LJUBLJANA (Slovenia) - He's the man that everyone wants to see, and the man that everyone will see, starting tomorrow night when Slovenia take on Brazil before they leave for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Piraeus.
Since his return home from America after completing his sixth NBA season with Dallas and a solid effort in the NBA Finals against Boston, everyone has been keeping their fingers crossed that Luka Doncic would have enough fuel in the tank to play for the national team at the OQT.
After his best NBA season, Doncic, one of three contenders for the MVP Award with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and eventual winner Nikola Jokic, has given his answer. He's ready to make a run at a second straight Olympic berth.
"It is always an honor when I play for Slovenia," he said on Thursday at a press conference held at the Stozice Arena. "Whenever I can, I will play. I've been saying this all the time.
"It was really hard to decide to play now, because of the injuries and the length of the season, but here I am. It is an honor for me to be here."
So the fans of Slovenia will pile into the Stozice on Friday and watch Doncic as he eases his way back into competition just 10 days after the conclusion of a grueling NBA post-season which ended when the Boston Celtics beat the Mavs in Game 5 of their championship showdown, on June 18.
It is an honor for me to be here - Luka Doncic
Doncic cheered from the bench on Tuesday night when Slovenia defeated Lithuania, 70-68. The national team played hard and won the second of the two encounters against the Baltic side, which had prevailed in the first meeting on Sunday in Vilnius.
Lithuania star Domas Sabonis played for the national team for the first time in their OQT preparations and had 9 points and 15 rebounds.
One of the players tasked with guarding him, Josh Nebo, is set to take up the naturalized spot in the national team with Tokyo Olympic star Mike Tobey having left the squad following a conversation with Slovenia coach Aleksander Sekulic.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mike Tobey for his extremely fair attitude and excellent work in training," said Sekulic on Thursday. "Undoubtedly, he helped the Slovenian national team tremendously in these three weeks.''
Slovenia will not confirm their roster until after the game against Brazil, a national team that will be breathing fire after their second-half beatdown at the hands of Croatia on Wednesday.
Croatia, led by Mario Hezonja's 39 points and Dario Saric's 20 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists, outscored Brazil 49-34 in the second half to win their friendly, 91-81. Croatia is one of the countries Slovenia will face in the Piraeus OQT while Brazil are playing in the Riga OQT.
The coach's update
Sekulic has assessed his team's performances against Lithuania and looked ahead to Friday's game against Brazil, which will be shown live on Courtside 1891, as will all of the FIBA OQT Games in San Juan, Riga, Valencia and Piraeus.
"Both preparation games (against Lithuania) showed that we have a certain amount of fighting spirit and self-sacrifice," he said. "We tried to divide the players' roles on the court as much as possible and thus test certain aspects.
"In the game in Stozice, progress was already visible in the defensive game, control of rebounds and thus the transition to counterattacks. This was also the key to victory in the end."
Slovenia have yet to really shoot the ball well and especially marksman Vlatko Cancar, who missed his first eight shots before making a very important 3 against Lithuania in the fourth quarter.
"Admittedly, the ball is not yet falling, but there is a noticeable shift in the game in a positive direction," Sekulic said. "In any case, the two games against a strong Lithuania were a good indicator of what we need to work on and what to improve.
"Also on Friday against Brazil, it will be most important to focus on our own game and on improvements on defense and in attack. Luka Doncic will join the team, which will definitely give the game additional width. We have to use the game to practice so that we can be ready for Piraeus as soon as possible."
FIBA