EUR - Injuries strike on eve of EuroBasket

BELGRADE (EuroBasket 2011) Serbia and Israel have both suffered major injury blows on the eve of the EuroBasket, where they will bid for a ticket to the London Olympics.

Serbia's Real Madrid star Novica Velickovic has lost his fitness battle against a muscle injury and been cut from the squad.

Velickovic, a key player at both the 2009 EuroBasket and 2010 FIBA World Championship, had been training alone all summer in a bid to catch up with his team-mates.

"Novica has been able to improve his condition during his time with the national team, but the special program he has followed and the treatment he has received have still not been enough to make him healthy in time for EuroBasket," said team doctor Dragan Radovanovic.

"His current condition is not good enough for him to fulfil all the demands of a big competition like the EuroBasket."

Coach Dusan Ivkovic admitted the absence of Velickovic would be a major blow.

"There is no need to talk about how important Velickovic is to this team," he said. "Not just at his position, but also as someone who creates a good atmosphere within the group. Unfortunately, the hard work he has put in to try to recover was not enough."

Serbia are still waiting for word on the status of Marko Keselj, who returned from the London Invitational Tournament with a broken cheekbone suffered in the game against France.

Israel will head to Lithuania without Cleveland Cavaliers big man Omri Casspi, who has been ruled out with a knee injury.

Casspi was hurt two weeks ago, but has failed to recover as hoped.

"Omri Casspi has spoken to coach Arik Shivek on Tuesday to inform the coach that his knee is still not right and he has been told it will take more than the expected two weeks to recover," said a press release from the Israel Basketball Association.

"Under the circumstances, the coach has decided to release Omri Casspi from his squad that will depart on Monday for the EuroBasket in Lithuania."

Casspi, who was traded by the Sacramento Kings to the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier this summer, led Israel in scoring last summer with an average of 16.9 points per game as they qualified for the EuroBasket.

Israel are in Group B with Italy, Serbia, France, Germany and Latvia.

FIBA