Eurobasket 2011 is over for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the team ended up going 2-3 barely missing out on advancing due to losing to an inferior Finland team who snuck in due to the head to head win against Bosnia by a resounding margin of 28 points! Bosnia was lucky enough to get put into the easiest group and will put a positive spin on the whole experience. It is true that Bosnia won two games, both times by getting there shots to fall and outstanding play by the big three of Dedovic, Domercant and Teletovic. The downside is this team was capable of so much more, if the team would have been lead by a more competent coach and used a better, more authentic selection process they easily could have won their group. Greece was a disappointing team with the withdrawal of some of there top talent. Croatia went very young and ended up lacking leadership and a go to player. Finland was well coached and had three genuine players which was enough to push them into the playoff round. Macedonia as usual, outplayed their talent level and played an outstanding team game. Macedonia is the opposite of Bosnia, everyone signs up to represent the team, they don't lose players to other countries and get every ounce of talent out of their team and are well coached and disciplined. Montenegro were surprisingly disappointing considering their meteoric rise since becoming independent from Serbia.
Bosnia can look to some positives from this tournament but coaching wouldn't be one of them. Sabit Hadzic proved to be a poor selector of talent as well as lacking in coaching and leadership as well as technical skill. The lack of guidance in letting Mirza Teletovic camp from the outside against Greece was inexcusable. Mirza went 0-9 from 3pt land and didn't want to get physical and mix it up with the Greek big men. It would have made a major difference if they had a real center like Nedzad Sinanovic, Ratko Varda or even Ogjenjen Kuzmic to keep some of the big man muscle from packing the lane against Bosnia.
A recap of the Bosnian players in the tournament...
Mirza Teletovic PF In the two wins Mirza was fantastic averaging over 24pts a game and almost 50% from two and three. In the three loses he averaged under 10pts and shot a terrible percent, it's not hard to figure out what teams need to do to defeat Bosnia. He would have benefited greatly from playing next to a genuine center who could pose a threat both offensively and defensively for the team. Still, by far the best and most talented player on the team C+
Nihad Dedovic SG Played well in every game except the blowout loss to Finland. He played a mature game and stayed away from his weakness (outside shooting) and played to his strengths and generally played within himself. The only real criticism of his play was his lack of ball handling and ball movement. B
Henry Domercant SG/PG Not a genuine point guard, although he can handle the ball well and play it in small stretches. Had two big games against Finland and Croatia, otherwise struggled. He has been a warrior for Bosnia, since taking over for Terrel Castle as the naturalized player on the team. Bosnia should consider a genuine point guard or center for the naturalized position, a more important role on the team than a combo guard who is only average defensively and at passing. C-
Nemanja Gordic PG/SG Played well in the first two games before disappearing in the last three. He and Henry Domercant fulfill similar duties on a team and there skills tend to overlap leaving little need for two player who play the exact same positions and role within a team. Another reason why Bosnia would benefit from having a different naturalized player. Nemanja always seems to be banged up and nicked. He's a good athlete and defender and good, if inconsistent outside shooter. C-
Sasa Vasiljevic PG Sasa played surprisingly well considering that he was the only genuine point guard to see playing time for Bosnia in these games. Sasa isn't a great shooter but doesn't take a lot of bad shots either. He always keeps his turnovers to a minimum, keeping the team alive with possessions. His defense is suspect due to his lack of quickness but is crafty and smart. B-
Elemedin Kikanovic C/PF The most perplexing choice for Bosnia was starting Kikanovic. He played well offensively but his physical weakness put his team in a bad position time and time again. A big reason why Bosnia gave up so many points in these games. He is a talent physically and with his shooting but he is now 23, coming off a missed season due to doping and his weaknesses don't seem to be getting any better. C-
Goran Ikonic SG/SF Goran is a solid pro who seems to get better with age. He is a great role player who doesn't complain about his role on the team if he is starting or coming off the bench. Bosnia is lucky to have such a solid professional. His only weakness is quickness, guarding on the perimeter. B
Edin Bavcic PF/C Edin just never got a chance to really make a contribution during these games. He played under 10 minutes in every game except against Croatia. A tough position for a veteran who is used to starting to come off the bench cold and not get much of a shot. He really didn't contribute much, but is more of a result of coach Hadzic not forcing the action with match ups that favor Bosnia. D
Kenan Bajramovic F Kenan played well in the games and is a solid professional. He always gets everything from his ability. His defense and free throw shooting are below average but otherwise is a solid role player who contributes to the team. His lack of lateral quickness keeps him from being a good defender, but he tries hard. C
Aleksej Nesovic PG A solid professional who got little chance to play in these games only getting garbage minutes against Finland. Bosnia could have used his tough hard nosed defense against Macedonia in a critical game were Vasiljevic's defense was exploited by McCaleb and Illievski. N/A
Ermin Jazvin C Through no fault of his own Ermin ended up on the team in a tough position after the Varda debacle and coach Hadzic terrible bungling of the roster. It seems strange as to why he was added to the team over some others like Sinanovic, Kuzmic, Varda, Krupalija or even keeping Adnan Hodzic and his interior scoring. Ermin was a true professional through this whole experience and much like Nesovic, there were times when his defense, rebounding and positioning would have benefited the team greatly N/A
Milan Milosevic SF His inclusion into the team makes you question everything that the leadership of Bosnia say and do. We are talking about a journeyman who since leaving a low level team in Sloboda Dita Tuzla hasn't kept a job his entire career. Now 26 there is nothing that he exhibits that says he should have been kept over Kapelan, Hodzic or including a youngster like Vrabac, Gacic, Halilovic or a veteran proven scorer like the Kharimanovic's or Ivan Opacak or so many others. It really is insulting to the Bosnian basketball fan that you would include someone of such a low level of skill on such an important team. F
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