For the 48-year-old this was his third championship in the role of the Slovenian selector. His greatest achievements are the best two results of the Slovenian team, i.e. at the European championship in 2009 (Poland) and at last year's World Cup (Spain). This year the team did not make it that far. Ten years ago, the Slovenian national team played in the quarterfinals of EuroBasket for the first time, repeating the success at the next four championships, including qualifying to the semi-finals under Zdovc. After good performances in Zagreb, where Slovenia won third place (after the two favourites, Greece and Croatia) by winning three matches and losing two, the Slovenian team travelled to Lille, France, to play against Latvia in the elimination round. However, the Slovenian team took a hard blow at its first match in France and lost against Latvia with the result 73:66.

The defence failed to follow the plan
"Congratulations to Latvia, they deserved to win. A day before the match, I said they were good athletes. Rough play was tolerated, yet we tried to get through recklessly and got many blockages. We tried to get deep into the opponent's side, but our point guards did not shoot well (6/18). We did not use the opportunities. We resorted to depth when we took the lead a few times, but our opponents had been better and stronger since the beginning of the match. In the first four minutes, we did not make any personal fouls, which I find unacceptable. This was the defence's first job, to press them and have an aggressive start, but we failed to do this," argued Zdovc in his first comment after the defeat.

Tilen Jamnik, MMC; translated by K. Z.