Croatia looking to get off the mark in crucial clash with the Netherlands

ZADAR (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - Croatia have a second chance at success on their home floor in the February window as they host the Netherlands in search of their first win.

Three straight defeats have left Croatia rooted to the bottom of Group D at the halfway stage of the First Round.

Croatia's shooting struggles compounded their 56-58 loss against Romania as they finished 2 of 26 from 3-point range.

“We had very poor shooting," said Croatia's coach, Ivica Skelin. "We only scored two 3-point shots. We had a lot of open shots and in a situation where we can win a game and hit a few open shots in a row, we didn’t and they came back."

Luka Zoric added: "It was very difficult. It was a very important for us. We lost this game at the end - we missed too many open shots and that is the reason we lost the game."

Monday's encounter is a repeat of the opening night of the European Qualifiers when Netherlands secured a 69-61 victory over Croatia with Yannick Franke leading the way with a 24-point haul.

Since that victory in Rotterdam in November, the Netherlands have suffered back-to-back defeats including an 80-62 loss on Friday away against Italy.

20 turnovers did not help the Dutch cause with head coach Toon Van Helfteren wanting to ensure his side do a better job of taking care of the ball in their next game.

“Of course we have to come up with a better total effort," he said. "We have to keep up our rebounding which was good and cut down on our turnovers. We have to be more sharper in passing the basketball to each other - that is where we were taken out of the game [against Italy].

“Overall, we have to make sure we have a better start to the game. In my opinion we lost the game in the first quarter against Italy with the score doubled at 26-13. So we must start better."

Key matchup: Hrvoje Peric posted a double-double including 12 rebounds on Friday as Croatia now go up against the second-best rebounding team in Europe

Key stats: Croatia rank rock bottom of all 32 teams when it comes to scoring with 60.3 points per game, while both teams have the lowest field goal percentage.

FIBA