PIRAEUS, Greece — The odds were stacked against Slovenia against a talented Greek squad, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, in the semifinals of the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament. Slovenia lost 96-68 at Peace and Friendship Stadium. Luka Dončić did his best to guide his team, finishing with 21 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, but it wasn’t enough.

Slovenia trailed 15-2 to begin the game, allowing Greece to manage the game for the rest of the night. There was a late effort to cut the deficit to 14 points entering the fourth quarter, but Greece immediately stifled those attempts, using an 18-3 run to go up by a 29-point margin with a little over half of the fourth quarter left to play.

“Our poor start gave Greece extra momentum, so the gap quickly grew,” Slovenia head coach Aleksander Sekulić said. “At times, we had the balance, but in front of such an audience and such a team, it was not possible to reduce the gap.”

Slovenia naturally relied on pick-and-roll and isolation from Dončić against Greece as the team faced limited options to create advantages. Greece leveraged Antetokounmpo often as the big defender by crossmatching him onto Josh Nebo, enabling the option to switch or dial up the defensive pressure.

At the same time, the backline shrunk the floor with the low defender rotated over, making it challenging to attack the paint for finishes or to create for others. As the game progressed, Greece became more aggressive with outright blitzing to make others beat them, which did open up sequences for Slovenia to capitalize in 4-on-3 situations, with Dončić unselfishly accepting the coverage and trusting his teammates to make the right play. This formula did not work against a team Dončić felt was the “better opponent.”

“Congratulations to Greece. They were better, more rested, more aggressive, and above all, they have a great team with Giannis and many other stars and an outstanding coach,” Dončić said, praising the opponent. “A defeat is a failure because we came here for the Olympic Games. Unfortunately, we ran into a better opponent.”

Antetokounmpo played only 21 minutes in the game after logging only 18 minutes in Greece’s two previous games, including outright resting against Egypt. Thomas Walkup’s 19 points led the team in scoring, while Vasileios Toliopoulos’s 17 points weren’t far behind. Antetokounmpo finished with 13 points, four rebounds, and two assists. Nick Calathes orchestrated the offense at a high level with 11 assists, while Georgios Papagiannis hauled in 10 rebounds.

“Well, first, they have Giannis, and he is a lot, but then other players like Calathes and Walkup organize the team very well,” Dončić explained. “Papagiannis is there, Papanikolaou, and they are a very experienced team. They all know how to play basketball and are very well-coached by coach Spanoulis. They are a great team, and I wish them all the luck.”

Greece received a balanced effort in this dominant victory. However, Antetokounmpo proved unguardable offensively as much as he was a game-wrecking defender. He exploited mismatches in the post and isolation and made a concerted effort to do the dirty work with a putback and finish in transition. “Greece is a great team that deserved to win,” Sekulić said. “In addition to the big star, it also has a whole bunch of excellent Euroleague players, and it proved that today.”

Luka Dončić to receive deserved rest after elimination

After playing over 100 games since the start of the World Cup last year before an NBA season that featured a Finals run with the Mavericks, Dončić understandably expressed that he is “very tired,” and now he’ll get the chance to rest. However, he looks forward to competing at EuroBasket next summer, which is in late August through early September, a much later tournament than the Olympic qualifier that opened on July 2.

“A long and tiring season is behind me. I admit that I am very tired, and at the same time, I am aware that I could give more of myself in a different state,” Dončić admitted. “Now I have a well-deserved rest waiting for me, and next year, I will have a new national team campaign at the European Championship.”

Sekulić commended Dončić for sacrificing his free time after such a grueling NBA season to compete with Slovenia, as he always does. Despite questions about the roster, the selector was especially proud of Dončić for giving it everything he had.

“First of all, when we talk about the Slovenian national team, we always have to talk about Luka Dončić because that’s the way it is, and that’s beyond that he’s a superstar,” Sekulić explained. “He’s a great guy coming, playing for the national team after having a long season—sacrificing his free time playing for Slovenia. We are not in a great situation right now regarding the team [or] the roster. We have problems of our own, even though he came to help the team, to give everything he has.”

It won’t be until late September that Dončić will have a training camp with the Mavericks, providing him with over two months to recover from a more grueling run than any other NBA superstar has faced during this period.

