By Michalis Gioulenoglou/ info@eurohoops.net
Limassol, Cyprus – Bosnia got the win for the first time in the Eurobasket stage against Greece, Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t play, and at the end of the game, Bosnian star Jusuf Nurkic went to talk to him mid-court.
“No comment” was his answer when he was asked about their interaction, but it is a safe bet that the topic. After all, when he saw the Greek press in the mixed zone, he asked: “You are the ones who wrote something that I didn’t say?”
To be exact, as the Georgian federation clarified – and the video proves – Nurkic never said that Giannis “sucked” against FIBA defenses, but that “he saw kinda those defenses,” and in the end, a comment he never made went viral.
Speaking about the game and ultimately not facing Giannis, Nurkic talked about the mentality of his team, which ultimately led to the win: “I think it didn’t change a lot. We still had the same attachment to the defense or offense, and regardless of who is going to play there, you have to have the same discipline. So for most of the game, we did have a lot of discipline. We still have to learn to be better, not helping other shooters, and when shooters catch and shoot, we have a hand down, which is, when you think about it, crazy, that you don’t bring the hand up to the great shooters like Sloukas or somebody else. We have to learn from there, but you know I’ll take any win”.
The fact that Bosnia beat the top team of the group may mean a lot, or nothing, as Nurkic explained why: “It doesn’t mean anything or everything. We didn’t finish the job, like you said; they already qualified, and we didn’t. We have one more game with Georgia. And you know we have 24 hours to rest and then regroup, and you have a game plan for Georgia”.
In the last round, Georgia and Bosnia are facing each other, and the game is a “final” for both, since the winner will qualify for the next round.
Photo credit: FIBA