PORTOROZ (FIBA World Championship) - Slovenian coach Ales Pipan has named a 28-man preliminary squad ahead of the country's first FIBA World Championship.
The list includes all five of Slovenia's NBA stars and their top players from clubs around Europe but Pipan insists he will not looking for an all-star team when he selects his final 12 for the summer tournament in Japan.
"I intend to put together a team capable of putting their own goals behind those of the team," he said.
The national side, considered the strongest in the history of Slovenian basketball, secured a berth at the FIBA World Championship with a sixth-place finish at last year's European Championship in Serbia & Montenegro.
Pipan will have to submit his final World Championship squad list to FIBA next month for the tournament which gets under way on August 19.
Slovenia will face Senegal, the United States, Italy, Puerto Rico and China in the preliminaries in Sapporo.
The team will warm up for the event by participating in a number of international tournaments, facing the likes of Turkey, two-time defending world champions Serbia & Montenegro, Olympic champions Argentina and Spain.
PA Sport