Enlarge image
Not his day, but still won: Slovenia's superstar Luka Dončić showed a mixed performance after the taxi ride through Cologne
Photo:
THILO SCHMUELGEN / REUTERS
After an involuntary taxi ride across Cologne, defending champion Slovenia around NBA star Luka Dončić started the European Basketball Championship with a hard-fought victory.
In the top game of the German preliminary round group B, the European champions beat Lithuania 92:85 (51:48) in front of 14,465 spectators.
When the Slovenians wanted to drive from the team hotel to the Lanxess Arena in the Deutz district in the afternoon, something essential was missing.
There was no bus to pick up the players.
And taxis weren't immediately available either; according to »Bild«, the taxi rank near the hotel was empty.
The resentment was correspondingly great.
'Good job EuroBasket.
No bus for the European champion to the game.
That must be a joke," tweeted NBA professional Goran Dragić (Chicago Bulls): "After 20 minutes we got at least a taxi."
The Slovenian federation also asked on Twitter: »Where is the bus???!!!????
We have to take taxis for the transfer to the first game of the European Championship.«
In terms of sport, the unusual arrival at least had no negative effects for the EM co-favorite.
The best thrower of the Slovenians, who lost surprisingly clearly against the German team (71:90) in the dress rehearsal in Munich on Sunday as part of the World Cup qualifiers, was American-born Mike Tobey with 24 points.
Superstar Dončić from the Dallas Mavericks didn't find his game and only scored 14 points, but was particularly convincing at the end as a passer.
Mindaugas Kuzminskas scored 19 points for the Lithuanians, who were cheered on loudly as usual.
In the first game of the group, Bosnia and Herzegovina narrowly won against Hungary 95:85 (45:46).
Spain did not show any weakness at the start of the tournament.
The three-time European champion outclassed Bulgaria in Group A in Tbilisi/Georgia with 114:87 (57:35).
kjo/sid