Slovenia faces questions regarding roster around Luka Dončić

The tournament featured some concerning factors that held Slovenia back from achieving success. Vlatko Čančar and Edo Murić, who were sidelined for the World Cup due to ACL injuries, returned to the lineup for the Olympic qualifier and were supposed to provide necessary contributions to take pressure off Dončić. Neither player managed to do so, given that it was early in their return to competition after the recovery process, which proved to limit Slovenia’s outlook. Both players averaged 6.4 points per game and shot 4 of 23 (17.4%) overall and 2 of 6 (33.3%) from beyond the arc.

As a collective, Slovenia shot 42.3% from the floor and 26.0% from the perimeter in the tournament. Shooting poorly from deep is not just a viable pathway to success for an undersized team. The only victory achieved was a blowout win over New Zealand, a small team that tries to junk the game up with hustle and shooting a high volume of three-pointers. Like Greece, Croatia handily defeated Slovenia to begin the tournament, with talents like Ivica Zubac and Dario Šarić proving too much to handle inside while receiving hot shooting results from the rest of the unit. This proved to be a limiting factor against Antetokounmpo and Papagiannis.

Nebo, a 6-foot-7 center, presents an undersized option at the center position but did have a clear synergy with Dončić, as any rim-rolling, vertical lob threat tends to do. Nebo averaged 16.3 points and 9.3 rebounds, shooting 71.9% from the floor in the qualifier. Regardless, having an undersized rim protector when a greater interior presence proved too much to overcome.

With over a few minutes remaining in regulation, Dončić checked out of the game to an ovation from the Greek fans in Piraeus, who showed respect for the Slovenian superstar’s brilliance on the court throughout the tournament. Sekulić commended the fans for this action.

“I think the crowd in Piraeus, which is very loud, with this great atmosphere, appreciates this,” Sekulić remarked. “It’s not only that he kind of knows how to do it. He’s also respecting others… They obviously know basketball; they know great basketball. So, they also appreciate great players like Luka.”

Dončić participation at the qualifier afforded a valuable learning opportunity for the youth on Slovenia’s roster, including Leon Stergar, Luka Scuka, and Miha Cerkvenik. They benefit from having a superstar to learn from in high-stakes competition, which could help the national team’s future.

“First time playing for the national team, gaining experience from every single piece [helps],” Sekulić emphasized. “Let’s see, school for the future, hopefully for the national team to be stronger in the future. We have some guys that are younger, so we need help from behind.”

Slovenia acknowledges the importance of Luka Dončić’s commitment

When discussing the program’s future, Sekulić acknowledged that the Gold medal at EuroBasket 2017 was the peak. Goran Dragić still led the group at that point. Slovenia later qualified for the Tokyo Olympics and came close to defeating France in a 90-89 loss, sending them to the Bronze medal game before losing to Australia. Last year, a seventh-place finish at the World Cup was the best in the program’s history.

Sekulić remains optimistic about Slovenia’s potential to roster the necessary talent to achieve greater success in the future. “We had our peak in 2017. We’ll try to keep it up. We didn’t manage to qualify for the World Championship in 2019, but we managed to qualify for the Olympics with a great tournament for us,” he voiced. “We have a couple of veteran players who need a couple of fresh blood on this team with quality playing on big teams in the Euroleague, NBA, or some other European competitions. And I’m optimistic. I mean, we always find a way.

It remains to be seen what Slovenia’s roster will look like going forward, but the program understands that maximizing Dončić is necessary. Sekulić feels the federation’s support as they navigate the challenges of solidifying the roster for a small nation with slightly over two million citizens.

“As long as we have Luka Dončić and such support from the federation, I think we will manage to fight this bad situation,” Sekulić declared. “But the thing is, we are a really small country. We don’t have as many basketball players as some other big countries. We always find a way, especially playing hard in the big heart.”

Long before Dončić competes with Slovenia again, he will attempt to guide the Mavericks to a championship run after achieving the longest playoff run of his NBA career. With the addition of Klay Thompson, Quentin Grimes, and Naji Marshall, there is significant optimism about the team’s potential, with Dončić particularly pleased about Thompson’s addition.