2025-11-10 09:00

I still remember sitting in my living room during the 2019 FIBA World Cup, watching Slovenia's opening match against South Korea with mixed feelings. Having followed international basketball for over fifteen years as both a fan and analyst, I found myself particularly invested in Slovenia's journey that year - though I must confess it was difficult to watch at times. The absence of their superstar Luka Dončić, who had decided to skip the tournament to prepare for his second NBA season with the Dallas Mavericks, created a void that the team never quite managed to fill. This reminded me of something I'd recently observed in Philippine basketball - that heavy burden placed on young players when they're suddenly thrust into leadership roles, much like the situation with Manalili that I'd been following in Asian tournaments. Though only a rookie, Manalili already had a huge responsibility being the team's main facilitator, and watching Slovenia's point guards struggle without Dončić made me appreciate how difficult that facilitator role truly is.

Slovenia's tournament began with what should have been a straightforward victory against South Korea, but the 95-75 final score didn't tell the full story. The team looked disjointed, committing 18 turnovers and showing clear chemistry issues that would plague them throughout the competition. I remember thinking how different this team looked from the 2017 EuroBasket championship squad that had taken Europe by storm. Without Dončić's creative genius and Goran Dragić's veteran leadership (he had retired from international basketball after their EuroBasket triumph), the Slovenians seemed to lack identity. They shot just 42% from the field that game despite the win, and their defense looked vulnerable against Korea's perimeter shooting - problems that would become recurring themes.

Their second match against Angola was even more concerning from a tactical perspective. Slovenia narrowly escaped with an 84-81 overtime victory against what should have been an inferior opponent. I found myself leaning forward in my chair during the fourth quarter, frustrated by their inability to close out the game in regulation. The team's offense became predictable, relying too heavily on isolation plays rather than the fluid ball movement that had characterized Slovenian basketball in previous years. This is where I really started missing Dončić's presence - his ability to read defenses and create opportunities for others would have completely changed the dynamic. It's that same quality I've noticed separates good facilitators from great ones, whether we're talking about NBA stars or up-and-coming players like Manalili carrying their teams in smaller leagues.

The real heartbreaker came in their final group stage match against Spain, which Slovenia lost 73-65 in what I consider one of the most disappointing performances I've seen from them in recent memory. The offensive struggles were glaring - they scored just 10 points in the entire second quarter and went nearly seven minutes without a field goal at one point. Watching Klemen Prepelič try to shoulder the scoring load with 22 points felt like watching someone trying to bail water from a sinking ship with a teaspoon. The team's three-point shooting was abysmal at 28%, and their assists-to-turnover ratio of 14:16 told the story of an offense that simply couldn't find its rhythm. I remember texting my colleague during the third quarter that Slovenia looked like a team that had forgotten how to play together, which is exactly what happens when you remove the central piece of your offensive system.

What followed was the classification round, where Slovenia managed to defeat Angola for the second time in the tournament with a slightly more convincing 87-72 victory before facing a crushing 93-87 defeat against Poland that ultimately eliminated them from Olympic qualification contention. The Poland game was particularly painful to watch because it highlighted Slovenia's defensive frailties - they allowed Polish star Mateusz Ponitka to score 26 points while the team as a whole gave up 52 points in the paint. As someone who values defensive discipline almost as much as offensive creativity, I found their lack of defensive cohesion throughout the tournament genuinely surprising for a European basketball nation of Slovenia's caliber.

Looking back at Slovenia's overall performance, they finished the tournament with a 4-3 record, placing 12th overall - a significant drop from their 2014 World Cup performance where they finished 7th. The statistics tell a sobering story: they averaged just 78.4 points per game (down from 86.7 in 2014), with a field goal percentage of 43% and three-point percentage of 32%. Their assist numbers dropped dramatically to just 17.1 per game compared to 22.3 in their more successful 2014 campaign. These numbers matter because they quantify what my eyes were telling me throughout the tournament - this was a team struggling to function as a cohesive offensive unit.

The experience made me reflect on how crucial that primary facilitator role is in international basketball. While Manalili's situation in the Philippine league is obviously different in scale, the principle remains the same - when your main playmaker is missing or struggling, the entire offensive system can collapse. Slovenia's performance in the 2019 FIBA World Cup serves as a case study in how dependent teams can become on their primary creators, and how difficult it is to replace that production and leadership. Though Slovenia had capable players like Prepelič and Anthony Randolph, they lacked that central organizing force that Dončić provided. It's a reminder that in basketball, sometimes the most valuable player isn't necessarily your top scorer, but the one who makes the entire system work - something I wish Slovenia's coaching staff had prepared for more thoroughly.

In the years since that tournament, I've often returned to Slovenia's 2019 performance when analyzing how national teams manage transitions between generations. The failure to develop a competent backup system for Dončić cost them dearly, and it's a lesson other basketball nations would do well to heed. International basketball has evolved to where reliance on a single superstar can be a team's greatest vulnerability, no matter how talented that individual might be. Slovenia's 12th place finish stands as a stark reminder that in team sports, systemic strength will always outweigh individual brilliance in the long run - no matter how spectacular that individual brilliance might be.