Marjanovic forced to pull out for Serbia, Raduljica and Stimac set to return

SERBIA (EuroBasket 2015) - Boban Marjanovic will not fight after all to regain a spot on the Serbian national team this summer as he has been forced to pull out of EuroBasket 2015, the Serbian Basketball Federation (KSS) announced on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old center signed his first NBA contract with the San Antonio Spurs earlier this off-season and was submitted to medical exams in the USA through last week.

On Monday, the Texan franchise sent a letter to the KSS expressing fears that Marjanovic is likely to sustain a fracture in his left foot, unless he attends a period of inactivity.

In the letter, the Spurs state that their medical team recommended that the player wears an aircast boot for three weeks, undertakes no sort of physical activity that pertains to either foot during that time and then be resubmitted to an MRI scan in late August, before commencing 'conservative basketball activity, as tolerated'.

"We recognise this is difficult news to receive, however with this information and at the direction of our medical experts, the San Antonio Spurs do not allow Boban to participate with the national team this summer," the letter concluded.

In its official announcement, the KSS disputed the Spurs' findings and clarified that the Serbian team doctors had examined Marjanovic prior to his departure to the USA and their diagnosis was that there was no fracture in his left foot.

The KSS also stated that the player's wish was to play at the EuroBasket and that it will respond to the Spurs with an official letter expressing their disagreement with the decision.

"Despite this, our goals at the EuroBasket remain the same and we believe that our team members and coaching staff will achieve a result that we will always be proud of," the KSS statement concludes.

Marjanovic last played for Serbia at EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania where he had a marginal role. However, the 2.22m center exploded in the past two seasons at Crvena Zvezda Belgrade and was named in the All-Euroleague First Team this year as he set a new record for most rebounds and most double-doubles in a single season in the competition.

Serbia head coach Sasha Djordjevic had expressed on various occasions in the last days his desire to see Marjanovic join the national team training camp for EuroBasket 2015, but his team have several options at the center position.

Miroslav Raduljica, who delivered stand-out performances for Serbia in last summer's FIBA Basketball World Cup and helped the Balkan nation reach the Final in Madrid, returns this summer to help the national team maintain momentum.

Another member of the team that played at Spain 2014, Vladimir Stimac, is ready to resume his role as the solid back-up center who provides energy and hassle off the bench.

Ognjen Kuzmic, who returned from his NBA experience at the Golden State Warriors with a champion's ring and will join Djordjevic and Raduljica at Panathinaikos next season, is poised to make his debut with Serbia at the EuroBasket.

Djordjevic also counts at the '5' spot with young sensation Nikola Milutinov, who has recently joined Olympiacos from Partizan Belgrade, while of course power forward Zoran Erceg can also occupy the center position in certain line-ups.

Serbia will play in Group B at EuroBasket 2015 and are set to go up against Spain, Iceland, Italy, Turkey and hosts Germany in Berlin.

Serbia preliminary squad for EuroBasket 2015: Nemanja Bjelica, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Nemanja Dangubic, Zoran Erceg, Nikola Kalinic, Marko Keselj, Ognjen Kuzmic, Stefan Markovic, Dragan Milosavljevic, Luka Mitrovic, Nikola Milutinov, Nemanja Nedovic, Stefan Pot, Miroslav Raduljica, Marko Simonovic, Milos Teodosic.

Go to eurobasket2015.org for complete coverage of EuroBasket 2015.

FIBA