The Croatian basketball team is on mission impossible, as they need to win against Greece today, and eventually Italy in the finals to qualify for the Rio Olympics
The best Croatian player, NBA’s Brooklyn Nets Bojan Bogdanović talked for the official FIBA web-site on July 8, 2016 about the Croatian chances to qualify for the Olympic Games.
What did you make of your team’s performance against Tunisia on Wednesday night?
After the tough loss last night (Tuesday), we were a little tired and didn’t play on offense like we were supposed to. But in the second half, we started to share the ball better and had many fast-break opportunities so now, a new tournament starts and we play against Greece.
Just hearing the match-up, Croatia v Greece, conjures up images of an extremely competitive contest and especially so since it’s a knockout clash?
It will be another tough game. Now the tournament is going to start Friday.
Has this Croatia team been able to execute on both ends of the floor?
I think in both games, we played defense great but on offense, we need to share the ball. We didn’t score many free-throws, especially last night (against Italy), so I hope we’re going to improve on that.
While the teams played last year at the EuroBasket and Greece won a tight encounter, this year’s clash will have a lot of differences because of changes in personnel.
Both teams are young, missing many players. They (Greece) are very athletic so we have to respond in the same way.
You play the game at the highest level with the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA while in international basketball, you have competed at two FIBA Basketball World Cups. What does it mean for you to be here representing your country?
It means a lot. Everyone is playing for the Olympics, for Rio, so everyone has motivation. It’s going to be a very tough and interesting game.
Kick-off for the match is 16.30 CET, and if Croatian team grabs a win, they will play the winner of the Italy – Mexico game.
