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It seems that Croatian NT finally has a Leader – swingman Bojan Bogdanovic
It was all that we envisioned it to be – Tournament opener vs Finland was an overall struggle for Croatian NT on the both ends of the floor. Croatia somehow managed to fight off it’s own demons of the past, take control of the game and overcome it’s potential new nightmare.
Finland gave Croatia quite a headache with numerous offensive rebounds and long distance bombs. However with the score 31:42 Croatia was able to regroup, score 10 unanswered points and narrow the lead to only one point (41:42) at the halftime.
In the 2nd half Croatia did a much better defensive job of controlling the Finish “pick & roll” plays while also increasing the overall level of it’s team defense. For the game Finland shot the ball just 33% inside the arc.
2011 Nets draftee G/F Bojan Bogdanovic led the way for Croatia with 27 points and 7 boards while hitting 6-8 threes. C Ante Tomic added 14 points and 8 rebounds while his frontcourt mate PF Damir Markota had 11 points and 7 boards.
Croatian NT captain PG Marko Popovic (12 points) was able to hit all four of his critical free-throws in the last minute of the encounter.
On Thursday (20.00 CET), Croatia will face well organized Macedonian NT feat. Bo McCalebb which today lost an overtime thriller to Montenegro by 70:65.
Contributed 12 pts in 18 minutes vs China - Damir Markota (photo by CroHoops.com)
On the last day of 2011 London Invitational Tournament Croatia had a relatively easy task of handling down 83:53 loss to not quite well organized China.
Nets 2011 draftee Bojan Bogdanovic again led Croatia in scoring with 16 points, mainly coming on easy transition dunks and mid-range jumpers. C Ante Tomic was very close to the triple double category with 9 points, 8 boards and 6 assists.
Croatian NT will return to Zagreb before it’s path to 2011 EuroBaske. With F Damjan Rudez returning from the flu and ready to go head coach Josip Vrankovic is about to determine the final lists of passengers for Lithuania.
Marko Tomas, Croatia (photo by CroHoops.com)
Without it’s leading scorer in preparation cycle SG Kruno Simon, Croatia really had no clue how to deal with the pressing French NT and lost the game by 60:83.
Croatia managed to hit ONLY ONE THREE-POINTER OUT OF SEVENTEEN ATTEMPTS (Popovic) and to score it’s first transition basket as late as 25th minute of the game!
G/F Bojan Bogdanovic led Croatia with 16 points to go along with 7 boards, but ended 0-5 from downtown. C Stanko Barac added 13 points, while PF Luka Zoric had 10 points.
General impression is that Croatia has the tools to battle underneath the basket against anyone but still lacks much needed cohesion in the backcourt, especially under the pressure.
Coach Vrankovic had little/no success with implementing key tactical solutions during preparation cycle which could get Croatian NT in some early trouble at the upcoming EuroBasket.
G/F Marko Tomas left the game with the leg injury which is still not diagnosed. Tomorrow, Croatia will face China in the last game of it’s EuroBasket preparation cycle.
PrintScreen: NBA Entertainment/Nets.com
On Monday, Bojan Bogdanovic (6’7”/1989) had a chance to officialy present himself to NJ Nets staff, fans and associated media. He finally addressed the nature of his contract with Fenerbahce.
Although he would prefer to remain in Turkey for the next two years, Nets GM Billy King has his name high on the agenda and will give his best try to land him already next summer, just before the start of the Nets first season in NY Brooklyn.
With all the speculation about the amount of cash which Nets have paid to Timberwolves going on, independent source special to CroHoops.com confirmed that this amount “is well below 2 million US$ and the Nets are very pleased with the move which they have made.”
G/F Bojan Bogdanovic (photo by Cibona.com)
After the Nets used a series of draft day swaps and landed Croatian swingman Bojan Bogdanovic (6’7”/1989) ESPN analyst Chad Ford labelled the move as “a steal for the Nets, perhaps one of the biggest steals of the (Draft) night.”
Brandon Putre/Bleacherreport.com wrote that “The ever sneaky GM Billy King should be locked up for the theft he committed to open the second round of the draft.”
The same site goes even further in recognizing Bogdanovic’s potential trade value and builds up a trade theory that Bojan could help Nets in bringing over Orlando’s superstar Dwight Howard (!).
Independent basketball expert close to CroHoops.com grades Bogdanovic “as the new millennium version of the legendary Nets SG Drazen Petrovic, who enjoys to excel, but who will need to demonstrate the same level of desire and determination in order to be successful in the NBA. He will need to work, day in and day out to prove that he belongs to that level.”
The amount of publicity Bogdanovic received in the last couple of days is just incredible. New Jersey Nets organization as well as their community are becoming more and more aware they have landed one of the most intriguing European basketball prospects besides Rubio, Vesely, Mirotic…
But it seems that the Nets organization and the fans will have to wait for a couple of years. According to 24sata.hr/Ivan Zuric Bogdanovic has firmly decided to stay on European soil: “I will work off two years of my contract with Fenerbahce and then we shall see. I want to play in Europe, continue to improve, there is time for NBA…”
Today, Nets will introduce all three of their 2011 Draft picks, including Bogdanovic, who has already spoken (VIDEO) with the New Jersey Nets related media after one of his predraft workouts.
Danko Cvjeticanin, Nets’ European scouting coordinator
New Jersey Nets’ European scouting coordinator Danko Cvjeticanin released the following exclusive statement regarding the series of draft day trades which made Croatian swingman Bojan Bogdanovic (6’7”/1989) potential future member of the New Jersey Nets organization.
“From the begining of the Draft Bogdanovic was our choice together with Brooks whom we had choosen in the first round. Because of that all of the transactions we made were created in our Draft room.
He (Bogdanovic) is a player who has extremely improved over the last two seasons. Not only that he is an excellent shooter, but he also became offensive threat with his ability to penetrate and even as a low post option. In the last 7 days Bojan has visited New Jersey Nets twice and showed us that he is a top notch talent.
We are very pleased and happy that we have landed Bojan and we hope that after his successful Euroleague campaign for Fenerbahce he will continue his basketball career on the blazing trail which legendary Drazen Petrovic’s made in the New Jersey Nets organization.”