Ante Zizic, Dragan Bender out of Croatia's EuroBasket squad / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

The Croatian Basketball Federation hosted a press in Zagreb, where an updated list of 16 players ahead of the national team's next obligations was presented.

Dragan Bender

Position:PF, CAge:24Height:215 cmWeight:102 kgBirth place:CroatiaProfileNewsStatistics

Big men Ante Zizic and Dragan Bender wasn't included and coach Damir Mulaomerovic gave an explanation for it.

"Zizic is a great player and a great guy, but he and Zubac have the same player profile. It is my decision to give preference to Zubac at this moment. We will have three profiles of players in the '5' position; there is also Matkovic, who is the future of our national team, regardless of whether I am the coach or someone else.

And, of course, there is Dario Saric at 5, where we can attack in different ways, but also defend."

In terms of Dragan Bender's absence, Mulaomerovic noted that the player "did his preparation in June quite correctly, he is also a great guy who will definitely join us in the future. He was coming off a long injury and I'm sure that the period he trained with us was very good for him."

On the other hand, Dario Saric is set to return to action for the first time since he tore his ACL in Game 1 of the 2021 NBA Finals.

The new list of 16 players who will prepare for the 2022 EuroBasket, as well as the qualification matches for the 2025 tournament includes the following:

Roko Rogic Lovro Gnjidic Ivan Ramljak Goran Filipovic Roko Prkacin Mario Hezonja Toni Perkovic Karlo Matkovic Mateo Dreznjak Krunoslav Simon Dominik Mavra Pavle Marcinkovic Bojan Bogdanovic Ivica Zubac Dario Saric Jaleen Smith*

*the player is in the process of acquiring citizenship

"These are the 16 guys that I have decided on and that I stand behind and now is the right time to show character. My only wish is that my players are well-prepared, that we don't have any unwanted injuries", coach Mulaomerovic said.

Croatia start preparation tomorrow, August 3 in Opatija, but NBA players Bojan Bogdanovic and Ivica Zubac can join only on August 8.

The team's schedule, as announced by the federation, includes four prep games and two official outings.

FRIENDLY MATCHES

• August 13 Bulgaria – Croatia (Pardubice, Czech Republic)

• August 14 Czech Republic – Croatia (Pardubice, Czech Republic)

• August 18 Croatia – Hungary (Opatija, Croatia)

• August 20 Slovenia – Croatia (Celje, Slovenia)

EUROBASKET 2025 QUALIFIERS

• August 25, 2022 Poland - Croatia

• August 28, 2022 Croatia - Switzerland

Croatia take part in EuroBasket Group C. Playing in Milan, they will face Greece, Great Britain, Estonia, Italy, and Ukraine from 2 to 8 September. The top four teams will advance to the next round and compete in the knockout stage stretching from 10 to 18 September in Berlin.

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