By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Philadelphia 76ers forward Dario Saric has always been there for the Croatian national team. He first made headlines with his performances in the European U16 Championship of 2010, debuted with the senior team in the EuroBasket 2013 and continued playing for Croatia all summers and in every single major competition. More recently, in September’s World Cup Qualifiers.
While Saric’s love of playing for Croatia is a given, he also believes that if he skipped a summer tournament or two to develop his game instead, then he’d “absolutely” be a better player today.
Here’s what Saric said after a Sixers practice, per NBC Sports:
“It means so much to me (to play for Croatia) but you know it’s going through your mind maybe if you skip some summer you will be a better player. Maybe you have more time to spend in the States to work on your game. Absolutely, I think I would be a better player if I didn’t play [the last] five, six years on the international team every night. I think I would be a better player but at the end of the day, everything is about winning and you want to win with your national team, too …
It’s just so hard to talk about it. It really matters for me. This way I choose is maybe wrong, maybe right, but I really enjoy being there and playing with those guys and to represent my country.”