It's been ten years since the Croats have climbed onto an international podium. Recent years have been tough, with the national team missing major international events on regular basis. Clinching a ticket for the World Championship next year would lay the path for the resurrection.

«We're lucky we won’t be playing on hostile ground», jokes Neven Spahija. The coach of the Croatian national team is referring to the fact that his team plays the qualifying round in Podgorica. In the last post-war decade, Serbo-Croatian sporting encounters have often been spoiled by nationalist bashing and vandalism on the stands, and Montenegrins are perceived to be friendlier to Croatians, than the conventionally antagonistic Belgrade public. Although not unaccustomed to hissing and booing, the Croats prefer to have as few obstacles as possible, since they are playing in the «Group of Death». True, Lithuania and Turkey would be just as formidable opponents in Belgrade; nevertheless, in the Montenegrin capital, the Croats at least won't have the crowd against them.

		Drazen Petrovic and Spains Juan San Epifanio at EuroBasket 87

As at every European championship, the stakes are high. However, they are particularly high for Croatia, where basketball has traditionally been a matter of national pride. However, the days of the silver medal at the 1992 Olympics or the bronze 1995 EuroBasket in Athens are long gone. Back then, superstars like Drazen Petrovic, Toni Kukoc and Dino Radja made sure their compatriots at home, fresh from a bloody war of independence, felt proud of their country. Of all the former Yugoslav republics to become independent in the early nineties, it was Croatia that raced out of the block the fastest in terms of basketball, stamping its authority on the map as one of the top teams in Europe. But since those heady days, Croatian basketball has faced rough times. Drazen Petrovic, one of Europe's greatest players ever, was killed in a car accident in 1993. In the meantime, Kukoc, Radja, Vrankovic, Perasovic, Cvijeticanin, Komazec and others have hung up their international boots.

Their successors have since failed to repeat their exploits. That said, to suggest all has been lost would be an exaggeration. Croatia continues to produce top level talent and its players under the watchful eye of NBA scouts are legion. But you can't keep the flame alight forever just based on talent. Croatians know it, and they want to regain international basketball legitimacy. Qualifying for the World Championship should be a first step in that process; grabbing a medal would be a dream come true.

«We don't need luck at this championship. However, I will pray for bad luck to pass us by». Niksa Prkacin means what he says. The veteran Croatian power forward has personally participated in traumatizing events he thinks epitomize the fate of Croatian basketball at international tournaments.

		Gordan Giricek

Both in Turkey in 2001 and in Sweden in 2003, the Croats’ fate was sealed by the Turkish team in mind blowing fatal defeats. The most tragic loss for his generation was the 1997 EuroBasket in Barcelona, when Sasa Djordjevic scored a miraculous three-pointer with the last blow of the horn over the hands of the stunned Croatian defense. Fortunately, Djordjevic ended his basketball career this summer and poses no threat; ironically, however, the Croats will have to play the Turks once again for the top seed of the group, not to mention the Lithuanians.

But enough lamenting – let’s see what Croatia will be made of at this EuroBasket: just by looking at the roster, we’re impressed with the firepower. It’s deep, talented and represents a perfect mixture of different generations. For starters, it’s rock solid in the paint: Alongside one of the best big men in Europe Vujcic, the Croats can count on giants Bagaric and Kasun to close all doors to the basket; Prkacin, Zizic and Banic are there to add some finesse and offensive creativity.

It’s no less impressive outside: between established NBA players Giricek and Planinic, and up-and-coming young guns Ukic, Popovic, Tomas and Markota, Spahija will have a hard team picking the twelve chosen ones. He surely hopes that will be his biggest problem.

One last point with respect to the Croatian roster comes to mind. Apart from being incredibly talented, it illustrates a new trend in Croatian basketball: for the first time in years, no one notable is missing. In the last decade, Croatia has traditionally been plagued by the lack of response of its stars to participate in the national team. The climate with that respect has obviously changed; if we don’t count unrealistic expectations that the 37-year old Toni Kukoc would somehow put his national jersey back on. With the best men on board, Croatia can rightfully aim back at the European top. What does that mean?

“That means take back our place among the best in Europe, where we belong”, coach Spahija explains. He points out that everyone would be happy with earning a top six spot and a ticket to Japan next year. No one in Zagreb is mentioning a medal, which means less pressure. If that, by any chance would happen, it would mean the Croats are back, and with a vengeance.