February 11, 2020 - Croatian basketball player and Utah Jazz star Bojan Bogdanovic features on the official FIBA website this week.
In an interview with FIBA on Monday, February 10, Croatia captain and basketball star Bojan Bogdanovic said that he wanted to repeat the summer of 2016 when Croatia qualified for the Olympic Games.
Then it was played in Turin, and this time, the qualifying tournament is held in Split. Croatia is the host and only the winner of the tournament goes to Tokyo.
"We have to play every game as if it was a final, as if our lives depended on it." - ?️ @44Bojan#FIBAOQT | @CbfHks ??https://t.co/921Cxwyari
— FIBA (@FIBA) February 10, 2020
"We were in warrior mode in 2016. We want to achieve the same thing this summer, too. The mentality has to be - win, win, win and not to overthink. We all know that every team that is coming to the (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) is going to battle for a spot in the Olympics, because every player dreams about competing on the Olympic stage. I mean, basketball in the Olympics is one of the most followed competition, and every player has memories from the Dream Team, Team USA, their own national team or the Olympic Games in general,” Bogdanovic said, and added:
“When I heard we were going to play in Split, I was so happy! It's a huge basketball city and it's one of my favorite places in the whole country. Playing at home has to be a plus for us, we have to take advantage of this and show our country that we can win at home. The fans are already talking a lot about it, according to the feedback and information I got from my family and friends back in Croatia. We talk about it, too, between the players. Playing at home is a privilege, and we want to make the most out of it. It's going to be great, and don't want to and can't disappoint them. We count on them to be our sixth man.”
Croatia lost to Serbia in the quarterfinal at the Rio Olympics, where Bogdanovic scored 25.3 points per game.
“Oh man, I have so many good memories from the Rio Olympics! The atmosphere was unique, the people and the crowd were very good and noisy and the overall Olympic experience was very good,” Bogdanovic concluded.
Recall, the Olympic Qualifying Tournament will be held in Split from June 23 to 28, 2020. Croatia will face Tunisia and Brazil.
You can read the full interview on the official FIBA website.
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