Slovenia won a controversial Pre-Olympic shutout

The Slovenian National Team, led by Luka Doncic on the field, qualified for the next stage at the Pre-Olympic headquarters in Piraeus, Greece after finishing second in Group A. The Balkans needed to win by 29 points or more against New Zealand to Don’t Don’t cross paths with locals eye to eye. And the closing full of controversy set fire to social networks because of the situation experienced at the end of the match that ended in a Slovenian victory of 104 to 78.

A missed free throw and a longed-for triple

After a match dominated from its start by the Balkan team led by Aleksander Sekulic, in which it had four players above double digits, there was a closing with a lot of controversy. But what happened? In one of the last games of the match against New Zealand, the figure of the game, Luka Doncic (36 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 steal) laughingly told the best of the New Zealanders if he missed his second free throw .

Shea Ili (28 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals), the Kiwis figure agreed to the request of the recent NBA finalist and did not convert his shot from the penalty line. At that point in the match, Slovenia had won by 26 points, and with 17.8 seconds left on the clock, they needed to score three more goals to avoid Giannis Antetokounmpo’s overwhelming Greece next time.

Slovenia’s possession is charged with moving the ball quickly on offense. With some good ball movement, coupled with poor New Zealand defence, Gregor Hrovat got the first triple to secure victory, but missed it. Josh Nebo brought in the rebound for the Balkans and gave the ball to Luka Doncic who also took a three-point shot to become a national hero, but he also missed. And with the error of 77, the match was over and everyone on the field knew who Sekulic’s team’s next opponent would be.

What’s next for Slovenia?

The Slovenians, who failed to achieve victory, will meet Greece in the semifinals on Saturday, July 6 at 11:30 (Argentine time). Luka Doncic’s men finished second in group A, with a big win and a big loss. While the locals, under the wing of Giannis Antetokounmpo, closed the group in first position with two victories by a wide margin.

A similar situation in Georgia – Philippines

Georgia needed to win by 20 points or more against the Philippine team to qualify for the next stage in the Latvian headquarters. And with the score in favor of two points for the Europeans, there was a free throw for the Asians with 2.8 seconds left, Chris Newsome missed the second of his shots and Georgian Goga Bitazde tried to score a double with his own hoop! It was to go to overtime and for the red-and-white team to have a chance to get the victory, but they missed the dunk.

Photo: FIBA