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20 November, 2017
26 February, 2019
7 Vojtech Hruban (CZE), 13 Dzanan Musa (BIH)
12/10/2018
News
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Musa: ''I dream of winning medals with the national team''

BROOKLYN (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - Bosnia and Herzegovina dropped two games in the September window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers, but that hasn’t stopped Dzanan Musa of dreaming of a spot at China 2019 - and future medals in international competitions.

Bosnia and Herzegovina put themselves in tough spot in Group K after losing at Finland 85-81 and at home 85-80 to Czech Republic. Those defeats left Jasmin Repesa’s team with a 2-6 record in last place - two wins behind Russia and Finland, who occupy the third and fourth spots in the group.

"Those two games were a bit frustrating because I feel that we were close to winning them," said Musa, who had 15 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals against Finland and then 15 points, 5 assists and 2 rebounds versus the Czechs. "We made some mistakes and we probably lacked a bit of experience to manage the final minutes of a game, where everything is more intense. We didn’t lose those games by a huge margin, so that means we are close to the teams we got beaten by and that we are also pretty competitive."

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The 19-year-old Musa, who has averaged 15.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals in six Qualifiers games, said it was particularly frustrating to drop the game against Czech Republic because it was in front of the home fans at the Mirza Delibasic Hall.

"It’s always frustrating even more to lose at home because we never want to make our fans sad."

Musa hopes Bosnia and Herzegovina fans will have reason to celebrate in the final two windows - when they travel to Bulgaria on November 30; host Finland on December 3; before playing at Czech Republic on February 21 and ending the qualification campaign at home against Bulgaria on February 24.

"We have four more games to bounce back and to play as good as possible to see if we can reach the third spot of the group and qualify for China 2019," Musa said. "We have to keep fighting and believe in ourselves. We have to look forward, not back. You learn and you move on in order to do better next time… We don't have the choice but to keep fighting and playing with the same motivation and intensity to try to turn things around and try to get the third spot of the group."

Musa would love the chance to play at China 2019, which would be the first time Bosnia and Herzegovina qualified for a World Cup.

"That would be such an amazing achievement and a good step forward for the national team, as we all want to compete against the best teams in the world," Musa said. "I am confident that we have all the ingredients to build a very solid team and be able to qualify for international competitions. If we don’t qualify for China 2019, we have to qualify for the next FIBA EuroBasket and the other competitions coming after that."

“I WANT TO WIN MEDALS AND TITLES, THAT WOULD BE SO GREAT. I WANT TO LIVE ANOTHER MOMENT LIKE THE ONE I EXPERIENCED IN 2015 (WINNING THE FIBA U16 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2015 TITLE).”- Musa

Musa said the European Qualifiers have been a very good learning experience for him.

"I always try to play at my highest level and I learned a lot in these Qualifiers so far. You know, when you compete against the best of the continent, you grow up faster, you gain experience and you are a better player after each game," he said. "You compete in very intense games, you feel the impact on defense as every team wanted to win. It was tough at some moments but I never complain and I keep learning. Playing in these Qualifiers has been a very interesting experience for me so far."

In the end, Musa wants to win medals - like he did at the youth level, guiding Bosnia and Herzegovina to the FIBA U16 European Championship 2015 title.

"I want to win medals and titles, that would be so great. I want to live another moment like the one I experienced in 2015," said Musa, who was the MVP after averaging 23.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists and qualifying Bosnia and Herzegovina for the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2016. "That was so amazing, so unique to experience winning a gold medal, a continental title with the national team. I know it is hard to do so, but I dream of winning medals with the senior national team. Until the end of my international career, I will fight and work hard to try to reach that dream."

Musa hopes he has a chance of fulfilling that dream already next summer at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in China.

FIBA