Slovenian national team head coach, Aleksander Sekulic, spoke to “Basketball Sphere” about the upcoming FIBA World Cup.
During preparations for a competition, all coaches want the team to prepare as well as possible, to create team spirit and above all to be healthy. Slovenia suffered a lot of bad luck as Vlatko Cancar will miss Mundobasket due to injury, and Edo Muric will not be there either.
Aleksander Sekulic talked with Basketball Sphere about everything that awaits Slovenia in Asia at the end of August and the beginning of September.
Absences are a possibility for someone from second plan
In Muric and Cancar absence, Jaka Blazic, Aleksej Nikolic and Zoran Dragic will have to take on an even bigger role. The aforementioned players led Slovenia in the qualifiers, and interestingly, each of them averaged between eight and nine points per game.
Young Ziga Samar will play in the EuroLeague for Alba Berlin next season, and he could also get an important role with Slovenia this summer.
“That is a huge minus for us (Cancer absence). Especially because at the end of the season we also lost Edo Muric who plays in the same position, so now we are in a deficit in that position. We will have to find some new way to set up the game both in defense and in offese because we don’t have adequate substitutes.” – Slovenian head coach Aleksander Sekulic said at the beginning of the conversation with “Basketball Sphere”.
The maximum from a difficult situation
It can happen in these situations that the team gets even closer, that these troubles unite them… Then, the lack of players is not felt much, and some other players who had a smaller role can jump out.
“If something bad happens, we try to get the most and some positive things out of it. Let’s use that moment to promote a new player and maybe some new energy. For the players to be even more together so that we can replace Cancar and Muric.“
Doncic makes the difference
For the national team of Slovenia, this will be the fourth visit to Mundobasket. They made their debut in 2006, missed the competition in China, and were eliminated twice in the quarterfinals both in 2014 and 2010.
“Everyone played the qualifiers without the best players. The biggest difference compared to the qualifications is the different hierarchy in the team. When Luka Doncic comes, everything changes. But all this is in order to be stronger and better.” – explained Aleksander Sekulic.
FIBA World Cup 2023 biggest superstar
Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo will not perform at the World Cup, which means that Luka Doncic is among the biggest, if not the biggest superstar of the upcoming championship.
The Dallas Mavericks member never doubted playing for the national team, and it seems that he came fully prepared this summer.
“When we talk about the Slovenian national team with anyone, we always talk about Luka Doncic, which is normal. He is our best player, and among the best players in the world.
Surely, he is one of the biggest stars of this World Cup, so we are very happy that he decided to dedicate the summer to the national team and not only come to play, but also try to give something to the team in order to enter the fight for medals.”
Good work over the past 20 years
After winning Eurobasket in 2017, and after reaching the Olympic Games semi-finals, Slovenia is no longer a team that is seen as those who are looking for a chance from the second plan. By placing them in the first pot for the Eurobasket 2025 qualifiers draw, this was confirmed.
“It is the result of work not only of one year, but of the past 20 years. It is a process and Slovenia is now very high on the world map, which is a great honor for us.
Playing big competitions every year and being a participant is no small thing. We are very happy because we can play in the biggest competitions with such a team as we have.”
Favorites
Slovenia will play its opening phase games in Okinawa, Japan. The draw for the World Cup placed them in the “F” quartet, which they form together with Cape Verde, Georgia and Venezuela.
“In the group we’re in now, we’re certainly the favorites. But if you want to go further, you have to show on the floor that you’re the favorite.” – Sekulic told us, and speaking of favorites, he believes that a large group of national teams will fight for medals:
“There is a lot of favorites. Starting with the United States who have an extremely good team. They may be without superstars, but they have a strong team. There are France, Spain, Germany, Greece. They have a top team with a great coach.
I think this championship is the best comparing with some previous Mundobasket editions. It is difficult to say who is the main favorite. We saw the last Eurobasket where few people gave Spain a chance for the gold, which came without several players and they surprised everyone. I also think that the role of favorite means nothing.
Everyone plays basketball, everyone has top coaches and ambitions, and it’s not so much a question of who is the favorite, but who will come in the best shape and play the best team basketball.”
Serbia
Aleksander Sekulic sees the national team of Serbia as one of the favorites despite the fact that Nikola Jokic is not there.
“Serbia may not have Jokic, who was the NBA MVP twice and actually led the team to the championship ring, but there are still top players, led by Bogdan Bogdanovic. I would put them in the circle of favorites for a medal.” – Sekulic finished the story with Basketball Sphere.