ZARAGOZA (EuroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - It can be hard to look on the bright side for the players of the team that finishes fourth in a major basketball event.

To come up one spot short of the podium stings.

That is how Croatia's players felt after their EuroBasket Bronze Medal Game defeat to Spain on 22 September in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

They had much to be proud of because during the event that last almost three weeks, they made a lot of headlines.

Croatia went on an eight-game winning streak, unleashed the 19-year-old sensation Dario Saric on Europe and also displayed excellent team play.

As the days pass, the players will come to accept that while they may have not been on the best team in Slovenia, the Croatians did prove themselves as one of the finest squads on the old continent.

For Damjan Rudez, there was certainly much to be proud of.

The sweet-shooting, 2.08m forward who plays for CAI Zaragoza in Spain revealed himself to be one of the best long-range marksmen in the competition.

Rudez nailed 51.6% (16 of 31) from the arc, which ranked third best in the entire EuroBasket.

Only Kristaps Janicenoks of Latvia (53.6%, 15 of 28) and Domen Lorbek of Slovenia (51.7%, 15 of 29) were better.

"For sure, I was satisfied with my performance," Rudez said to FIBA.com.

"I tried to do my best in all our games.

"There were 12 individuals here who had to somehow find their role in the system that we played.

"All 12 of our guys played major roles with their teams during the season but with the national team, you have to put your egos to the side and somehow play the role that you were given in the team.

"I think we did a very good job at that and that was the key to our chemistry."

There are more questions than answers right now when it comes to Croatia's prospects at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

By winning their EuroBasket Quarter-Final against Ukraine, Croatia sealed a place in the 24-team hoops extravaganza in Spain.

For starters, some players from the EuroBasket squad may not be involved next year.

There is uncertainty regarding the coach.

Jasmin Repesa led the team the past couple of summers but it remains to be seen if he'll continue.

"First of all, our federation has to decide who is going to be the coach," Rudez said.

"I think there is a lot of time left before the World Cup.

"We showed great ambition that if we stay together, we can even do well over there (in Spain)."

Does Rudez expect Repesa to remain in charge?

"I really have no idea," he said.

"I think it's too early. I really hope that he stays and that at least the majority of the team, the core stays together.

"We showed that we can play together.

"We have players that play for the biggest teams in Europe so for sure if the team stays together, we can compete in the World Cup.

"It's not going to be easy in the World Cup.

"But first of all, we're very happy to be qualified for the World Cup. It was one of our goals going to Slovenia. Hopefully this team will stay together.

"We've shown we can cause a lot of problems to other teams and hopefully it stays that way next summer."

Rudez won't forget the heavy defeats at the EuroBasket that Croatia had to Lithuania in the Semi-Finals or to Spain in the battle for third.

He will definitely remember the good times as well.

"Overall, even though we had two consecutive losses after coming so close to a medal, we can be happy and satisfied with what we did," he said.

"We played excellent basketball, had a great tournament and showed people that Croatia is a basketball country and belongs on the map in Europe."

FIBA