CRO - Popovic looks to end Croatia's medal drought

LONDON (Olympic Test Event/EuroBasket 2011) - The last time Croatia won a medal in a major international basketball competition, Josip Vrankovic was a key player for that team and Marko Popovic was a teenage prospect.

That last silverware was a bronze captured at the 1995 European Championship in Greece.

Fast-forward 16 years and you can presently find Vrankovic pacing the sidelines for the national team with Popovic as one of his trusted veteran players.

That bronze in Athens capped off a memorable four-year run during which the Croats were on the podium at all four international competitions they participated in.

It all started at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics where Croatia made its international debut in style.

With the late Drazen Petrovic, Toni Kukoc and Dino Radja leading the way, they went on a memorable run all the way to the final, where they fell against the USA's mighty Dream Team.

Bronze medals at the 1993 European Championship and 1994 FIBA World Championship followed.

Since that last medal in Greece the following year, the best result Croatia have managed are three sixth-place finishes - at EuroBaskets 2007 and 2009 and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Last summer, they came in 14th at the FIBA World Championship in Turkey.

It's enough to get even the easy-going Popovic a bit annoyed.

"Croatia has not won a medal in 16 years. It's about time," he said. "It's been a bit frustrating especially for me.

"This is going to be my fifth European Championship and three of them we lost in the quarter-finals by three points or fewer."

Despite the shortcomings, Popovic's commitment to the national cause has never wavered.

"I never lost my motivation to play for my country and that is exactly why I'm still here," he added.

Vrankovic is glad that Popovic has stuck with it as the lack of quality veteran players is part of the problem affecting Croatia.

"We have the young kids with the talents and in that category we still dominate," said the 42-year-old. "We always get some medals (at junior level) and we have some good young players.

"But what's happening right now is that they leave the country too early. The players don't finish their formation and that's a problem. It's an area where we're not so strong like before."

Croatia will look to bring their medal drought to an end at EuroBasket in Lithuania and in the process take a step closer to securing their place in next year's Olympic Basketball Tournament.

However, Vrankovic knows it will be a tall order to accomplish either of those goals.

"EuroBasket is going to be a really strong competition. Only two teams go directly to London and the next four need to go to the Olympic Qualifying Tournament. So London 2012 is really very far for now," he said.

Popovic expects a strong showing of international stars will make for the most competitive EuroBasket ever.

"All the greatest players are coming to play the European Championship this year - Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol, Andrey Kirilenko and so on. So definitely it's going to be hard to get the spots for the Olympics or for the qualifying tournament," he offered. 

In spite of this, the 1.85m guard won't be deterred from setting the bar high.

"The longest journey starts with the first step," he said wisely. "We want to be in London next year and why not? Hope cannot be taken away from you.

"I'm not going to EuroBasket to finish third. I'm trying to win the first place and then we'll see where we end up."

To that end, Croatia are making the most of being in London for the Olympic Test Event.

For Vrankovic, the quality of the opponents is what made taking part in the event an easy decision.

"We have a young and definitely talented group but we need more experience. That's the reason why we chose to play in a strong tournament like the Olympic Test Event," he explained.

"I want my players to feel the atmosphere in a tournament like the one here in London. It's a good test of what we can expect at EuroBasket.

"We have the talent and we're going to fight to be in the first six teams at EuroBasket."

FIBA