SLO - Zdovc arrives as clock ticks on "Golden Generation"

LJUBLJANA (EuroBasket 2009) - Slovenia have been within touching distance of a EuroBasket medal in recent years but always come up short.

The Basketball Federation of Slovenia president Dusan Sesok is hoping they can finally reach the podium in 2009 when the Final Round is staged in Poland following the appointment of former national team star Jure Zdovc as coach.

“We are in front of a very important era for our basketball,” Sesok said.

“We have great potential, but the clock is ticking. We want to achieve a result in Poland that Slovenia has deserved for some time.

“We don’t want to stay at just words. We don’t want to have a ‘golden’ generation that couldn’t reach its peak.”

Ales Pipan came ever so close last year to getting Slovenia into the semi-finals at EuroBasket 2007 in Spain but Greece mounted a late comeback and beat them in the final seconds to advance to the last four instead.

This summer, Slovenia lost power forward Matjaz Smodis in the build-up to the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament but still posted a couple wins against Canada and Korea in Athens and looked to have a good shot at reaching the Beijing Games, only to fall to Puerto Rico in the first knockout game.

That defeat marked the end for Pipan.

“We started talking with the new national team coaching candidates right after the Beijing qualifications,” Sesok said.

“We talked with different foreign coaches and we wanted to see how they looked at our national team. When we started talking with Zdovc, we soon realized that he is the man for the job.”

Zdovc won a world title and Olympic silver medal as a member of the national team of the former Yugoslavia. He played with Slovenia at several EuroBaskets after the breakup of the Yugoslavia.

“He has the potential to take us another step further,” Sesok said.

“He has a great playing career behind him. He was a world champion, second at the Olympic games, a European champion, a European club champion.

“He couldn’t have achieved much more in his playing career.”

Zdovc knows he has his work cut out for him.

Some leading players in the NBA have stayed away in recent years, whether it was because of injuries, uncertainty over their club contracts or the desire to rest.

Slovenia will need to have all weapons available when they go up against world champions Spain, along with Serbia and Great Britain in Group C of the EuroBasket.

“I believe in the team and I am confident Slovenia can reach the top spots in Poland,” Zdovc said, “even first place.

“Although there is still a lot of time to go until the EuroBasket and a lot of things can happen, I will want to have all the best players in my team.

“For Slovenia’s success, individual ambitions will have to stay home and we will have to work together as a team.”

FIBA