CRO – The drought is over for Croatia
ISTANBUL (FIBA World Championship) - Josip Vrankovic is no stranger to FIBA World Championships. He played in one 16 years ago alongside some of the best European players of all time. A member of the Croatian team that captured a bronze medal in Toronto, Vrankovic’s teammates included Toni Kukoc and Dino Radja. Now Vrankovic is with Croatia ...
ISTANBUL (FIBA World Championship) - Josip Vrankovic is no stranger to FIBA World Championships.
He played in one 16 years ago alongside some of the best European players of all time.
A member of the Croatian team that captured a bronze medal in Toronto, Vrankovic’s teammates included Toni Kukoc and Dino Radja.
Now Vrankovic is with Croatia again at a World Championship but this time as coach.
Former boss Jasmin Repesa stepped down after EuroBasket 2009 in Poland and the 41-year-old Vrankovic, one of the bright, young minds in the game, was handed the reins.
He's having a baptism of fire as coach because his first big tournament in charge of his homeland is the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.
"This is a big moment for Croatia and for me," Vrankovic said.
"I've been there as a player, but now it's a different role and I'm really happy about it."
It’s been a long time
Most observers in Toronto would have guessed that Croatia would be one of the real powerhouses in the international game for a long time but something happened that no one expected.
Croatia, a country that appeared to be loaded with talent, stopped qualifying for the big events after the 1996 Olympics.
Neven Spahija, a former Croatia national team coach, is in Turkey what Croatia.
He was asked by FIBA why there was such a long spell between World Championship appearances for his country.
“It’s difficult to judge why we wouldn’t make it for such a long period of time, but we lost a generation (of players) and for us, it was almost impossible to build a completely new team,” Spahija said.
“Plus, at European Championships – the qualifying tournaments for the World Championships – we didn’t have any luck. Thank God we are here today and hopefully this is going to continue.”
Spahija sure didn’t have any luck when he coached Croatia at EuroBasket 2005 in Belgrade.
His team lost to Spain in a controversial overtime defeat.
“No one in Croatia will ever forget this game,” Spahija said.
“I try not to think too much about it.
“But anyway, it was one of the most important moments in the history of Croatian basketball.”
For good, or bad?
“For bad,” he said.
In 2008, at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Athens, the Croatians earned a trip to Beijing and ended their drought of not playing in the huge international tournaments.
Croatia were among the gold-medal favorites before Poland but had a disappointing sixth-place finish last year.
At least they earned a trip to Turkey for this year's big event.
"It's been 16 years since we played at a World Championship," Vrankovic said.
"Sometimes, we've just had no luck - especially when considering the European Championship in 2001 and Belgrade in 2005."
In 2001 in Turkey, Croatia also lost in the last eight in overtime to the host nation.
Croatia are not as intimidating as they once were, when Vrankovic played.
"At the time, in 1994, we had four NBA players on that team but now, we don't have even one,” Vrankovic said.
The new hopes
"After the last European Championship, we decided it was time to bring in some new players,” Vrankovic said.
“At this tournament, we want to play good basketball, bring in young players and have them become main players in our team."
One of those young players is Ante Tomic.
"Tomic is a completely new story," Vrankovic said.
"He wasn't last year at the European Championship in Poland.
"He came in as one of the 13 players and has become one of the main three or four players."
Tomic, 23, had a remarkable year.
The seven-footer went from being a big prospect to the real deal when he moved from KK Zagreb to Real Madrid in mid-season.
Under Ettore Messina, Tomic thrived and really sparked Madrid in Spain's ACB, arguably the toughest domestic league in Europe.
"For us, it was excellent," Vrankovic said.
"He went from a small club to Madrid.
"It means he is used to playing at a high level and that's good for us."
Croatia, who are in Group B with Team USA - their first opponents on Saturday - as well as Slovenia, Brazil, Iran and Tunisia, are not thinking about winning a medal this summer.
They'd like to, of course, but the important thing is to set the tone for a successful run with the new generation of players like Tomic.
"I want my team to play every game hard, and to do its best," Vrankovic said.
"I don't want to talk about which team is better, or which team is the worst.
"We need to prove everything on the court.
"Of course the USA is stronger and is one of the first teams that can take the Championship.
"But the rest of our group, we're similar.
"We want to prepare for the European Championship next year so for us, it's a really good competition to get players ready."
FIBA