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Zubac: I played against Barac, the Americans are not a problem

- We have to play even better than the last time we did against Croatia, and this time we will keep the pedal to the metal - claimed Ferguson

The previews are being written by our reporters exclusively from Greece, the place of the World Championship!

All in Crete agree that complete Croatia would stand a chance here to take the tournament. But very few though they could move towards the finals without Bender, Zizic and Mazalin. Ante Nazor proved to be a good coach and what he achieved with the team in Heraklion deserves recognition. From a team where two plays rarely look at the hoop, and score even less, where the first shot Slavica has a single good game behind him on the tournament, and where the bench scores over 10 points, there's a celebration after that. They reached the World Championship finals. That's no easy task, it's not simple and it's worth of every respect.

- No one believed in us, but we did. We played above our possibilities and we were especially motivated because we lost to them on the last two tournaments - said the hero of the World Championship, Ivica Zubac, after 35 points against Turkey.

From the first minute this was a one-way match. Captain Marko Arapovic scored far and wide in the first quarter, gave his team huge safety. They were at +20 by half-time, and later they didn't slow down for a minute.

- We played a firm defense, we scored everything and they couldn't do anything against us - Zubac was confident, and he's definitely one of the candidates for the tournament's MVP.

When USA and Croatia played in the second round, the match was done by the first half in which USA scored 58 points. At the time Nazor had Zizic in the rotation... A lot has changed since then, these boys have shown and proven to themselves and everyone around them that they can play without the trio who are the talk of the town.

- At the time relationships were bad, there were injuries, Bender was leaving; the atmosphere was awkward, but we managed to smooth it all out and proved that the team are above that. This is a message that basketball, as a team game, keeps its players cooperating, helping each other. Croatian basketball should only go forward - said coach Nazor after making it to the finals, and announced the new clash with USA...

- That game came in handy, to sober up and to prepare, to have a better offense on the pressing, a better pass game; that's what we need today.

Zubac is up for a big fight in the paint with three strong American centers. Without Zizic he will have to play a lot...

- I played against Barac in the finals; he's a real beast so the Americans won't be a problem - Cibona's center was determinant.

For Croatia it could be a problem the fact that they carried out these three knock-out matches with very few players. Bozic and Arapovic played almost 38 minutes, Zubac 33, Slavica 34, and on the other side the Americans rotated everyone they had and even though they played a tough game, they're far from being tired.

They were leading against Greece from the start to the finish, but not once over +10, and they didn't manage to turn it over because Haralampopoulos and Dorsey created them a lot of problems in the second half. Haralampopolous at one point score three three-pointers in 55 seconds. Greeks have a great back line who managed to deal with USA's pressing, and in Dorsey they had both class and a player such as Croatia don't have.

- We have to deal with their pressing. In the first match we had 10 overturns and everything was done at the start - Marko Arapovic is aware of the preconditions for a good match.

- Croatia are tall and strong, they will be ready this time. We respect them a lot - said USA's coach Sean Miller.

- We already played against Croatia and we have to be ready again. By beating Greece we didn't win anything, we only gave ourselves a chance.

The chance was offered by play Brunson with 30 points, who is one of the most constant USA players of this tournament. He's a smaller left-handed play who owns a stable shot, although his pass is not that great. Gregg Popovich would notice a minus for his assists-turnovers record. And it's unbelievable how many turnovers USA have. Yesterday 22, and 70 in the last three matches!? What would happen if that was normal, we ask ourselves. Croatia don't have a back line who can press them good and get all the turnovers, so this could be a lot more different than last night's match against Greece.

- We didn't play great and I know we can do better - claimed Brunson who, next to Giles, Jackson and Tatum, left the best impression.

- We have to play even better than the last time we did against Croatia, and this time we will keep the pedal to the metal - claimed Ferguson who yesterday scored a couple of important three-pointers in the match finals.

Croatia were very efficient from the tall positions in this tournament, and they played a great -looking basketball where their coach Nazor insists on running forward, on offensive rebounds and offenses rarely longer than 20 seconds. The Americans definitely don't mind that style, quite the opposite, it suits them, and since their rotation is much wider, they can keep up the fast rhythm throughout the whole match. They said they'll go to a higher gear against the Croats, and considering that they had 158 with 30 missed throws on both sides against the Greeks, and that the first match got close to 200 points, I doubt this can stay under 160. True, it's the final, but considering what these two teams showed, everything points to a game with a lot of points.