We asked Igor Marinovic of Sportske Novosti, the Croatian sports paper, to preview Eurobasket, the FIBA Europe tournament that begins Saturday at four sites across the continent. Here's his look at Croatia, led by Bojan Bogdanovic.
Basketball was the biggest thing in Croatia 20-25 years ago. The late Drazen Petrovic and other Croatian basketball stars, such as Toni Kukoc and Dino Radja, played in finals in 1992 Barcelona Olympics against original Dream Team. That game in Barcelona 23 years ago was hugely important for the new country of Croatia, torn up by war. It's basketball players were national heroes in Croatia.