MKD - End of an era

LJUBLJANA (EuroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - As The Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia (MKD) saw their chances of advancing to the second round of EuroBasket 2013 fade away in their last Group B game against Latvia, one could sense that this was an end of an era for the Balkan team.

With the core of the team set to retire from international basketball, the tournament in Slovenia was a chance for the likes of Pero Antic, Vlado Ilievski, Todor Gechevski and Gjorgji Chekovski to bow out in style. However, it was not meant to be, as Latvia booked a ticket to the next round in Ljubljana with a 76-66 victory.

Despite Ales Pipan replacing Marin Dokuzovski as the head coach after the historic fourth-place finish at EuroBasket 2011, the team's captain Antic emphasized that not much has changed since then. But falling short to Montenegro in the opening game had a negative effect on the team.

"We played bad in the tournament, but I think the first game decided a lot about our psychology going forward. With that win, things would have been different. After that, we tried to fight - we’re a fighting team, but we played against good teams," said Antic.

The two-time Euroleague champion agreed that, unlike two years ago, MKD had a target on their back this time and were no longer the underrated underdog that surprised Europe in Lithuania.

"After the fourth spot, everybody knows you, everybody wants to beat you. A lot of our guys play in good teams and the others players and coaches know it," he explained.

Antic confirmed that he is planning to finish his international career, but he is confident that the next generation is ready to take over and carry MKD to new heights.

"Is this the end of an era? For me - yes. I cannot say for others, but for me it was the last year with the national team,” he said.

"I would like this team to be remembered as the greatest friends to have played together, with the best chemistry. I will not say much about basketball."

According to Antic, having been the faces of the national team for over a decade, the old core will leave feeling proud about what they managed to accomplish.

"We've played for many years, we've proved a lot, coming from the B division to the fourth spot in Europe. It's a big thing for us," said the player who signed with the Atlanta Hawks this summer.

"However, it should be a goal for the young guys to go one step forward - repeating our fourth place should not be the goal for them."

Although the circumstances under which they exited could have been happier had they made it to the next stage of competition, Antic tried to look at the future in a positive light.

"I feel a little bad for the fans, for my country and for myself that I have to leave the national team in this stage," he said.

"However, it's now up to the young guys to prove that they deserve to wear the national team jersey and that they can lead this team to the new goals.

"I think they've learned enough, because they've been with us for the last few years. They know how we function in this team and I hope they will continue the same way. And I believe in that, that’s the most important thing."

FIBA