With the same record of wins and losses (3-4) as Lithuania, the Bosnians entered the game and led for almost the entire first 20 minutes, at one point building an 8-point lead.
However, the scales tipped in favor of the Lithuanians after the long break, when the team led by Ąžuolas Tubelis and Augustas Marčiulionis, which also strengthened its defensive barriers, turned the game around and managed to secure a 78:73 victory.
“We played two different halves of the game,” emphasized Croatian coach Dario Gjergja, who coaches the Bosnian national team, after the match. “In the first half, we didn’t take advantage of the chance to lead by a bigger margin, because I think we dominated and should have pulled away more, but a few defensive mistakes and missed shots under the basket prevented that, which repeated in the second half. In the last two games, we shot less than 20% from three-point range, and with such accuracy, it’s not easy to compete at the highest level. Opponents adapt and start protecting the paint more.”
“First of all, congratulations to Lithuania, I think they deserved the win,” added guard Adnan Arslanagić, who didn’t score a single point. “We were too soft in some situations, we didn’t focus on the things we talked about in the last two or three days, plus we missed some easy shots and made only about 20% of our three-pointers. We weren’t tough enough and allowed their best player (Ąžuolas Tubelis – ed.) to have a great game.”
In the second half, the Bosnians were also hurt by two technical fouls and one unsportsmanlike foul. This was recalled by representatives of this team after the match.
“It’s hard when you feel you can win such a tough away game and play your game, and then a few whistles go against you,” said A. Arslanagić. “We are emotional players and people, and sometimes those emotions take over. I think that’s normal. Sometimes players react like that, and today maybe we let the opponents take advantage of that because we couldn’t control our emotions.”
“I think the turning point of the game was when we were leading 53:50 but then received first an unsportsmanlike and then a technical foul, which was called not against the bench but against a player who was on the bench at the time and was talking too much,” emphasized coach D. Gjergja. “Then Jusuf also got a technical foul, and that was too much, we lost concentration.
I can’t be happy with how we finished the game, but with all the problems we’ve been through recently, I can only thank the players for being here and wanting to represent their country. That’s what I told them in the locker room – let’s recover and prepare for the November window, because you never know what might happen.”
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Among the problems faced by the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team were not only the increased physicality of the Lithuanians or unfavorable whistles.
On the eve of the game, the Bosnian team was shaken by a political scandal when player Aleksandar Lazić and assistant coach Zoran Petković did not arrive in Lithuania with the team.
It was reported that they were ordered to leave the national team by the management of their club, Aleksandrovac’s “Igokea,” who were angered by chants from Bosnian fans during the previous game directed against Ratko Mladić – the Bosnian Serb who died on Thursday and was nicknamed the “Butcher of Bosnia” for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian war.
However, D. Gjergja was reluctant to comment extensively on this situation.
“It turns out we live in such a world. Two people who left the national team did so at the club’s request, and we couldn’t do anything about it. Our thoughts are with them because they are a very important part of the team. If they can be with us in the future, they will definitely be invited. I don’t want to create anything more, I’ll just say that they are always welcome in our team,” said the Croatian. “I am not and never will be a politician. When I look at a person, I don’t see their nationality, I only see whether they are a good or bad person. I have nothing more to comment on this matter.”
He was also asked whether it was difficult to prepare against a significantly changed Lithuanian national team, and the coach recalled another problem his team faced – the team’s equipment lost during the flight to Lithuania arrived much later, after the training session in which the Bosnians hoped to set the key points for the game against Lithuania.
“We knew many Lithuanian players. I expected Motiejūnas to play more because we have good big men, but your coach decided otherwise and it paid off because Blaževičius played a good game. We know Tubelis and how wonderfully he plays in the EuroLeague, which he showed again today. Our problems started in the second quarter when we allowed Lithuanian guards to break through, we couldn’t maintain concentration on defense.
It wasn’t easy to prepare because we hardly trained, we had problems with lost luggage, which arrived only around half past two last night. Yesterday we just came to the hall and shot free throws, did stretching exercises, and repeated the plays only this morning. It wasn’t easy, but I’m grateful to my guys, even though we didn’t take advantage of this opportunity,” concluded D. Gjergja.
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