CRO - Vrankovic holding steady through ups and downs

ZAGREB (FIBA World Championship) - Croatia coach Josip Vrankovic is trying to keep things on an even keel amid a series of ups and downs in training camp for the FIBA World Championship.

The joy of two easy victories over Italy in warm-up matches has been tempered by two fresh injuries, but before Vrankovic allows himself to be disappointed, one other player is on his way back.

Croatia enjoyed two big wins over Italy last week, winning the first game 89-72 as Bojan Bogdanovic scored 15 points, while Marko Thomas had 16 points in an 80-71 win in the second match.

However, it has not been all good news as Vrankovic has been without Real Madrid center Ante Tomic, who missed both games through injury, while playmaker Krunoslav Simon was forced to leave camp for tests on a quadriceps injury.

"Simon got a strong hit in his quadriceps and he felt a lot of pain," Vrankovic said. "He left us to have tests in Zagreb, and we don't know when we might be able to work with him again."

However, Zoran Planinic has joined up with the squad having missed the start of preparations following knee surgery, while Vrankovic also reported that Tomic has improved and is nearing a return.

"I really hope that Tomic will join us soon and be back to full strength," he said. "It's very important to us. As far as I can see, his recovery is going as well as we hoped."

Croatia received plenty of praise for the nature of their win over Italy, but Vrankovic is not getting carried away.

"I saw the comments about our good, fast basketball," he said. "That's the type of team we've selected, we want to play fast all the time.

"But whatever we are doing at the moment, I want to avoid any kind of euphoria. We've only played two games and still have a lot to do."

Croatia are now due to head to Cyprus to play against Germany, Russia and Greece this weekend, and they will then play in the Supercup in Bamberg against Germany, Lithuania and Turkey.

FIBA