Sydney Kings sharpshooter Dejan Vasiljevic has opted to put his club’s quest for back-to-back championships before the Boomers, despite originally committing to Australia’s final World Cup window later this month.
Vasiljevic had made himself available for the two-game ‘Boomers in the ‘Burbs’ series, to be played at Wantirna’s State Basketball Centre, on February 23-26.
The NBL will pause its finals from February 20-28 for the FIBA window and the Kings guard wanted to play for Australia to enhance his chances of World Cup selection.
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Vasiljevic had Sydney’s blessing to play for the Boomers, but he decided against the move in a bid to focus on winning another NBL championship.
“If it was during the year I’d play, but now we are in the back end of the finals,” Vasiljevic told News Corp.
“We had to make the decision today (Thursday) and I didn’t want to say I’d only play if we got knocked out because someone else needed that spot.
“I spoke to Chase (Buford) and CP (Chris Pongrass) about it, and they said I could play, but they’d rather me stay to focus on the NBL finals.
“Plus, we (Australia) have already qualified.
“I also spoke to BA and the coaching staff and explained the situation.
“I told them it’s really important because we are trying to go back-to-back.”
Vasiljevic, though, remains keen on making Australia’s squad for this year’s World Cup.
The event will be played in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines from August 25 to September 10.
“100 per cent and that is what I told BA,” he said.
“I’d turned down one (Boomers squad) last year because I’ve always wanted to go to the Summer League, but after that I’ve wanted to play.
“Obviously, being a part of it puts my name in the (conversation) for World Cup extended squads, so that was the main goal for it.”
Vasiljevic hopes to let his basketball do the talking during the NBL finals series, which starts next Wednesday for Sydney.
The Kings have to wait for this weekend’s Play-In results to see who they’ll face in their semi-final series.
Vasiljevic concedes Sydney became overconfident after locking in first position, but he expects the intensity to lift in the playoffs.
“In the last two weeks we’ve lost four of our last six games and we just became complacent when we locked in top spot officially,” he said.
“We took a step back defensively, but on Thursday we had one of our best practices in a month or two.
“We emphasised getting back on the defensive end and that being our identity and our offence will then flow moving forward.”
Sports reporter
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