CRO - Nazor hopes Croatian star Hezonja fit for U17 Worlds

ZAGREB (2012 FIBA U17 World Championship) - Mario Hezonja was Croatia’s all-around superstar in leading the Balkan side to last year’s U16 European Championship title.

Now Croatian head coach Ante Nazor is hoping his star small forward will be fit in time for this summer’s FIBA U17 World Championship.

Hezonja had an eventful 2011 in helping Croatian club KK Zagreb win the Nike International Junior Tournament title alongside fellow budding star Dario Saric. The pair then played at the FIBA U19 World Championship before Hezonja highlighted his summer by grabbing the U16 European title as the tournament’s MVP.

But as great as Hezonja’s 2011 spring and summer were, the rest of his year were less than positive.

The Dubrovnik native, who turned 17 in late February, went down early in the 2011-12 campaign with a serious ankle injury. To compound things even more, he then got hit with a case of mononucleosis.

Still, Nazor believes Hezonja will be ready and fully fit in time for the U17 Worlds, which take place in Kaunas from 29 June-8 July in Kaunas, Lithuania.

“He was injured, but I believe he’s going to be ready for this tournament,” Nazor told FIBA.com.

However, the coach said the Croatian federation is not interested in rushing back such a highly-regarded prospect.

“Anyway, if he doesn’t (play at the U17 Worlds), he is a young player and is very talented, so he is going to have a lot of tournaments in the future. But for now it is most important that he becomes ready 100 percent.”

Nazor also emphasized that Hezonja is still just one player on his team.

“For sure, he is a very important player for our team. But as a coach I believe that basketball is a team sport where every player has an important role,” he warned.

Should Hezonja be unable to go for Croatia, two of the players most likely to be called upon to step up and try to fill the void are Domagoj Bosnjak and Paolo Marinelli. The hole would be too much to fill with just one player, and Nazor would likely need all of his players to pick up the slack.

But the Croatian coach hopes that he doesn’t have to worry about that this summer.

FIBA