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Serbian game is affected by the absences, the Croats are tired

- We couldn't keep the pace up against France, we have a practice session even on the day of the game, but the coaches know what they're doing, and we're be at our best when necessary - Saric said after the game in which they displayed many ups and down. Serbia got unlcky and lost against Greece, but their offense struggles without Krstic, Nedovic, and Teodosic

In the opening game of the tournament in France, the Croatian game was full of ups and downs, which was not a characteristic of their game in the first three friendly matches. There were some in both games with Canada, and the game against Macedonia, but not like in the game against France. The final score suggests an easy win for France because they were 10 points in the end, but Croatia were 10 points up 8 minutes before the end. That proves just how ripe their game was with ups and downs.

The Croatians opened the game horribly, got 18 points down by minute 9 (24-6), but the amazing game in the following two quarters made up for the deficit. They even managed to take the lead, but in the last eight minutes they allowed the opponent to score 22 points, while they scored only 2, and in the end lost. It was their first defeat in this preparation period.

- The start and finish were horrible, the start especially - coach Repesa said. He is to be blamed for the lazy start, but says he did it on purpose.

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- For three players in the starting five, those were the first moment on the court this summer. Those were Ukic, Bogdanovic, and Tomic. We did very well later on, the third quarter was more than I could have hoped for at this point in the preparation period. But we lost power in the end. The first quarter turned out to be crucial. It was a good test, it proved there are a lot of good things, but a lot of those we have to work on as well - the Croatian coach said.

Zoric was the best among those who played their first game against France. He scored 20 points and added 5 rebounds, and Saric and him got Croatia back in the game. Saric scored 17 points with 5 rebounds, and 0 assists, which doesn't happen often. In fact, the whole team recorded only 9 assists, which only goes to prove that the Croats weren't good at assisting in that game.

- We couldn't keep the pace up, we have a practice session even on the day of the game, but the coaches know what they're doing, and we're be at our best when necessary - Saric said.

Given all the injuries and absences Serbia are faced with, the defeat to Greece in France isn't something they should feel bad about. They almost managed to take the game into overtime, but Micov got reckless two seconds before the end, fauled Vasilidis, which gave Greece the opportunity to win. They used the opportunity, score the free throws and won in the end.

The whole game was pretty close, except in the opening five minutes. Serbia were better at rebound (37-21), and that kind of dominance should have seen them win the game. But, they made mistakes in defense. Coach Djorjevic is still definitely happy about the 18 second chance points they managed to score, and the 34 points they scored from the key.

- It was a tough game, just like all the games we did so far. It's too bad that one mistake by one of our top players in the end decided the game. We had the chance to see how good we are against Greece, and to play against their center Borouisis. He was the one who caused us most problems. We just couldn't stop him at times - Djordjevic said.

As soon as the injured players get back on the team, the situation will be different. Serbia are much better with Nedovic, Krstic, and Teodosic. The three of them didn't even travel to France with the team, but Micic managed to recover enough to spend 10 minutes in the game. Kalinic didn't play against Greece, which could be the result of an injury or just a tactical move by the coach.

- We're far from doing our best, but I'm looking forward to tests with top opponents - Croatia who are the fourth best team in Europe, and France, who are the European champions. We worked on physical fitness a lot lately, and we'll be ready to start working on details when the time comes - Djordjevic said.