AUS/SRB – Serbia show interest in Australia’s Maric
BELGRADE (FIBA World Championship 2010) – Serbia have confirmed their interest in adding Australia’s Aleks Maric to the national squad but know the Partizan Belgrade center is likely to represent the Boomers if he makes Brett Brown’s squad. The 25-year-old Maric, whose parents are from Serbia, has been the revelation of the year at ...
BELGRADE (FIBA World Championship 2010) – Serbia have confirmed their interest in adding Australia’s Aleks Maric to the national squad but know the Partizan Belgrade center is likely to represent the Boomers if he makes Brett Brown’s squad.
The 25-year-old Maric, whose parents are from Serbia, has been the revelation of the year at Partizan, twice earning Player of the Week honors in the Euroleague.
While the 2.11m center attended the Australian Institute of Sport and was a member of different youth teams, including the Aussies’ gold-medal winning side at the 2003 FIBA U-18 World Championship, Serbian Basketball Federation President Dragan Kapicic said: "We'll contact our Australian colleagues, and we have a right to do that because Maric wants to play for us.
“It won't be an easy task for us, since Australia is in our group at the FIBA World Championship, but we'll try.”
Australia, Argentina, Serbia, Germany, Angola and Jordan are in Group A.
"Every single coach would like to have such a quality player as Maric is, Serbia coach Dusan Ivkovic said.
"But, I think that all of that about Maric in the Serbian team KSS should be solved discretely.
“Still, we all have to know that such a thing can be approved by FIBA only if Australian basketball authorities allow that to happen, and FIBA will give the 'green light' only if that 'transfer' is on behalf of basketball development.
“There can be doubt if we are such a developing country."
Maric arrived in Belgrade this summer after a disappointing year at Granada BC where he didn’t receive as much playing time as he wanted.
He has been a force for the Serbian champions in both the Adriatic League and Euroleague.
In the Euroleague, he had 23 points and 15 rebounds against Olympiacos on November 26, and last week against Efes Pilsen, Maric had 34 points and 16 rebounds.
Both were wins, and Maric was voted Euroleague MVP of the Week after each triumph.
Maric had 20 points and 11 rebounds on Thursday night but Partizan fell 75-72 at Entente Orleanais in the Euroleague.
Wayne Cooper, a former Boomers shooting guard who is now the general manager for high performance for Basketball Australia, was also at the draw in Istanbul and he indicated that Maric was very much a part of the Australian’ plans.
Maric played college basketball in the United States at Nebraska.
Darko Nikolic, Belgrade
FIBA