Mike Tobey: 'I'm just trying to move out of Luka's way' / News - Basketnews.com

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After another Slovenian victory, the team was ecstatic to continue their Olympic run and advance to the semis.

Player of the Game EFF 34 Zoran Dragic Points 27 Accuracy 11-13 Rebounds 6 Assists 4

Mike Tobey, who scored 13 points and grabbed 11 boards, talked about his chemistry with Luka Doncic after the game: "Luka is just so talented. I'm just trying to move out of his way, and sometimes when he's passing, his passes are actually leading me where I should be on the court. I missed a couple of them today because I was the one who wasn't ready. I'm having fun, we believe in ourselves."

Zoran Dragic had a game-high 27 points, only missing two of his 13 shots. He gave credit to Germany post-game, explaining that Slovenia was not out of the woods yet after gaining a double-digit lead after three quarters: "Germany has very good shooters so even when we were 12 points up, we knew the game was not over. They always stick around and that was the toughest part of the game and we managed well. We pushed ourselves in the third and fourth quarter and I think we won this game with our great defense today."

Dragic also felt like the Slovenian head coach Aleksander Sekulic doesn't get enough respect for his outstanding work: "He was always with us and knows every player to the bone. He knows what he needs to do to get 100 percent from each of the players. He has big respect from everybody and he respects us. This is the most important thing and we have the best possible coach for this national team."

Meanwhile, Sekulic himself expressed admiration for his players and the way they leave everything on the floor: "These guys put their hearts onto the court. They bleed out there on the court. Everything is about the team - every decision they make. From every player. The way they played this game is amazing for me. I am very proud to be part of this team and fortunately to now be one of the top four teams at the Olympics."

On the losing side, German coach Henrik Rodl praised Slovenia's team effort: "They have one of the best players of the world, but he's not alone. They play well as a team, these guys can knock down shots, I'm impressed with Mike Tobey, he's doing really well. I was also very impressed with their defense, I thought they were very physical, very few times that we got open for some easy shots. That's why that game was decided by (24 points)."

Niels Giffey was also impressed with Slovenia's defensive effort in the quarter-finals: "We talked a lot about their offense, but they were impressive on defense. They played aggressive deny, full-court pressure, gave us something new to work with that I think we haven't seen at this tournament. It maybe broke our rhythm a little bit and took us out of a few things to that we usually get easy.

Slovenia will play the winners of the matchup between France and Italy in the Olympic semi-finals on Thursday.

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