Slovenia ready for third window after Belarus "smack to the face", says Trifunovic

LJUBLJANA (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - Sometimes a bad loss is exactly what a team needs to turn around their fortunes. And Radovan Trifunovic believes what he called a "special" defeat by his Slovenia team to Belarus will help going into a crucial third window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers.

Slovenia - the FIBA EuroBasket 2017 champions - had already lost once in their Group A campaign by falling 92-84 at Spain in November before being shocked by Belarus 93-92 in Minsk in February. That second defeat left the team with a 2-2 record and in second place.

"The result against Belarus is a special one. We cannot like that kind of result but it happens," said Trifunovic.

"We learned that everybody can play good basketball. You don't have exotic countries any more. Everybody plays good basketball and you need to play your maximum against each opponent. If you are not thinking like that, it's not right."

The play caller said it was the right lesson for Slovenia after they raced to the EuroBasket title last summer in undefeated fashion.

"It was good… it was a smack to the face," said Trifunovic, who served as assistant coach to Igor Kokoskov last summer before taking over the head coaching duties.

"(THE LOSS TO BELARUS) WAS GOOD... IT WAS A SMACK TO THE FACE." TrifunovicTrifunovic

When asked for his expectations of the next window - in which Slovenia will be hosting Spain on June 28 and Montenegro on July 1 - Trifunovic just smiled and said "two wins."

"We need to start like that," he said. "We have both games at home. I hope we will have good support from the crowd and that we can win those games. We want to win because we need the points for the Second Round."

Slovenia announced their preliminary squad for the two games on Friday and included Luka Doncic, who is set to be a lottery pick in the NBA Draft on June 21.

Trifunovic expects his team to really be pushed forward by the Slovenia faithful, who showed up in full force for last summer's EuroBasket Final against Serbia in Istanbul and also helped the team to a win over Belarus in the November window. 

"It's an incredible feeling for the players. They enjoyed it so much. They were 20 percent quicker and jumped higher. They played with heart and passion," Trifunovic said about the home Qualifiers clash that his players won 87-74.

The 45-year-old said he really enjoys the FIBA National Team Competitions System & Calendar.

"It's something new," he said. "Okay, me as a player I played and we had these same windows for European Championships. So I knew a little bit how it goes."

"IT'S A GOOD THING TO HAVE THE WINDOWS BECAUSE PEOPLE LIKE TO WATCH THE NATIONAL TEAM PLAY IN EACH COUNTRY." TrifunovicTrifunovic

"But as a coach it's different. You have three days to prepare the players for the game. They come from different clubs with different principles of defense and offense and we need to put them together. But I think it's a good thing to have the windows because people like to watch the national team play in each country."

Trifunovic concedes he has had to learn some lessons as a coach through the first two windows.

"Too much information for the players in three days is not good. Keep it simple," he said. "Of course we have the luck that I was the assistant coach for EuroBasket and we have mostly kept the same system. So we have luck that way."

"(PLAYING AT HOME) IS AN INCREDIBLE FEELING FOR THE PLAYERS. THEY ENJOYED IT SO MUCH. THEY WERE 20 PERCENT QUICKER AND JUMPED HIGHER. THEY PLAYED WITH HEART AND PASSION." TrifunovicTrifunovic

Trifunovic said simplicity will be one of his keys in preparing for the next window.

"Keep it simple; don't complicate things; don't give too much information to the players," he said. "They want to win, for sure. You always want to win for the national team, and they will be motivated and jump on the ball. Just let them play."

And put behind them for good their "special" loss to Belarus.

FIBA