come home to see my children and wife.”

The captain of the national team, Dario Šarić, was once again the decisive factor (22 points and 11 rebounds) and the connective tissue of the national team:

“We entered the game well and created an advantage of 20 points. Sometimes it’s difficult to control, and everyone would like to see it go from 20 to 25, but they got closer to 6-7 points. And there we responded well and scored some difficult baskets. You need to be a little lucky, and that’s it – finally, a summer to remember. I hope that this is the basis for a new start and for next year to get together again and try to play this well.

As for the qualifying tournament, I don’t know what the situation will be like for us with our clubs and when we finish… it would be good to get together and have enough days to prepare, to remember what we did here, to look at those games again and adequately get ready. There are good chances, although the teams that will be in that tournament are now in the World Cup, but we have talent and energy. Just let it stay like this in the next year, and that’s it.”

Turkey was a tough opponent, although the result says otherwise. Mario Hezonja chimed in:

“It’s not so important who our opponents are. It’s important that after resetting the entire national team, we have the right staff, that we made the right team, and that we all play for each other and help each other. You can see that on the court, and when we play as a team, the games are easy. Of course, Turkey is much better than the other national teams that were here, but it was still the same case, although Turkey was really good and it was not that easy.”

How difficult was it to play in front of so many Turkey fans?

“There are a lot of experienced players who don’t mind that kind of noise, but I think it’s useful for the team. We have a lot of young players, let them get used to it, because from now on we will constantly have games like this, both in the qualifiers for EuroBasket and for the Olympic Games. We have real, difficult, and serious games coming up, so it’s good that we’ve come together compactly, that we’re a team and we’re moving on.”

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