By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
With two wins on the back in the prep games against France and Lithuania, Croatia proved that it’s one of the teams to watch in the upcoming Eurobasket.
And while Bojan Bogdanovic is the primary option on offense, the key for success will be the duo of Dario Saric and Dragan Bender. “You know how it is with us. You win two games and you are a miracle and then you lose one and they throw stones at you”, said Saric in a more than interesting interview at “Vecernji list”, Croatia’s biggest newspaper.
Saric will have the ball in his hand, even when he is used as a power forward or as a center. “It is true that we do not have an old school center like 10 years ago, but it’s a different basketball game, so in Bender and me, we have a variety of forwards”, said Saric who admitted that his role in the national team changed. “I was allowed to have such kind of initiative always when I was younger and these are the details that give me added value. So it’s definitely an interesting option for me and Bender to be paired on the court. It takes time, the more we play together, the more we feel it”.
Saric also spoke about his first season in the NBA, he admitted that as a rookie he was carrying a pink backpack with him, however “when you play well and become an influential player, then you don’t have to do some of these things. I’ve never looked at basketball through the prism of money. Actually, I often went the opposite way. The primary thing for me and my family always was to feel well with my decision. Let’s say that I could stay another year in Europe and then negotiate my contract, like Bogdan Bogdanovic did, but after two years in Efes, I felt that it was time for a new challenge in my life”.