Slovenia finished the Olympic Games in fourth place
The Slovenian men’s national team finished its historic, first, Olympic Games in Tokyo in fourth place. In the match for third place on Saturday, the Australian national team was better than the Slovenes with 107: 93. After the historic qualification for the Olympic Games and the victory in the qualifying tournament in Lithuania, the basketball … Continued
The Slovenian men’s national team finished its historic, first, Olympic Games in Tokyo in fourth place. In the match for third place on Saturday, the Australian national team was better than the Slovenes with 107: 93.
After the historic qualification for the Olympic Games and the victory in the qualifying tournament in Lithuania, the basketball players of the Slovenian national team in Tokyo wrote a new chapter in the successful history of Slovenian basketball. At their first Olympics, they managed to break through to fourth place. The Slovenes concluded the pre-competition part without a defeat and eliminated Germany from the fight for the highest places in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, they then suffered a defeat on Thursday against the Olympic runners-up, the basketball players of France, and in the match for third place, Australia was better than the selector Aleksandar Sekulić (93: 107).
After the introductory crisis minutes, the Slovenes soon caught the rhythm and took the lead before the end of the first quarter. Nevertheless, the Australians dictated the rhythm of the game, but the Slovenian national team successfully followed and after a few minutes of the game in the second quarter with a score of Žiga Dimec took the lead with 28:25. Luka Rupnik and Klemen Prepelić. But the Australian basketball players came back violently and took an eight-point advantage with them to the main break (53:45).
The players in golden-green jerseys also played well in the second half, but when the match already seemed lost, the Slovenians turned on their engines. Jaka Blažič scored first, Prepelić and Luka Dončić added theirs, and six minutes before the end Slovenia was only 80:83 behind. But the Australians then, despite the fighting performance of the Slovenes, moved away again, and then only calmly brought the match to an end.
Cedevita Olimpija was represented at the Olympic Games in Tokyo by four basketball players of the Slovenian national team. Jaka Blažič scored 12 points and collected two rebounds in Saturday’s match for third place. Žiga Dimec added one rebound to six points. With five points, Edo Murić added three rebounds and three assists to the statistics. Luka Rupnik was not among the scorers, but he collected one jump and successfully hired his teammates twice.
OLYMPIC GAMES (Tokio, Japan)
GAME FOR THIRD PLACE
Thursday, August 5:
SLOVENIA – AUSTRALIA 93:107 (19:20, 26:33, 22:25, 26:29)
Jaka Blažič (Slovenija) – 20 minutes, 12 points (4/6 2P FG, 1/2 3P FG, 1/2 FT), 2 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 turnover.
Edo Murić (Slovenija) – 21 minutes, 5 points (1/2 2P FG, 1/2 3P FG), 3 rebounds and 3 assists.
Luka Rupnik (Slovenija) – 5 minutes, 1 rebounds and 2 assists.
Žiga Dimec (Slovenija) – 5 minutes, 6 points (3/3 2P FG) and 1 rebound.
Already played:
OLYMPIC GAMES – GROUP C (Tokio, Japan)
ROUND 1
Monday, July 26:
ARGENTINA – SLOVENIA 100:118 (24:32, 18:30, 24:26, 34:30
Jaka Blažič (Slovenia) – 27 minutes, 3 points (0/3 2P FG, 1/3 3P FG), 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block and 3 turnovers.
Edo Murić (Slovenia) – 16 minutes, 3 points (1/4 3P FG), 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 turnovers.
Luka Rupnik (Slovenia) – 11 minutes, 4 points (1/4 3P FG, 1/2 FT), 1 rebound, 4 assists and 2 turnovers.
Žiga Dimec (Slovenia) – 8 minutes, 5 points (2/4 2P FG, 1/4 FT), 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 turnover.
ROUND 2
Thursday, July 29:
SLOVENIA – JAPAN 116:81 (29:23, 24:18, 27:23, 36:17)
Jaka Blažič (Slovenia) – 24 minutes, 10 points (2/3 2P FG, 2/7 3P FG), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 turnover.
Edo Murić (Slovenia) – 17 minutes, 4 points (2/2 2P FG, 0/3 3P FG), 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 turnover.
Luka Rupnik (Slovenia) – 10 minutes, 4 points (0/1 2P FG, 1/2 3P FG, 1/2 FT), 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 turnover.
Žiga Dimec (Slovenia) – 8 minutes, 2 points (1/1 2P FG) and 2 rebounds.
ROUND 3
Sunday, August 1:
SPAIN – SLOVENIA 87:95 (24:20, 20:21, 26:27, 17:27)
Jaka Blažič (Slovenia) – 27 minutes, 10 points (2/5 2P FG, 2/10 2P FG), 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.
Edo Murić (Slovenia) – 11 minutes, 8 points (1/2 2P FG, 2/4 3P FG), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 turnover.
Luka Rupnik (Slovenia) – 3 minutes (0/1 2P FG, 0/1 3P FG) and 2 rebounds.
Žiga Dimec (Slovenia) – 7 minutes, 6 points (3/4 2P FG), 5 rebounds and 1 assist.
QUARTER FINALS
Tuesday, August 3:
SLOVENIA – GERMANY 94:70 (25:14, 19:23, 22:17, 28:18)
Jaka Blažič (Slovenia) – 20 minutes, 9 points (2/2 2P FG, 1/6 3P FG, 2/2 FT), 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 2 turnovers.
Edo Murić (Slovenia) – 17 minutes, 3 points (1/1 3P FG), 1 steal and 2 turnovers.
Luka Rupnik (Slovenia) – 1 minute (0/1 2P FG) and 1 assist.
Žiga Dimec (Slovenia) – 7 minutes, 5 points (2/2 2P FG, 1/2 FT), 1 steal and 1 turnover.
SEMIFINALS
Thursday, August 5:
FRANCE – SLOVENIA 90:89 (27:29, 15:15, 29:21, 19:24)
Jaka Blažič (Slovenia) – 31 minutes, 14 points (4/8 2P FG, 2/7 3P FG), 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals.
Edo Murić (Slovenija) – 5 minutes (0/2 2P FG).
Luka Rupnik (Slovenija) – DNP.
Žiga Dimec (Slovenija) – 8 minutes, 4 points (2/2 2P FG) and 1 rebound.
Photo: FIBA.
