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.
