07 September 2007
Israel Deal Croatia Big Blow
Croatia will have a much tougher task of making it through to the quarter-finals of EuroBasket 2007 after they fell 80-75 against Israel tonight.
Jasmin Repesa's were hoping that a win would all but secure their place in the last eight. However, following this result, they are now feeling the pressure of having to win against the defending champions Greece and/or unbeaten Russia in their two remaining games of the qualifying round.
And after the game, the defeated Croatian players knew all too well that they had let a great opportunity slip away.
"We are really stupid," said guard Roko-Leni Ukic. "We missed a golden chance to get close to the quarter-finals. I really don't know how we gave this game away. I'm really disappointed."
Mario Kasun (Croatia)
Kasun admitted Croatia didn't
deserve to win this game
"We didn't deserve to win this game. We were too soft in the first half. In the second half we got back into it but we weren't on the same page," admitted Croatia center Mario Kasun. "It's not the basketball we played a couple of days ago, it's frustrating but we have two more games to go."
Zvidic Shref's side put on an inspiring second-half performance to take a vital win which, all of a sudden, makes Group E a lot more interesting and wide-open.
"We stayed together and are all as one. We're not like most teams, and I think that's what got us over the hump," offered Jeron Roberts who finished with 15 points for the winning side.
"We have the support of the whole country. We really appreciate their support."
Amit Tamir -- who did not play in the first half -- was the hero of the day for Israel as he hit three three-pointers, all at the right time.
The 2.10m center made his first shot attempt, from beyond the arc, to tie the game up at 48 a piece with 2:41 left in the third quarter.
And, just over a minute later, he struck again from downtown to give his team their first lead of the second half, 53-50.
Croatia though fought back thanks in large part to the play of Marko Popovic and Mario Kasun.
After Roko-Leni Ukic made a pair of free-throws, Popovic hit a three-pointer in the first minute of the final period to put his team back in front, 56-53.
Israel didn't relent and stayed close and went back in front, 63-61, on a pair of free-throws by Jeron Roberts.
Shref's men though saw the momentum swing in their favour for good when Yotam Halperin and Yaniv Green worked the pick and roll to perfection and the latter concluded the play with an emphatic slam dunk that put Israel up by four, 65-61, with 4:15 left in the game.
Tamir then made his third three-pointer of the night to stretch that advantage to 68-61 and even though Croatia came back to within three, 78-75, on Kasun's dunk with 22 seconds remaining, Israel sealed the result by making their free-throws down the stretch.
Croatia led for much of the first two quarters by using a three-point barrage -- they hit seven of 15 attempts before the break -- to take a 35-33 half-time lead.
However, Repesa's side allowed Israel to stay closer than they wanted to, by sending their opponents to the free-throw line where Shref's men were very accurate.
Accuracy from the foul line proved to be a vital factor in this game as Israel shot a sizzling 23 from 28 (82%) -- with Roberts leading the way, hitting 11 of his 12 attempts -- while Croatia went a respectable 17 for 25 (68%) but missed some crucial ones in the final frame.
Afterwards, Shref had a lot of praise for his troops.
"I have to tell my players they gave another great game," he said. "We knew they were dangerous on three-pointers. In the first half, we were unsuccessful stopping them. But in the second half we left Mario Kasun alone in the post and focused on their shooters and did a great job."
Meir Tapiro, who finished the game with 11 points, seven assists and four rebounds, admitted that the win was made even more special because of the quality of the opposition.
"It was a very, very tough game. They are very, very talented. We knew if we could keep the three-point percentage down we could win the game. We took the lead and never gave up. We still have a chance to reach the quarter-finals. But we have to rest tomororw and maybe have another good game," he said.
Yaniv Green had a double-double of 17 points and 16 rebounds to lead the way for Israel.
Kasun had 18 points and seven rebounds for Croatia while Ukic chipped in with 10.
Israel take on Portugal on Sunday while Croatia have the daunting task of going up against defending champions Greece on the same day.
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JAh, Israel won!!!
d77s2 3 years ago 4
yay israel
ImKavkazy 4 years ago 4