Mike Tobey, a representative of Slovenia, shared his impressions after the 100-89 loss to Canada in the FIBA World Cup quarterfinals, with a focus on the refereeing.
Almost everyone in the Slovenian camp was outraged by the officiating. Luka Doncic was ejected for arguing with the referee, and head coach Aleksander Sekulic also criticized the poor officiating during the post-match press conference.
Mike Tobey, a naturalized American playing for Slovenia and the new player of Crvena zvezda, briefly expressed his thoughts on the refereeing in today’s quarterfinal match of the FIBA World Cup.
“I think it’s obvious what the officiating was like,” the Slovenian center began.
He then commented on Canada’s two best players. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dillon Brooks were the two players who turned the game in Canada’s favor. Gilgeous-Alexander contributed offensively, while Brooks countered Luka Doncic with excellent defense.
“We tried to match them physically. We know they are a very tough team and how they want to play. We tried to win, but it didn’t happen today. They have excellent players, and we didn’t play a good game. Brooks and Shai played well. We had to do a better job of guarding them,” said the Crvena zvezda player.
In the end, the New York-born player mentioned that he will be cheering for Serbia in the semifinal matchup scheduled for Friday.
“Serbia played a good game against Lithuania. If they play the same way as in that match, they have a good chance. I’m rooting for Serbia,” Tobey concluded.