SPLIT (Croatia) - It was always going to be an uphill battle for Tunisia in a group with juggernauts such as Croatia and Brazil. The fact that they were close was not enough to keep Dirk Bauermann happy.

The German playcaller knew how good his team was. He knew they had a 29-point quarter against Croatia in them. He knew the youngster could step up. He knew Radhouane Slimane can battle with Bojan Bogdanovic and Mario Hezonja, even on the brink of his 41st birthday. He knew Salah Mejri still has it in him.

And if you followed Bauermann throughout all of his years of coaching, you would know that a monster performance against the hosts, in front of the home fans, in a do-or-die game does not matter to him.

"I'm never proud of the ones that I lose," Tunisia head coach said. "But (the game against Croatia) is something that the players can be proud of."

The fact that Tunisia made Croatia work full time turns out to be a great stepping stone for this exact squad. They will have a break coming up, but in 50 days, they will be defending their FIBA AfroBasket title from 2017, trying to become the first team not named Angola to win the African continental summit back-to-back since Senegal in 1978 and 1980.

"This team has a bright future, a lot of young guys learned a lot from these two games, from this tournament that was on a high level. It's gonna help them a lot in the future, especially in the (upcoming) FIBA AfroBasket. It's gonna be easier for them to play, to perform, to make a lot of good things happen," the veteran Slimane explained.

His leadership on both ends of the floor was exceptional. He was willing to sacrifice his body to chase Bojan Bogdanovic and Mario Hezonja around the floor, and got a standing ovation from his bench when he played such a hard deny defense, following Hezonja in a zipper set all the way to the center and cutting him off the set play out of a timeout from Croatia.

You will never find a stat for plays broken, especially when you weren't even close to the ball. But that effort of not letting the Croatian superstar receive the ball, that was the play where you felt those "something to be proud of" words of coach Bauermann.

"It's a pleasure to play against them, they are great players. But when you play, the age doesn't matter. I fought to help my team, to battle because we knew if we stop them, our mission would be a bit easier. We fought until the end, then small mistakes stole the game from us," the 40-year-old forward Slimane said.

Small mistakes. A couple of offensive rebounds by Croatia, and the good old make-or-miss situations, where the Croatian players used all of their international experience to find a point or two of difference.

"We played excellent basketball, both offensively and defensively, we very easily could've won the game," Bauermann added. "It came to a missed box out on a free throw and a big three that they made. That's basketball." 

With Slimane and Mejri approaching the exit doors, basketball fans worldwide have to wonder what happens next for Tunisia. Not just in the FIBA AfroBasket 2021, but in the years to come.

"Now we prepare the next generation. Hopefully we're gonna get more than one player like Salah, because we have good potential. We have good players, great young players. The future is pretty nice," team captain Mourad El Mabrouk offered.

More than one player like Salah sounds like a plan. An experienced coach such as Dirk Bauermann will make sure the transition to the new look Tunisia goes by smoothly, and then the line from the headline could be a different one. Because they will get a chance to be proud of the ones they win. Even against juggernauts like Brazil and Croatia.

FIBA