Rasho sounds call to battle for depleted Slovenia

Rasho Nesterovic of Slovenia (Photo credit: FIBA)Photo Gallery>>Slovenia captain Rasho Nesterovic is rallying the troops ahead of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament following the loss of several key players for a variety of reasons.

Immediately after superstar power forward Matjaz Smodis was ruled out with a foot injury this week, big man Gasper Vidmar broke his hand.

National team coach Ales Pipan appealed to Erazem Lorbek to reconsider his decision to skip Athens because of a back injury, only for the big center to say no again.

Even big NBA center Primoz Brezec's name has been mentioned, but there is no interest to help out coming from the seven-footer with the Slovenians in dire need of strengthening on the frontline.

"We talk too much about the players who are not with us," Nesterovic said at the team's press conference.

"Those who wanted to play are here. We all know that Gasper and especially Matjaz will be hard to replace, but we were in a similar position before the EuroBasket in Spain.

"We had very few guards then, now we are short of power forwards and centers. But why wouldn't we surprise once again, like we did in Spain when everybody predicted for us a terrible outcome?"

Slovenia, who will take on Canada and Republic of Korea in Group C at the qualifying tournament in Greece, shocked everyone in Spain last year.

They reached the quarter-finals with just one defeat to Lithuania but then blew a big lead against Greece to miss out on the last four.

Pipan's team rebounded by finishing seventh - good enough for a place in the qualifying tournament.

The coach is clearly frustrated and spoke of his futile attempts to get Lorbek to join the team.

"After Matjaz Smodis announced that he will not be able to play, I once again called Erazem Lorbek in and asked him if there was any possibility of reconsidering and joining the national team," Pipan said.

"He said no once again. He said it's because of his back problems."

Pipan has moved quickly to call up Dragisa Drobnjak, who is without a club at the moment, and Zeljko Zagorac of Helios Domzale.

"At this moment, they are the two players that can contribute most," Pipan said.

"They were willing to join us right away."

Pipan, meanwhile, denied rumors that he has not answered Brezec's calls but did admit Brezec had called him.

"I've seen that he called me a few times, but two days later I saw that he quickly decided not to play for the national team," Pipan said.

"He asked the team director not to send him any more invitations and that is where this story ended for me.

"I don't want to force anybody to play for the national team.

"This national team is made out of players who are willing to be here and to play, to sacrifice their spare time and put the national team first."

There is good news on the recovery of Goran Jagodnik, the forward who suffered a bad knee injury a few months ago while playing for Hemofarm.

"He doesn't feel pain any more, and he will shortly start the full training," Pipan said.

"He will travel along if we will see that he is ready enough. Otherwise, we will have to choose another player."

Big man Miha Zupan of Olimpija Ljubljana is also not training at the moment as he is with the Slovenian side that has reached the semi-finals of the European Championship of the Deaf in Bamberg, Germany.

"This was Miha's big wish and I granted it," Pipan said.

"He will return after the two games with Slovenia and continue to train like all other players."

(Credit: FIBA. Click here for further information.)