Slovenia put up a brave fight against world champions Germany, but in the end even 39 points from Luka Doncic weren’t enough. The Slovenians complained about the referees’ performance after the game.
“Our best player isn’t being protected by the referees,” center Alen Omic said angrily after the game, referring to Luka Doncic. Doncic quickly racked up three fouls and was also given a technical foul for complaining in the opening minutes.
“Three fouls in the first ten to 15 minutes? What’s that about? He’s the best player in the tournament and the reason people come to the arena,” Omic continued to puzzle. “You can’t play basketball like that, and that’s why we lost. They had 40 free throws and scored 90 points. Anyone can do the math.”
Early Doncic fouls annoy Slovenia
This was somewhat exaggerated, as there were only 37 free throws and 99 German points. Omic nevertheless added: “We are here without our families, we wanted to win this game, and then this happens? I have nothing more to say about it.” At the same time, Doncic was also lucky to still be on the court at the end. After his fourth foul in the third quarter, he made a hand gesture toward the referees, implying that they had been paid off. The referees looked away.
This is not the first time Doncic has made this gesture in his career at a FIBA tournament, and once again there were no consequences. But Omic wasn’t the only one to let off steam after the game; veteran Klemen Prepelic did the same. “I’m tired of this happening every summer. Not just to us, but to other teams too. It’s getting ridiculous,” said the Dubai BC player. “I feel that certain things are not at the level that would be appropriate for this tournament. That’s sad, so I don’t want to talk about whether the victory was deserved or not. For me, Germany is the best team in the tournament and I wish them all the best, but certain people need to take a look in the mirror and improve massively,” Prepelic continued.
Sekulic: We were the better team
“In 14 minutes, everything we fought for all summer was taken away from us,” Prepelic said, referring to Germany’s late run and the many free throws in the fourth quarter.
Coach Aleksandar Sekulic, on the other hand, lost himself in sarcasm. “I think we have to apologize to Germany because we are such a dirty team. We committed so many fouls in the last quarter.“ Sekulic nevertheless described Germany as the best team in the tournament, but also said: ”We were better over the 40 minutes today, unfortunately we weren’t successful. We can hold our heads high, which I can’t say about everyone involved on the court.”
