Trifunovic has Doncic, Randolph, Muric, Nikolic and Zoran Dragic in Slovenia squad ahead of second window
LJUBLJANA (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - FIBA EuroBasket 2017 champions Luka Doncic, Anthony Randolph, Edo Muric and Aleksej Nikolic are in the latest World Cup Qualifiers squad.
LJUBLJANA (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - Slovenia coach Radovan Trifunovic has named FIBA EuroBasket 2017 champions Luka Doncic, Anthony Randolph, Edo Muric and Aleksej Nikolic in the national squad ahead of next month's FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers at Montenegro and Belarus.
Doncic, an All-Star Five member after last summer's European title triumph in Istanbul, as well as Randolph, Muric and Nikolic were in the 22-man squad before the November Qualifiers yet did not feature.
Zoran Dragic, a national team star who was injured and couldn't play at the EuroBasket, is also named in the squad for the second time in a row. He, too, missed the 87-74 triumph over Belarus and the 92-84 defeat at Spain.
| Slovenia 21-player squad for FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers | |||
| Jaka Blazic | Vlatko Cancar | Ziga Dimec | Luka Doncic |
| Zoran Dragic | Tadej Ferme | Gregor Hrovat | Miha Lapornik |
| Jurij Macura | Blaz Mahkovic | Blaz Mesicek | Edo Muric |
| Aleksej Nikolic | Klemen Prepelic | Anthony Randolph | Matic Rebec |
| Luka Rupnik | Zan Mark Sisko | Gasper Vidmar | Luka Voncina |
| Sasa Zagorac | |||
Key men from the EuroBasket campaign that did play against Belarus and Spain were Jaka Blazic, Klemen Prepelic and Gasper Vidmar and they have again been named for the February Qualifiers.
"The wider list of basketball players for the second cycle of qualifications for the World Cup is quite similar to that of the first one," Trifunovic said. "Not on the list is Alen Omic or Jana Kosija but Luka Voncina has done well the last two months and has earned a spot."
Selektor Trifunović objavil širši seznam kandidatov za nastop v 2. ciklu kvalifikacij za @FIBAWC 2019! #mojtimhttps://t.co/QP4eMOPICi pic.twitter.com/eotXElHyuK
— Košarkarska zveza SI (@kzs_si) January 23, 2018
Trifunovic has been encouraged by the performances of Slovenia's players with their clubs since the November games.
"I regularly monitor all the boys and only wish that we can stay healthy and continue in such a good form," he said.
Slovenia play at Montenegro on February 23 and then at Belarus on February 26.
FIBA