Saric, Simon boost Croatia squad
ZAGREB (2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments) - Croatia coach Aleksandar Petrovic is expecting a much improved performance on Thursday night when his team hosts Canada in the second of two friendly games between the sides this week.
The Croatians are preparing for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Turin while Canada are getting ready for the OQT in Manila.
Croatia, beaten 91-80 by Canada in the first encounter this week, now have Dario Saric and Krunoslav Simon in their 14-man squad. Both are expected to play key roles at the OQT.
| Croatia 14-player squad for 2016 FIBA OQT in Turin |
|||
| Marko Arapovic | Luka Babic | Miro Bilan | Bojan Bogdanovic |
| Ante Delas | Mario Hezonja | Filip Kruslin | Fran Pilepic |
| Darko Planinic | Zeljko Sakic | Dario Saric | Krunoslav Simon |
| Rok Stipcevic | Roko Ukic | ||
The two players had commitments with their respective clubs that prevented them from being with Croatia from the start of the preparations.
Saric has been a key member of the team since EuroBasket 2013 and is a player that does a little bit of everything to help Croatia win games. One of his key attributes is that he passes the ball very well.
Simon's first big tournament with Croatia was EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania and his presence has been vital ever since.
Krunoslav Simon (CRO) has excelled for Croatia in the backcourt
Petrovic, who will lead Croatia at the OQT in Turin against Tunisia and Italy in Group B, doesn't have much time with the start of the event on 4 July.
"The game (against Canada) is important to us for two reasons," he said. "The first game in Novigrad was a shock for us after 15 days of training in St. Martin. A lot of things were not good. However, we have done an analysis and I expect it to be a lot better.
"We will adapt to the specifics of the Canadian defense and, on the other hand, have already gone through three training sessions with Simon and Saric. They have come to understand all the stuff we need so that they will play their first minutes in this cycle for the Croatian team."
Croatia have had some good practices since their first game against Canada. The country's legendary player, Toni Kukoc, has been involved in training.
"In any case, expect a progression from the first game, a much higher quality game, and an adaptation to the Canadian defense," Petrovic said.
"What remains important is that we run better both offensively and defensively because they have an extremely athletic team that runs well and you have to be ready for these things."
FIBA
