Croatia had an early exit in the EuroBasket competition after their lopsided defeat to Russia in the Round of 16. They were blown out by their opponents by 23 points, 101-78, as they were totally outclassed and even appeared to be non-competitive during some stretches.
That said, their fans are understandably disappointed with their performance, and so is one of their key players, Bojan Bogdanovic. The Indiana Pacers forward blasted his teammates for their dismal play, via Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops.net. He even went as far as saying they played with no pride, and that allowing Russia to score that much is totally inexcusable.
“We didn’t have pride. It’s unacceptable to let your opponent to score 100 points and not even foul,” Bogdanovic said.
His teammate, Roko Luni Ukic, echoed his statement as he also admitted that it was a very poor game from their end, as they simply couldn’t stop the Russians, especially in the third quarter.
“It was a terrible game for us. They made a big run in the start of the third quarter and we couldn’t stop them. There’s not much else to say.”
The Croatian National Team was considered a powerhouse in Europe, but the status hasn't translated to a medal in the EuroBasket tournament since 1995. Although they have very talented players, and even some who have played in the NBA, their lack of success has been very frustrating for their supporters.
Bojan Bogdanovic hopes that his strong words will serve as a wake-up call to his teammates to play better in the future. With the home-and-away qualifiers of the FIBA World Cup starting soon, they will need to perform at a higher level if they want to make their countrymen forget about their EuroBasket meltdown.
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