Injury-hit Bosnia and Herzegovina counting on Musa to step up

SARAJEVO (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019) - Bosnia and Herzegovina have rolled out an almost entirely new squad for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Pre-Qualifiers, with only four returning names from last summer's FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers.

The team's new head coach Dusko Vujosevic will have to put a lot of the load on the shoulders of 18-year-old Dzanan Musa, as the country's NBA players Mirza Teletovic and Jusuf Nurkic have opted to skip international play this time around.

The problems don't end here for the Balkan side, with Elmedin Kikanovic, Milan Milosevic, Andrija Stipanovic, Emir Sulejmanovic and Miralem Halilovic all sidelined with various injuries and not included in the national team's 17-player squad for the Pre-Qualifiers.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's squad ahead of FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Pre-Qualifiers
Drasko Albijanic	Edin Atic	Nikola Gajic	Amar Gegic	Stefan Glogovac
Almir Hasandic	Aleksandar Lazic	Markus Loncar	Nedzad Muratovic	Dzenan Musa
Alex Renfroe	Ismet Sejfic	Njegos Sikiras	Darko Talic	Obrad Tomic
Adin Vrabac	Adi Zahiragic

"Kikanovic, Milosevic and Stipanovic all showed up for medicals on Monday with the rest of the team," said coach Vujosevic. "All of them have injury problems, especially Kikanovic, and doctors concluded that they could only join our training camp in two and a half weeks, which I didn't feel was a good option."

Bosnia and Herzegovina will also miss the presence of Nemanja Gordic, Kenan Karahodzic and Imran Polutak in their bid for a place in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers proper, as all three players also decided to take a summer off.

"The main players are those who are here to start the training camp – they are the ones who responded to the call-up and want to play for the national team. Even though I knew we had certain problems, I was hoping for a slightly different reaction," Vujosevic, who took over from Damir Mulaomerovic at the helm of the national team this year, explained.

The situation leaves the teenager Musa, who averaged 8.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists, as by far the most important piece from last year's squad, with other returning players Nikola Gajic, Adin Vrabac and Adi Zahigaric playing marginal roles for the national team.

After consulting with the coaching staff, the Bosnia and Herzegovina basketball authorities decided to extend a call-up to the naturalized point guard Alex Renfroe, who recently signed with Spanish basketball powerhouse FC Barcelona.

The playmaker is expected to join the national team on July 14.

Bosnia and Herzegovina finished last year's FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers second in their group, behind the undefeated Russia, who advanced to the Final Round, and ahead of third-placed Sweden, who finished winless.

They will have to deal with Sweden once again, having both been drawn into Group A of the Pre-Qualifiers with their former rivals, as well as Armenia and the Slovak Republic.

FIBA