"This was probably my last time playing for the national team," said the naturalized member of the Slovenian basketball team Anthony Randolph after losing against Turkey.
On Monday evening, Slovenian basketball team celebrated the first anniversary of the European Champions title quite miserably. The team lost the qualifying match against Turkey (77-86) and because of that, they won’t be able to participate in the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China.
In the first half, Slovenian team wasn’t that much behind the Turks, however, soon after that, the guests stepped on the gas and thanks to the three NBA basketball players and Scottie Wilbekin, they relatively calmly ended the match. Some key players were missing in the Slovenian team such as Goran Dragić, Luka Dončić, Klemen Prepelič, and Jaka Blažič, although, even those who shined a year ago in Istanbul, didn’t really show much this time. The captain of the national team, Gašper Vidmar, drew nine personal fouls, however, he was quite inaccurate behind the free-throw line (2/10). Edo Murić was unrecognizable.
Will Randolph ever wear Slovenian jersey again?
One of the strongest points of yesterday’s match was Anthony Randolph, who, at times, had to do everything by himself. He had to fight for space before throwing, he had to rebound and he was even forced to organize the attack. He played for about half an hour, in which he scored 24 points and 12 rebounds. This was probably the last time one of the key men in winning the title of the European Champions wore the national team jersey. "This was probably my last time playing for the national team," said the 29-year-old basketball player after the match. He thanked the Slovenian basketball public for everything and emphasized that he was disappointed after losing against Turkey, but proud of the young basketball players who went all out, despite the unpleasant rival.