Team Profile: Slovenia don't want to be a one-hit wonder

LJUBLJANA (Slovenia) - Five years ago, Slovenia went from an underdog to the protagonist of a Cinderella story as they were crowned FIBA EuroBasket 2017 champions. A young, 18-year-old Luka Doncic introduced himself to the world and he seemed like a perfect fit to Igor Kokoskov's high-pace basketball, right next to eventual tournament MVP Goran Dragic.

Fast forward to 2022 and Aleksander Sekulic is now in charge of an even faster Slovenian team. Goran Dragic is making a comeback after announcing his national team retirement right after the 2017 title run, which turned out to be a five-year sabbatical from the national team for the 36-year-old.

But while Dragic was away, the new kid on the block took matters into his own hands. Doncic went from being a boy wonder to becoming arguably the biggest international star in basketball. At 23, he is still improving and still developing his game - a scary sight for all those who stand on the other side, trying to stop him.

With Doncic in charge, coach Sekulic was able to create a rock-solid system, surrounding him with strong athletic guys in positions 2-4 and adding the vertical threat of Mike Tobey at the 5 to throw down all those alley-oops, and protect the rim at the other end of the floor.

Slovenia will have a tough assignment already in Cologne as they start the title defense in a competitive Group B alongside France, Lithuania, the hosts Germany, Hungary and Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, this brings back some 2017 memories, as they were in an equally tough group with France, Greece, the hosts Finland, Poland and Iceland, and still topped the standings at 5-0.

In the meantime, the defending European champions had one major disappointment, and one major success. They missed out on the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019, but bounced back with an impressive summer of 2021, when they won the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Kaunas, Lithuania, and went on to reach the Semi-Finals of the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Slovenia fell just short of a spot in the Final because of Nicolas Batum huge last-second block in the Semi-Final against France, but despite that heartbreak in Tokyo, the bigger picture still looks unreal: A country of just over two million people has one of the strongest basketball teams in the world, a strong handball team that medaled at the European and World Championships, a volleyball team that reached the Final of European Championship three times since 2015, Olympic medal and Tour de France winning cyclists, and a number of winter sports heroes, dominating the ski jumping events, especially.

A sporting nation like few others, Slovenia will be motivated to prove their success in 2017 was not just a fluke. That gold in Istanbul remains their only medal in EuroBasket history but the consensus is that it's only a matter of when, not if, will Slovenia add more silverware to their collection.
 

 IN THE LAST 10 FIBA EVENTS

YEAR	EVENT	LOCATION	ACHIEVEMENT
2021	Olympics	Tokyo (JPN)	4th
2019	FIBA Basketball World Cup	Beijing (CHN)	Did not qualify
2017	FIBA EuroBasket	Istanbul (TUR)	Gold
2016	Olympics	Rio de Janeiro (BRA)	Did not qualify
2015	FIBA EuroBasket	Lille (FRA)	12th
2014	FIBA Basketball World Cup	Madrid (ESP)	7th
2013	FIBA EuroBasket	Ljubljana (SLO)	5th
2012	Olympics	London (GBR)	Did not qualify
2011	FIBA EuroBasket	Kaunas (LTU)	7th
2010	FIBA Basketball World Cup	Istanbul (TUR)	8th

   

HOW DID  QUALIFY: FIBA EUROBASKET 2022 QUALIFIERS - 2nd IN GROUP F (4W - 2L)

DATE	GAME	RESULT
20/02/2020	Hungary v Slovenia	77-75
23/02/2020	Slovenia v Austria	85-78
28/11/2020	Slovenia v Ukraine	84-73
29/11/2020	Austria v Slovenia	64-77
18/02/2021	Slovenia v Hungary	84-72
20/02/2021	Ukraine v Slovenia	70-65

 

FIBA