CRO – Repesa and Croatia tuning up in Slovenia

KRANJSKA GORA (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men) – The way Croatia coach Jasmin Repesa talks about Slovenia, one understands immediately the two countries are on good terms with each other – at least on the basketball court.

Repesa is in Slovenia with his national squad, with each workout and friendly (Croatia will play Slovenia twice in the coming days) extremely valuable for the players as they get ready for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Athens.

“It’s great, being here in Slovenia,” Repesa says to FIBA.Com.

“Slovenia has a well-organized basketball association, a great coach (Ales Pipan) and great players.”

Repesa and Pipan share the same frustrations, though.

Neither is able to have the country’s most talented players in their teams, with Repesa going for a second straight summer without center Nikola Vujcic, wing Gordan Giricek and big man Andrija Zizic.

“I haven’t spoken with them in person, but people from the basketball association have,” Repesa says.

“Because their answer was negative, I didn’t even try calling them.”

Mario Kasun, the center on Croatia’s EuroBasket 2007 squad, suffered from a heart arrhythmia this year.

Though he resumed playing for Barcelona, he went into the close season needing medical check-ups and isn’t available.

For Slovenia, Erazem Lorbek, one of Repesa’s star players at the Lottomatica Roma this season in Italy’s Lega A and the Euroleague, has decided to rest a sore back while former NBA center Primoz Brezec doesn’t want to play.

Injuries have knocked out players like CSKA Moscow power forward Matjaz Smodis as well. Others like Bostjan Nachbar and Beno Udrih are free agents in the NBA and weren’t available.

“If all of Slovenia’s best players could be formed into one team, I am sure that it would be the strongest team in Europe,” Repesa said.

“Sadly, Slovenia has the same problem as Croatia – it’s practically impossible to get all the best players into one team. It looks like a ‘Balkans syndrome’ which even the Slovenians can’t run away from, although they never wanted to be a part of the Balkans.”

Croatia will take on Slovenia in Kranjska Gora on Friday and in Sencur on Saturday.

“Both teams have the same goal – make it to the Olympics – and I hope both reach it,” Repesa said.

“We came to Kranjska Gora to use these two games as good as possible. We must go to Athens well prepared. Up to now, everything is looking good.”

Also missing from Croatia’s group have been Ante Tomic and Damjan Rudez.

Both were in the United States trying to impress NBA teams and Tomic, who played for the under-20s last year, was selected in the second round by Utah.

“I am aware that players have their own interests so I didn’t stop them, although I think Tomic went a year too soon,” Repesa said.

“He could go one year later but anyway, he had my full support.”

“Any way, both players will return to the national team,” said Repesa, who has also been without Zoran Planinic.

The tall point guard is finalizing his transfer to CSKA Moscow from Spanish ACB champions Tau Ceramica.

Guard Jakov Vladovic has been omitted from the squad because of injury.

Croatia will be in Group D with Puerto Rico and Cameroon, and he expects some hard games.

“I don’t know much about Cameroon, while it’s obvious Puerto Rico will be very dangerous,” Repesa said.

“They are capable of positive and negative surprises. They beat the USA in 2004 (Athens Olympics) which tells you a lot.

“They have a few very good individuals and I think they are surely the team we will compete with for first place in the group stage.”

And if they finish in the top two of Group D, a quarter-final against Slovenia could await them. If that were to happen, only one of the teams would progress to the Beijing Games.

FIBA