Croatia loses at home to Italy 80:64

The Croatian national basketball fell to Italy last night in Zagreb in their second group D qualification game for the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

The team struggled for the second time in almost as many nights, suffering a resounding loss at the hands of the Italians on their home court. The Croatians were soundly beaten in the second and third quarters as the Italians tightened the screws on their sloppy play early on and put the game out of reach. 

Centre Darko Planinić led Croatia with a solid 20 points and 10 rebounds; while Amedeo Della Vella had 25 points for the Italians.  

If Croatia plans to make an appearance at the FIBA World Cup in China, they’re going to have to figure out how to put together some wins with a depleted roster. There’s really no time to cut the team some slack, despite playing with a dozen new and inexperience players as the key members of this generation are unavailable due to contractual obligations with their professional clubs. 

Household names continue to be are unavailable: Bojan Bogdanović of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers is having a career-season stateside, putting together a string of 20+ points in the past week or so. And Dario Šarić, last year’s NBA Rookie of the Year runner-up, is also locked down in the USA as he continues to grown and build a fruitful career in the world’s best league. Both players are only a small fraction of the talent that won’t be suiting up for new head coach Ivica Skelin. 

After two games, Croatia is at the bottom of group D with two losses. Italy has two wins, while Romania and the Netherlands have one win and one loss. Only the first three teams per group move on. 

Croatia’s next two games are on their home court, versus Romania and the Netherlands on February 23rd and 26th 2018. 

 Source: HRT