Saric: “We were tired, they played dirty, but there is no excuse”

In fatigue and her dynamic game New Zealand gave the Dario Saric her defeat of Croatia who qualified but is in danger of losing the championship with a victory of the Tall Blacks tomorrow against Slovenia.

“It was difficult to play after the Slovenia game last night. We got some differences, but not big ones. We tried, but we should have been smarter in some situations. New Zealand played really hard, really dirty, but that’s FIBA ​​basketball. Congratulations on their win, they played fantastically. It seemed that we were not focused in the last few minutes, New Zealand played very strongly throughout the game and we should have finished the match earlier. We had a few hours of rest and preparation, but that is no excuse. We have to find a way to play better,” the Warriors forward said.

Josip Cesar, coach of Croatia, said for his part: “We had a lot of problems, especially on defense in the pick and roll, and on offense we had some bad decisions and only put up seven points in the last period. Now we have two days of rest ahead of us and we should prepare for the semi-final».