Slovenia coach Aleksandar Sekulic and veteran guard Klemen Prepelic voiced their frustrations over what they felt was inconsistent and unfair officiating in their EuroBasket 2025 quarterfinal defeat to Germany, expressing disappointment while acknowledging their team’s strong performance.
“I know we have a great superstar in Luka Doncic, but what the players do around him isn’t easy. It’s very hard. To be disrespected like we were today… It hurts,” Sekulic said at the outset of his post-game remarks.
“It hurts because of seeing the players suffering right now in the locker room. Because I believe we played great basketball today. I believe we were a better opponent. I guess we should apologize for being a dirty team and doing so many dirty fouls in the last quarter against the German team,” he added, his sarcasm evident. “We can leave the EuroBasket with our head high but this can’t be said for all those who participated.”
After acknowledging Germany’s win and calling them the tournament’s best squad following Serbia’s elimination, Prepelic spoke candidly about refereeing inconsistencies, not only in this game but throughout the tournament.
“As the coach said, we were better throughout the whole game,” Prepelic said. “I’d say 37-38 minutes, until they allowed us to play physical. If you go through statistics, you’ll see we won the rebounds, we had the same assists, and our percentages are better. There’s just one thing that comes to mind: 37 free throws against 25. 31 fouls against 24.”
“It’s sad,” Prepelic continued. “It’s sad because we were together since the 23rd of July. Many sleepless nights. Far from families. Giving summer after summer. And it keeps happening to us. And I believe until certain things, certain performers are going to be on the level of basketball that’s being played in this kind of tournament, like EuroBasket, World Cup, Olympic Games, and especially the level of superstars like Luka, Franz Wagner, Dennis Schroder, Nikola Jokic – not to forget someone – it’s going to keep happening. People are going to be disappointed, people are going to be sad. It’s sad. It hurts, but we can’t do many things. We’ve kept saying it summer after summer. I see many people complaining.”
Prepelic also highlighted how the late-game officiating favored Germany, particularly with free throws.
“Do you believe that it’s normal that on the quarterfinal level in the EuroBasket a team shoots 13 free throws in the last two minutes after such a physical game that was allowed to be played?” he asked. “To me, these aren’t normal things, to be honest. Especially knowing how many fouls Luka received during every single play. Obviously, you can’t call all the fouls; he can’t shoot 100 free throws. At least you don’t call the superstar with a technical foul in the first minutes. This is ridiculous.”
In the mixed zone, Prepelic elaborated on the emotional toll on the team.
“How many people watched the game? Around 9,000 in the arena, and probably many more on TV. Nothing new – this keeps happening every summer. Until certain things reach the level they should in this kind of tournament, it’s going to remain sad. It happens to many teams, and we saw it again this year. We keep hearing it will get better, but instead, it’s getting worse. We leave our families at home for two months, and in 40 minutes, someone takes away what we’ve built over many years. That said, I’m very proud of this team. Germany is an incredible team, world champions with a great squad. They deserve the semifinals. We didn’t, so let’s move on.”
The former Real Madrid guard, now playing with Dubai BC, emphasized his pride in the younger players and the overall team effort.
“I’m very proud of this group, especially because seven players – if I’m not mistaken – were playing in EuroBasket for the first time. We had the best player on the planet surrounded by good teammates, even if some aren’t yet at the level they deserve. Hopefully, they will reach it. People didn’t believe in us, but basketball is a team sport, full of momentum shifts. We had the momentum, they hit a lucky shot, gained it, and beat us. There are things to analyze, but I’m very proud and believe we’re building something for the future,” Prepelic concluded.
Slovenia coach Sekulic, veteran Prepelic call out officiating after #EuroBasket eliminationhttps://t.co/eQ8hXFuNPh
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) September 10, 2025
