Croatia made a good effort against Spain in a highly contested match. We lost, but can take a few pluses (and minuses) to the next, tournament phase.
- Bender started at the center. That proved to be a shrewd move. He scored 4 early pts, protected the rim and was engaged. He gained 15/20 lbs just within this year in Phoenix and now looks as a 7 footer should. He still moves very well for his length.
- Croatia has a general problem with playmaking. This game Simon carried the most of the primary ballhandling duties, as we desperately lack a penetrating guard.
- Marko Tomas is a type of player Spain needs, a 3&D guy. He was trouble for Spaniards at the start of 4th.
- Spain (Gasol brothers) didn't capitalize on the near the basket tries, having 7 off boards more but was net 0 in 2nd chance points. The length was present on the other side too.
- Croatia has some bench contributors in energy big Žorić, bench gunner/spacer in Popović
- With a 4-man-lineup of Bogdanović/Šarić/Bender/Tomas Croatia has a core that IMHO just a few teams can matchup with. The length, shooting, and switchability of these 4 are a lot for this level of competition, a star power deficient Eurobasket. If only we had a solid 1st guard, then we would really take off and be a surefire medal candidate.
As far as in know we don't have that guy in the pipeline.
@ederson
Happy to hear that someone remembers Komazec. He was a pure scorer and had a dangerous 3pt shoot considering the era.
An efficient 40 pt game, 14/17 fgs!
https://youtu.be/y4SoXoI33A4Joyful 39 pt game, 15/23 fgs
https://youtu.be/JldzB3UZeqEWinning the 3pt contest with 23 pts
https://youtu.be/1CQtWncpCVM