ATHENS (Greece) - Slovenia were one of the best stories of the Tokyo Olympics, starting a memorable summer with a stunning win over Lithuania at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, finishing just one Nic Batum block away from the podium in Japan.
That last gasp block, along with a missed opportunity at the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 and only a seventh place finish at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 - all of above fuel the motivation for this team to go on another historical run.
This time around, they want to spoil the party in Piraeus, Greece. The silence of the crowd in Kaunas, Lithuania three years ago was the sweetest sound for Slovenia, now it's time to recreate the same kind of audio reaction some 2000 kilometers to the south.
The Roster
Have you heard of a man called Luka Doncic? Of course you have, and all the question marks around this generation of Slovenia were about his availability, focusing on his tired knees from carrying the Dallas Mavericks all the way to the NBA Finals.
Doncic only arrived in Ljubljana on June 23, immediately went to get another opinion on his major and minor injuries to get clearance and join the team with just over a week left to bond with his teammates once again.
The process of putting together this roster is similar to what he was surrounded with in the NBA. Consider Klemen Prepelic his Kyrie Irving kind of profile, another ballhandler and creator who can take a bit of the load off of Doncic's back.
Guys like Zoran Dragic, Vlatko Cancar or Gregor Hrovat are the Slovenian versions of PJ Washington, Derrick Jones Jr and Josh Green, while Mike Tobey or Josh Nebo are the lob threats and rim protectors resembling Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II.
It's a familiar environment altogether for Doncic, and with the amount of time these guys spend together every summer, their chemistry on the floor will once again be off the charts.
The Question
How fit is Doncic, anyway? The general manager of the Mavs Nico Harrison said Doncic would play for Slovenia as long as he could walk, but the OQTs schedule is more of a sprint than a walk, with four games in six days, potentially.
Not being 100 percent could be troubling in such a busy schedule.
The Hope
Even back when they won the FIBA EuroBasket 2017, it was evident how competitive these guys are, and since coach Aleksander Sekulic took over, it seems that the competitiveness went up a notch. Their biggest hope is the fact that they believe they could take on any team in the world and have a shot of defeating them.
The Fear
Everything revolves around Doncic, so the only fear they have is his availability come game time in Piraeus. Even if he's not there, this is still a rock solid roster with more than enough physicality to take on the likes of Croatia, New Zealand, Greece, the Dominican Republic or Egypt.
It's just that the task at hand would be a lot easier with that #77 announced as active on the scoresheet.
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