Slovenia’s success not all due to Luka Doncic

Mike Tobey (Twitter)

One might think a major reason why Slovenia is in the semifinals of the Olympic men’s basketball tournament has been because of the play of Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic. However, what might be going unnoticed is Slovenia’s supporting cast, which deserves some attention too.

The Slovenian leader in rebounds is Mike Tobey, who has 50 boards himself, to lead the Olympic tournament. Yes, Doncic is second with 40 rebounds, but the fact that Doncic is not first could be considered very surprising indeed.

So who is Tobey, and how on Earth did he get here, and represent Slovenia in the process? Well, the native of Monroe, New York has Slovenian heritage and was able to acquire Slovenian citizenship as a result. The 26-year-old played two games with the Charlotte Hornets during the 2016-17 season and scored two points in two games. Since 2017, Tobey has been a center with the Valencia Basket in Spain.

The other Slovenian player who has made a difference is Zoran Dragic of Baskonia, not to be confused with star Slovenian point guard Goran Dragic, who is not in Tokyo. Dragic is third in the Olympic tournament with a field goal percentage of .658. He is only behind Ondrej Balvin of the Czech Republic, with a field goal percentage of .692, and Nic Kay of Australia, who has a field goal percentage of .667.

Let’s not kid ourselves. This is still Doncic’s team, who is the clear catalyst. He has simply been a beast and the primary reason why the Slovenians have been the biggest story ofter men’s basketball tournament. After Slovenia’s stunning 94-70 clobbering over Germany in Tuesday’s quarterfinal action, Doncic has 105 points. He has also showed why he is a triple-double machine, as he is among the Olympic leaders in assists and rebounds too. Now Slovenia’s semifinal opponent will be France.

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