Slovenia's youth movement continues with Doncic

HELSINKI (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) - The rise of Luka Doncic and his upcoming debut for Slovenia has been a much-discussed theme throughout the summer leading up to FIBA EuroBasket 2017.

However, there will hardly be anything avant-garde about the Real Madrid rising star stepping on the court against Poland on Thursday for his first game at the age of 18 – debuting them young has been a proven formula in Slovenian basketball for quite some time and Doncic is no exception.

Since gaining independence in 1991, Slovenia have had eight different players take part in a FIBA EuroBasket Final Round as teenagers. Two of them, Marko Milic and Marko Tusek, managed to accomplish this feat twice.

That number stands out in the larger European context and is considerably higher than any other nations since the FIBA EuroBasket 1993, with Latvia sitting second on the list with five players.

Luka Doncic will now be the ninth player on Slovenia's list, that also includes Boris Gorenc, Matjaz Smodis, Sani Becirovic, Gasper Vidmar, Luka Rupnik and Edo Muric.

Marko Milic appeared in two FIBA EuroBasket campaigns as a teenager in 1995 and 1997

"I think it's the respect for talent. Everyone, from the coaching staff to the Federation, recognizes the talent and they give it a chance at an early stage," said former national team player Bostjan Nachbar, who represented Slovenia for a decade before calling it a day after FIBA EuroBasket 2013 on home soil.

"It is questionable how much a player can help the team at this young age. It is more about the team helping the young player by giving him the opportunity to play, exposing him to pressure and allowing them to gain experience with the hopes that the players are later are going to be able to give back. Which does happen in a lot of cases."

Having made his EuroBasket debut a bit later, at 23, Nachbar recalls how inclusive the atmosphere in the locker room was, but did confirm there was also no way around some rookie hazing as well.

"His age, the number, doesn't really show what he really is as a person and as a player and I think that's his best attribute, besides, obviously, all of the basketball skills."Bostjan NachbarBostjan Nachbar

"When a young player is on a team, he's not going to carry the biggest burden but at the same time, he's going to have to chip in and do his part. It is important for the older guys on the team to make them feel welcome and a part of the team from day one. Of course, there are also some extra responsibilities for the young players such as carrying the bags, bringing donuts or whatever else you tell them to do," added Nachbar, with a smile lighting up his face, even allowing a slight chuckle.

Doncic has plenty of old heads to call upon for advice, including Goran Dragic

For Doncic, those extra tasks included performing a musical number in front of the team and the spectators in the stands after a friendly game against the Czech Republic earlier in the summer.

"The first time you go into the national team, you have to sing and this year there were four of us. I sang a Serbian song called 'Volim sve sto vole mladi'. I'm not sure if I sang particularly well, but I didn't have to do anything else, just sing," Doncic explained of the inauguration procedures.

In all likelihood, most of the teenage prodigy's responsibilities on coach Igor Kokoskov's team will not include a microphone in Helsinki, but could involve the crowd going wild, much like they did during the teenager's center-court performance in Maribor.

"I know him and I have seen his progress, played against him a bunch in Spain. His age, the number, doesn't really show what he really is as a person and as a player and I think that's his best attribute, besides, obviously, all of the basketball skills," said Nachbar in reference to Doncic.

"A lot of the times with the young players you see the desire, the passion, the athleticism, the big wish to do well, the skills, but they don't have the experience and calmness in them and Luka has them all at his early age and I think that's his biggest strength."

Doncic already gave everyone a glimpse of what he can do by taking Slovenia on his back on a number occasions during the friendly games, including a 27-point, 8-rebound and 5-assist performance against Croatia.

"He may not necessarily be a leader yet, because Goran Dragic is still there as well as some older players, but he's going to be one of the guys who have the ball a lot in his hands and could very well take the last shot as well. The coach trusts him, the team trust him and, honestly, he deserves all of it," said Nachbar, who sees Slovenia as one of a growing number of medal contenders.

"I think they have everything that a team needs to go far and have a chance to get to the medals, but at the same time we have seen the number of teams reaching for the podium getting bigger and bigger over the last 10-15 years. Is the Slovenian team one of them? Absolutely. Are they the only one? Absolutely not – there are at least 10. I think a lot of the teams will go home disappointed and I hope that Slovenia are not going to be one of them."

It might be too early to tell whether Slovenia can finally put an end to the country's medal drought and bring home their first-ever EuroBasket medal, but one thing is for certain – whoever gets a chance to see Luka Doncic will not go home disappointed.

FIBA