Tough news for one of the favorites for gold at the FIBA World Cup in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines.
Luka Doncic’s Slovenia have lost one of their key players, Vlatko Cancar. The 2.03-meter forward tore the ACL in his left knee in a fall after a dunk in a preparation match with Greece in Athens.
Cancar y Doncic conversan.
Cancar is one of Slovenia’s mainstays. An NBA champion with the Denver Nuggets, he played in 60 games, averaging 14.8 minutes and 5 points per night with good shooting percentages (47.6 percent from the field and 37.4 percent from three.
In the second preparation game against Greece, Cancar drove to the basket, but things went wrong when he landed after a transition dunk in traffic. After a day of tests, the serious nature of the injury was confirmed, though his recovery timetable is unknown.
Slovenia will have to put together an emergency team for the World Cup. They are part of a complex group that features Georgia, with Shermadini and Shengelia as leaders, Venezuela and Edy Tavares‘ Cape Verde. Doncic will lead, surrounded by pieces like Prepelic, Blazic, Mike Tobey or Ziga Samar.
For his part, Doncic also did not finish his game against Greece at 100 percent. With 2:16 left before halftime he hurt his knee, causing him to miss the rest of the game. He finished with 18 points, one rebound, one assist and one steal in the 88-77 loss.
