Radović: Painful elimination from the tournament, but we were not at the village games

Cameroon's victory over Brazil meant that tonight the Montenegrin basketball players will have no chance to fight for a place in the Olympic Games.

One victory in two games was not enough to advance to the semi-finals of the qualification tournament in Riga, where the Brazilians and Cameroonians qualified.

"This is a painful elimination from the tournament. We came here with the idea of ​​getting through the group first, to try to surprise Brazil. We didn't make it, even though we played well. Against Cameroon we knew it could be crucial, in the end that plus four win was not enough. I am satisfied with how the boys played in this team, they gave their best," said coach Boško Radović and continued:

"Against Cameroon, it could have been more convincing if we hit some shots, but the 68th ranked team beat Brazil. And we like to minimize our triumph, so that team controlled the match against Brazil for 38 minutes".

Radović was not satisfied with the way the national team was sent to Riga, he had something to complain about the media...

"These are not country games. It seems to me that we were not given a proper send-off considering that it was the first time that we participated in the qualification for the Olympic Games. We should appreciate what the players are doing, the moment they responded. They also ask me if Kendrick Perry could have done better... He couldn't have done better, because he came from a season in which he played 70 games, straight from the Endesa League playoffs, to prepare. He is tired," Radović explained.

In November, Montenegro plays with Bulgaria in the Eurobasket qualifiers.

"We have to take care of the guys who are there, because most of them are the future of Montenegrin basketball. And we should be more positive about the results and victories we achieve. No one has gone astray in these tournaments, there are no bad teams and it happens that Latvia loses to the Philippines, Croatia to New Zealand... What happened is not the end of the world, we should turn to what awaits us, which is the November qualification window for European Championship", concluded Radović.