SLOVENIA: Ready for an encore?

Last year Slovenia learned to exceed expectations, Withou big-name best players, they were able to flirt with the semi-finals before grabbing the last spot for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Can they defy the odds once again?

When Slovenia entered the EuroBasket last September, not much was expected from the White and Green. With the absences of Bostjan Nachbar, Sani Becirovic, Primoz Brezec, Marko Milic and Beno Udrih, Slovenia were, apparently, missing too many weapons to compete. How could they get out of the first round in a group that included France, Poland and Italy? Well, they just did. Slovenia were another example that chemistry and smart plays and a little luck, can take over so called 'talented' teams like say, France. There was also the return of Matjaz Smodis - arguably the most talented of all Slovenian players - so maybe they weren't doing too badly.

Slovenia started the competition by beating their first five adversaries, humiliating in the process Germany by 30 points (77-47). The buzz around coach Ales Pipan's boys was huge. It was almost as if people were discovering for the first time players like Jaka Lakovic, Rasho Nesterovic and Smodis, men who already had solid pedigrees in Europe or in Nesterovic's case, the NBA. The green wave beat all comers before losing to Lithuania in the quarter-final qualifying round. Their "luck" ran out in a horrible loss against Greece. Leading by 12 points with 2:30 to play in the quarter-finals, Slovenia had all but secured a place in the last four. Players were all smiles. Greece, the defending champions, looked to be going down in flames. The basketball gods had other ideas.
Slovenia collapsed at the end and allowed Greece to win 63-62 after going on a 14-1 run to end the game. And just like that, gone were the dreams of medals, and gone were direct tickets to Beijing. Life can be unfair, especially when you are playing…Greece. Next, Slovenia, perhaps still suffering with a hangover, choked against Germany in a once again, inexplicable "déja-vu" loss!

Lakovic did not give up. He said: "I'm sure that our team will stay together until the end and try to save our possibility to make the Olympics. It will be difficult, especially because our team is young. We cannot think about Greece or Germany - even though it's difficult to do that sometimes. We must win."

Slovenia then took out their frustrations on Tony Parker and France to finish seventh. While one dream faded away for "Les Bleus", those wearing green began to smile again. This is just unbelievable," said an ecstatic Lakovic. "We played so well in this tournament and were just one step away from the semi-finals. At least we have met our aim before the EuroBasket of reaching the pre-Olympic tournament."

They will now try to go for an encore at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. "We must win the first two games," said Nesterovic, "not only to make our task easier, but also to get into a winning rhythm, to build confidence. The quarter-finals will be the real thing. We can't allow ourselves to make mistakes there. It doesn't really matter who we play there." What does matter is that star player Erazem Lorbek has decided to take this summer off following a hard campaign with Lottomatica Roma. Sani Becirovic has returned to the National Team after helping Panathinaikos win the Greek domestic title.

Coach Pipan liked the atmosphere in the Slovenian team last year and will fancy the side's chances of reaching the Beijing Games.

"The spine of the team is the same as in Spain," Pipan said. "We will give it our best and hopefully that will be enough. The goal is to get among the three best teams and qualify for the Beijing Olympic Games."


How did they qualify?
EuroBasket 2007
7th (6 W - 3 L)

Results

Preliminary Round
Sept-3rd 2007   
Slovenia b. Italy    69-68

Sept-4th 2007   
Slovenia b. Poland    70-52

Sept-5th 2007   
Slovenia b. France    67-66

Quarter-final round
Sept-8th 2007   
Slovenia b. Turkey    66-51

Sept-10th 2007   
Slovenia b. Germany    77-47
Sept-12th 2007    Lithuania b. Slovenia    80-61

Quarterfinal
Sept-14th 2007   
Greece b. Slovenia    63-62

Semi-final (5th-8th place)
Sept-15th 2007   
Germany b. Slovenia    69-65

7th place Final
Sept-16th 2007   
Slovenia b. France    88-74