×
15 - 23
July 2017
4 Zan Mark Sisko (SLO)
12/07/2017
News
to read

Sisko ready for one more ride with Slovenia after highs and lows

Ljubljana (FIBA U20 European Championship 2017) - Zan Mark Sisko is ready for one more Slovenia youth national team ride with his generation at the FIBA U20 European Championship 2017 after a past filled with highs and lows.

Sisko will be wearing the Slovenia jersey for the fifth straight summer with a second appearance at U20 level following two summers at the U18 level and one summer on the U16 team.

"We are looking forward to the FIBA U20 European Championship 2017 in Crete. We are very excited about this tournament. We know that this is the last European Championship for the 1997 generation so we will do our best to have a good result in the end," he said.

The 6ft 2in (1.89m) guard has been through a lot with the players from the 1997 generation. In 2013, the team lost to Finland in the third-place game of the FIBA U16 European Championship Division B to miss the chance for promotion to Division A. Two summers later, Sisko was back with six of his 2013 teammates and were facing Poland in the third-place game of the FIBA U18 European Championship 2015, Division B. The Ljubljana-native collected 9 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals as Slovenia won 78-60 to get back to Division A at U18 level.

"We are looking forward to the FIBA U20 European Championship 2017 in Crete. We are very excited about this tournament. We know that this is last European Championship for the 1997 generation so we will do our best to have a good result in the end." SiskoSisko

"That was a huge game for us. We worked for that result the whole summer," Sisko said. "The U16 game was one more motivation for us to win that third-place game and achieve our goal."

Those experiences helped Sisko and that generation grow.

"We learned a lot from those tournaments, especially that we have to play like a team," Sisko said. "That's the only way to do something big in tournaments like that."

Slovenia won the FIBA U20 European Championship title in 2004 with Erazem Lorbek as the leader of the team. And then the group of Emir Preldzic, Jaka Klobucar and Gasper Vidmar grabbed third place in 2006. The country finished fifth in 2007 but have struggled since then with just one Quarter-Finals appearance - in 2012.


Erazem Lorbek helped Slovenia to their only FIBA U20 European Championship title in 2004.

Sisko helped Slovenia finish ninth last summer by averaging 8.7 points, 7.1 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 2.3 steals. He was one of eight players born in 1997 or 1998 playing in that competition and are are eligible for this summer's competition in Crete from July 15-23, when they face Italy, Serbia and Spain in Group D.

"This will help us a lot. We know each other very well, we know what we can expect from each other on the court and we are also very good friends off the court. So that makes everything much easier," Sisko said. "We know our coaching staff very well and I think we cooperate very well."In addition to learning from last summer and the other national team experiences, Sisko goes into the U20 competition having had a strong season of learning after playing with Cibona in the Basketball Champions League.

"I think that I improved a lot on my game and I made progress on my body too," said Sisko, who played four Basketball Champions League games and nine games in the ABA League. "I look at some things differently now, especially how to be professional off the court."

After Cibona were eliminated, Sisko went to second division 2SKL club Ilirija in order to get more playing time and he averaged 16.2 points, 7.1 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 32 minutes.That will help Sisko as well after learning the lessons from the Basketball Champions League and then incorporating them in a quicker fashion through more playing time.

Now it's time to move back to the national team again. And Sisko believes Slovenia's chances in Crete depend solely on how they play.

"We have to play our own game and not pay attention to other teams too much," Sisko said. "We have to believe in ourselves that we can achieve our goal; give our best at every practice and every game; and everything will be fine."

FIBA