Bosnia and Herzegovinians, Georgia offer sneak preview

SARAJEVO/TBILISI (EuroBasket 2015) - Bosnia and Herzegovina together with Georgia chose to play their first two warm-up games for EuroBasket 2015 away from prying eyes, nonetheless both drew several useful conclusions.

The two teams travelled to Croatia to play back-to-back friendlies on Wednesday and Thursday, with the first clash assuming the form of an entirely informal scrimmage.

While no official statistics were kept on Wednesday, the two teams conceded that Georgia registered a 78-73 win.

Bosnia and Herzegovina led 20-11 early on but Georgia balanced proceedings in the second frame and then enjoyed a high-scoring third period to claim a 64-55 lead going into the final quarter.

According to the stat sheet kept by the Georgian Federation, George Tsintsadze and Manuchar Markoishvili had 13 points apiece, Viktor Sanikidze and Beka Burjanadze finished with 10 points each while Zaza Pachulia chipped in with six points for the winners.

Georgia were playing without power forward Tornike Shengelia, who is nursing a minor injury and will return to practices after the weekend.

On Thursday, the two teams traded blows during the first 30 minutes with the lead changing hands on almost every other possession.

Georgia went up 22-20 at the end of the first but Bosnia and Herzegovina led 46-44 at half-time and then the Georgians edged ahead in the third and maintained a two-point lead through the middle stretch of the period.

The Bosnians however snatched a 64-62 lead going into the fourth frame and while everything indicated a tight finale was in the books, Dusko Ivanovic's team used a 12-2 burst at the start of the final period to pull away, 76-64.

Georgia seemed to have finally run out of gas and Bosnia and Herzegovina simply held on the rest of the way to pick up an 82-67 victory.

The winners had naturalised player Alex Renfroe at their disposal for the first time, but coach Ivanovic must have been delighted primarily with two players who showed they are willing to step in for the team' two big absent stars.

Veteran power forward Edin Bavcic had retired from the national team after EuroBasket 2013 but Ivanovic asked him to join training camp after it was confirmed that Mirza Teletovic would be unable to play this summer.

Bavcic was a starter on Thursday and collected 11 points and four rebounds in just 15 minutes of play.

Dalibor Persic meanwhile paced Bosnia and Herzegovina with 16 points on 4-of-5 from three-point range.

The winger, who turns 30 this summer, had a small role at EuroBasket 2013 and did not play in the qualification campaign last summer.

In the absence of Nihad Djedovic however, coach Ivanovic has shown that he is considering an upgraded role for Persic and the sharp-shooter is now ready to step up to the challenge.

Meanwhile, in the Georgian camp, it was a youngster who left excellent impressions over the two days in Croatia.

Burjanadze finished with a team-high 14 points on Thursday, while Jacob Pullen added 11 points in losing efforts.

The 21-year-old Burjanadze has been turning heads since he was 15 with his scoring prowess under the basket and from mid-range and earned top scorer honours in the U16, U18 and U20 European Championship Division B.

Everyone in Georgia was well aware of his potential and the power forward was rewarded with a spot on the national team at EuroBasket 2013, making him the second-youngest player in the tournament.

Burjanadze already had a bigger role in last summer's qualifying campaign and early signs point to him carving out significant minutes at EuroBasket 2015, despite the fact Georgia count with magnificent players like Shenghelia, Sanikidze and of course Pachulia in the frontcourt.

Bosnia and Herzegovina will play in Group A at EuroBasket 2015 and face Poland on opening day (5 September) before going up against hosts France, Finland and finally Russia, provided the ban on Russia is lifted and they participate in the tournament.

Georgia meanwhile were drawn in Group C and will commence their campaign in Zagreb with a clash against the Netherlands on opening day, before facing Slovenia, Greece, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD) and finally group hosts Croatia.

Go to eurobasket2015.org for complete coverage of EuroBasket 2015.

FIBA