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Zdovc: These are matches we have to win through defense

Slovenia had a great opening to the tournament, and now have 3 easier matches lined up, but selector Zdovc urges caution, and wants to see maximum defense. Mexico cannot parry that, and have to be happy with the least possible defeat

Slovenia played a great match yesterday and opened the World Championship in the best possible way, beating their direct rivals. Although we doubted them as well, Slovenia gave a great performance, and led by the fenomenal Dragić achieved an extremely important victory. Selector Zdovc was elated after the match:

- Victories belong to players, defeats to coaches. I must say my team played a phenomenal match today. I could see the spark in their eyes right away, saw they were breathing as one, and I knew we could win.

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Zdovc deserves his share of credit too, however. He prepared the match perfectly, scouting the most used plays Australia use and knew precisely how to take advantage of the gaps in their defense, primarily on transition. As he's been preparing his team exclusively for this match, he now fears the coming three:

- We've now got three matches coming in which we're favorites, and I'm afraid of us taking them lightly. Mexico played on par with Lithuania for 25 minutes yesterday, and they are anything but a bad team. These are matches we have to win through defense, and we have to play it the best we can.

Zdovc is known as a coach that is happy only when defense is played, but even he had to give way in the national team as one cannot play a low scoring game with the Dragić brothers on the team, as with them run-and-gun is a must. However, after beating a team such as Australia with a 10 point margin we doubt Zdovc will be unhappy if the team goes into over by points. He will still look for a more defensive attitude against Mexico:

- We cannot try to outrun them as they have quick guards who are excellent from the three point line. Ayon is their main man in the paint, naturally, and we have to stop him. The key will be in defensive rebounding, where  we have to be as tough as we were against Australia.

Surprisingly, even shocking to some, Slovenia managed to beat the taller and stronger Australian team in rebounding, and that needs to be their recipe to this tournament, since as long as they hold the defensive rebounding they have transition, which makes them great.

Mexico played surprisingly well against Lithuania for 25 minutes, and even held a 4 point lead at one point. However, it was clear they cannot last, and as soon as Lithuania raised their defense up a notch, the lead started to climb in favor of Lithuania. Mexico did show some good points, primarily on transition, where they have several very quick players who use aggressive defense and turnovers by their opponents for easy points. Then there is also the paint game, where Ayon can perform well, although he struggled both with fouls and strong Lithuanian centers yesterday.

The most important thing for Mexico is organization of their plays. Yesterday they struggled with that when Lithuania increased pressure on defense, and today they'll be up against even stronger and more aggressive defense. Slovenia might break their opponents in that way, and just run them over carried by the Dragić brothers. In the Mexican camp they naturally respect Goran Dragić but are aware he is not the only one playing:

- We all know the quality of Goran Dragić, but there is more to the Slovenian team than him. They are a great team, above all on defense, and have a great perimeter line that we'll have to parry somehow- said the second NBA player on the Mexican team, point guard Gutierrez, who will have the unwelcome task of guarding Dragić.

Mexico pushed for a fast basketball yesterday, looking for every chance to rush their opponents. Today they should be doing the same, as they have no chance whatsoever against a set up Slovenian defense, who will first butcher them on defense and then finish them off with counterattacks. Dragić and company are entering a series of three easy matches they should not lose even with less then their full effort.

Slovenian selector Zdovc said it all in, clearly stating his team will have to deal with the three coming matches through defense, not a major surprise for those who followed Zdovc and his career. He always based everything on defense, and this Slovenian team is no exception. He had to adjust a bit to the speed of Goran and Zoran Dragić, which lead to Slovenia beating Australia 90-80 in the first match, a result completely atypical for Zdovc. However, he kind of announced that before the match as he spotted that Australia have poor transition to defense, which he used as much as he could. He will not rush here, and will also try to spare Goran Dragić as much as possible. Mexico have few solutions on offense. Ayon has a back to the board game, Gutierrez is solid on penetration, but as soon as Lithuania pressured them on defense, they had no idea what to do with the ball. Slovenia will do that all game long, I don't see Mexico going over 62-63 points here, and I think this is worth playing.