Slovenia not only wants to defend its title at the European Championships, it also wants to establish itself as a top team in world basketball. To achieve this, they are fully relying on the qualities of Luka Doncic – and on a national team returnee.
When you think of Slovenia and basketball, you inevitably think of Doncic. The 23-year-old has had an impressive career in the NBA over the past few years and is now considered a legitimate successor to Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas. Doncic understands like hardly anyone else how to take control of the game and steer it in a way that only a masterful conductor can do. Doncic hardly has a weakness, he can score from almost any position, has a strong drive and can also shine as an assist-giver.
Five years ago Doncic won the European Championship with Slovenia, but the then 18-year-old was not a real factor, especially in the final against Serbia (93:85) – back then it was Goran Dragic who turned the tide for Slovenia with an outstanding performance. Dragic subsequently retired from the national team, which also affected the Slovenian game. It became more and more tailored to Doncic, which at the same time made the Slovenians more predictable. In 2019, they missed out on the World Cup, though they made up for it by reaching the semi-finals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
France again
Slovenia are all about proving that they were not a one-off wonder, rather they want to establish themselves as a continuing factor in world basketball. The retirement of the now 36-year-old Dragic comes just in time. The point guard is not only supposed to relieve Doncic, most of all the Slovenians hope that the tandem will harmonise as well as it did in 2017.
Already five years ago, the Slovenians had an enormously difficult preliminary round, which they survived with 5-0 victories. Back then, they faced France, Greece, host Finland, Poland and Iceland. And this time, too, they have been given a tough group. Again they have to face the French, who, by the way, had shattered Slovenia’s gold dreams in a dramatic semi-final (90:89) at the Olympic Games. They will be joined by hosts Germany, Lithuania, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary.
Despite Dragic’s return, Slovenia’s game continues to revolve primarily around Doncic. Coach Aleksander Sekulic relies completely on his shooters, probably also because they are not so excellent at the “big” positions. The Slovenian game is very physical and fast-break-oriented – but it also depends on a good shooting percentage, especially from outside.
Against Germany, it will depend on which playmaker can put his stamp on the game – in the surprisingly clear 71:90 in the World Cup qualification, it was not Doncic, but rather Dennis Schröder, who has clear advantages over his Slovenian counterpart in terms of tempo.
