OPATIJA (Croatia) - If there were any doubts about Croatia's scoring, those should be put to bed. The big three of Mario Hezonja, Ivica Zubac and Dario Saric found their way to double figures as Croatia rolled to an 82-68 win over Poland as both teams continued warming up for their respective FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.
Both of them will also face Brazil in Opatija, before flying to Greece and Spain for their qualifiers next week.
The story of the game
Poland had an eight-point lead in the first half, the game resembling their bout with Greece from a couple of days ago. However, they had the same troubles after the break, not being able to match their hosts' pace in the second half.
Croatian head coach Josip Sesar kept feeding his biggest stars offensively, Mario Hezonja and Ivica Zubac were in double digits after two quarters of action, and Dario Saric joined them in the third. The big three finished with 44 points, shooting 16-of-29 from the field, while also grabbing 17 rebounds and dishing out 9 assists.
If coach Sesar needs a blueprint for the upcoming OQT in Piraeus, he can just play the third quarter on repeat, because his men scored 30 points in that stanza, taking the lead and cruising towards a win in front of 600 fans.
The player of the game
The LA Clippers knew what they were doing when they made Ivica Zubac their starting center, and the big guy's confidence carried over to the national team. He finished with 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field, with 10 rebounds also to his name, giving him an efficiency rating of 29, a game high by some distance.
The stats of the game
With Hezonja as a driver, with Zubac and Saric making a living inside the arc, it comes as no surprise that Croatia won the points in the paint battle 34-22. The worrying part for Croatia? They only had 3 offensive rebounds in the game, and finished the first half without a single second chance offense.
The worrying part for Poland? Even in a preparation game, they were careless on the defensive end, with Olek Balcerowski and Aleksander Dziewa fouling out, and three other players finishing with four fouls.
The takeaways from the game
Croatia know they will get their points from the big three, and it's a good sign for them to see all of them in fine offensive form. The question remains, how much can the others help them out? Borna Kapusta had a fine second half as the point guard, dishing out 6 assists with his 9 points, while Jaleen Smith was +16 in 25 minutes of work, scoring 6 points with 5 rebounds, playing as the shooting guard in their starting lineup.
Poland replicated their game from Greece. The offense is smooth when AJ Slaughter and Olek Balcerowski are dialed in, Mateusz Ponitka did a bit of everything with 9 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, but struggled shooting the ball from the field. When they are aggressive on the ball, good things happen, as evident by 18 points from turnovers in this one.
FIBA