CRO/RUS – New CSKA Moscow star Planinic leads Croatia past Russia

BEIJING (Olympics) – Zoran Planinic scored 20 points and Croatia excelled from three-point range again to beat European champions Russia 85-78 on Tuesday in Group A.
 
The Croatians, who needed to play at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament to reach Beijing, won for the second time in as many games while Russia fell to 1-1.
 
Planinic beat a lot of his future teammates in Russia because earlier this summer, he sealed a lucrative move to CSKA Moscow from Spanish champions Tau Ceramica.
 
He was seven of nine of from the floor, including two of three from three-point range.
 
After shooting 75% from behind the arc in their rout of Australia, the Croatians remained hot by drilling eight of 15 (53%) against David Blatt’s Russian team.
 
"From the beginning, we set the tempo of the game,” Planinic said to FIBA.com.
 
“We played tough and hard on defense and I think we did a good job on Andrei Kirilenko and Viktor Khryapa.
 
“We controlled the game from the first minute to the last minute. We showed Russia we were not scared of them.”
 
Russia beat Croatia last summer in Madrid en route to the EuroBasket title to reach the Olympics.
 
That meant the Croatians had to fight it out with 11 other teams for three spots at the Beijing Games at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Athens.

While Russia arrived as European champions, Croatia appear to have gained a lot of momentum with their successful run in Greece where they beat Cameroon, Puerto Rico, Canada and Germany.

“We have no pressure after the qualifying tournament in Athens,” Planinic said.
 
“We said to ourselves we are going to the Olympics to play tough and we are going to leave everything on the court.
 
“We are not scared of anybody and I don't know what our limits are."
 
A pivotal sequence in the game against Russia came at the end of the first half.
 
With 2:25 remaining, Russia led 34-32 but watched the Croatians finished the second quarter on a 10-2 run to lead 42-36.
 
“That, and the start of the second half were the most important part of the game for us,” Croatia coach Jasmin Repesa said. 
 
Croatia went ahead by as many as 13 points in the second half.
 
Russia did manage to twice pull to within five in the final minute and a half of the game but got no closer.
 
“This is the first time we’ve lost an official international game in a long time and it took a good team that played a high level to beat us,” Russia coach David Blatt said.
 
“I think we need to be a little more gritty.
 
“We didn’t realise that it took a bar fight today and not a pool game. The basketball aspect took over and they won the game.”
 
Khryapa, who is “60%” fit because of an ankle injury according to Blatt, gave another inspirational performance with a four of 10 (40%) effort from three-point range.
 
He finished with 14 points and three rebounds and again played outstanding defense, while Andrei Kirilenko led his team by scoring 18.
 
“Croatia have a lot of good shooters and for the most part, I don't think we did a very good job,” Kirilenko said.
 
“Before the game, we practiced our defense so as not to allow Croatia to get easy shots.

"I think the rebounding was the key to this game, especially in the first half. They had 20 rebounds to our 11 and that was a key advantage, especially in this close game.”

Russia, winners over Iran in their opener on Sunday, next face Lithuania on Thursday while Croatia go up against Argentina looking for a third straight triumph.
 
“Right now we are in a tough position as we have one loss and we are going to have to fight hard against Lithuania,” Kirilenko said.
 
“It gets tougher,” Blatt said. “They’re a great team.”

FIBA