(Pictured Sandro Gacic and Nedim Buza)
Bosnians often don't get the credit for being the basketball power and the country the proving ground that it should. Second only to soccer in BiH, basketball is a passion for it's people. Also known for her tall people (especially in Herzegovina region) Bosnia has produced some great talents over the years from Mirza Delibasic, Zoran Savic, Nenad Markovic, Damir Mulaomerovic, Vladmir Radmanovic, Zoran Planinic to the more recent generation of Nihad Dedovic, Nedzad Sinanovic, Mirza Teletovic, Emir Preldzic, Bojan Bogdanovic and so many other talents.
Bosnia suffered because of the war in the 1990's and so did basketball in the country. The next generation of basketball talents from the postwar era (1995 and beyond) has reclaimed some of the past glory. The next challenge for BiH is keeping most of the talent inside the country and convincing the youngsters that their future belongs inside the BiH National Team. In the past the biggest threats came from Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia (and to a lesser degree Turkey which had taken Mirsad Turkcan, Emir Preldzic, Asim Pars, Hedo Turkoglu and others) and now the biggest threat seems to be Spain who have picked off Nedim Dedovic, Adnan Omeragic and it seems Nedzad Sinovic is more likely to join Spanish National Team.
Taking a look forward these are the best young talents in BiH and of Bosnian origin.
1) Sandro Gacic 6'5" SG/SF 1996 A tremendous talent who has led a lot of his youth teams in scoring and can attack the opposition in multiple ways. Sandro has a offensive game mature beyond his years. Has yet to don the jersey of Bosnian National teams.
2) Nedim Buza 6'7" PF 1995 He exploded upon the scene with a great 2011 U16 National Team for Bosnia. He is skilled, is a good athlete and just needs to add some polish and get quality coaching to be a serious player in Europe.
3) Nedim Dedovic 6'5" SG 1997 A great talent who has better shooting form than his older brother Nihad. He decided to accept Spanish passport and it seems will be lost to Spain.
4) Samir Sehic 6'8 PF 1996 Getting a lot of notice in the US from college scouts who like his skill set and attitude. He looks like he should develop into a high quality college player in the US.
5) Adnan Omeragic 6'7" SF 1996 A very good athlete who appears to have little interest in joining Bosnian National Team. He has a quality all around game and has a bright future.
6) Alen Omic 6'11" C 1992 The best young center talent from Bosnia, he proved to be a leader for Slovenia youth teams.
7) Adin Vrabac 6'8" SF 1994 Adin is a raw talent who needs to develop his body and get better coaching.
8) Miralem Halilovic 6'8" F 1991 It seems like he is a lot older than he is because he has been playing for so many years as a professional. Stuck on the bench with KK Zagreb he isn't getting many minutes with the team and would benefit for getting loaned to a team like KK BOSNA ASA.
9) Adi Zahiragic 6'2" PG 1995 Not a great athlete but he shows a mature PG game and could develop into a really solid player in the future.
10) Boris Barac 6'7" SF 1992 Solid talent who has a lot of weapons but is inconsistint. Good bloodlines as his brother Stanko Barac plays on high level European teams and is a key member of the Croatian National Team.
Honorable mention: Marko Ramljak PF (undersized PF who has some outside shooting ability ), Marko Rikalo PG ( showed some upside in very limited minutes for the Bosnian U20 team ), Mirza Bulic SF ( a nice scorer who is weak physically at this point and inconsistent ), Nermin Buza PF (flashes some nice all around talent who needs more minutes ), Ali Demic SF ( Ali was a higher rated prospect who is finally getting minutes at the age of 21 ) Armin Mazic SF ( has disappointed so far, he shows skill which has made him attractive to others), Djordje Micic SF (flashes a high level of athletic ability, a bad shooter so far and opportunities seem to be getting limited )
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