Bojan Bogdanovic did not score until the 9:37 mark of the final quarter, and finished with just 4 points on 2-7 shooting as Greece eliminated Croatia from Group C play with a 74-69 victory. Croatia fought back from a 20-point deficit, cutting the lead to just 2 late in the fourth, but were unable to take the lead away.
For the first three quarters, Bogdanovic looked nothing like the player who tore apart Finland to kick off this tournament: he missed open shots, showed little effort on defense, did not box out, and looked unfocused and uninterested in creating opportunities. While he showed a little more in the fourth, making some good cuts to the basket and getting a key steal in a Croatian run, he continued to miss open looks from deep and couldn’t make enough of an impact to change the game’s outcome.
This is hugely disappointing for Croatia, a team expected to advance beyond the preliminaries, and the Nets, who expected Avery Johnson, Gregg Polinsky, & co. to catch Bogdanovic in person in the second round.
