Quarter finals : Bulgaria 73 - 93 Slovenija
The word of the coach
"This is the end...
I gave my best to help us win the tournament, but we faced a team which seemed quite unbeatable.
Did I make tactic mistakes ? Probably, but my 2-3 was there to help us get rebounds and to reinforce our inside defense given how strong and in good shape their big guys were. And it worked, we got way more offensive rebounds than them, and they didn't shot that well with 43% in total, only 22% from downtown and not that many free throws.
On the offense, I used our most efficient tactic with a look inside and I was quite confident that it could work against their 3-2. But it didn't. I don't understand how we could score less than 32% of our FG attempts... I still think we could have gotten more free throws, but they were at home, and we all know how it works... I don't think playing with three big guys was a mistake either, they helped us get many rebounds and were by far our best scorers.
All in all, I think my biggest mistake was against Turkey. With a 8-0 record, we would have face other countries and maybe things would have been better for us.
So... How you might have understood, this elimination is a huge disappointment. Even more because I love this team and I can't say how proud I am of my players. They gave their best all season long and they managed to beat some of the best european teams. I feel like they deserved better and I'm sad I couldn't help them get the title.
It was a great generation and I can't wait to see how they will progress in the future."
Last edited by slamdunk9 at 7/12/2022 4:45:02 AM