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Bogdan Tanjevic has announced his resignation from the Turkish national team following his side’s elimination at the group stages of Eurobasket.
Going with experience over youth, Turkey side won just one of their group stage games at Eurobasket, an 87-74 success against Sweden.
Tanjevic’s decision to step down was announced at a press conference at the Abdi Ipecki Arena in Istanbul on Thursday morning.
“First of all I take full responsibility for the result,” the 66-year-old tactician said at a press conference at Istanbul’s Abdi Ipekci Arena on Thursday morning.
“I obviously did more preparation for the Second Round and quarter- final games.
“Two days prior to the start of the tournament in Slovenia we continued to work on our conditioning.
“I thought that we would pass the First Round easily and then the team would be 100 percent ready.
“I want to thank everyone, this is my family, and I love this country.”
Turkey’s poor performances in Slovenia was surprising, given the fact that they had a strong squad – filled of veterans – with nine of them in the 2010 world championship squad that won the silver medal as a host country.
“As athletes, we are the one who are the most depressed,” Turkey captain Hedo Turkoglu said.
“I want everyone to believe this is absolutely sincere.
“Sometimes you encounter a situation where you cannot give an answer to the question.
“As team captain, I would like to say that we put every effort to be successful, but, unfortunately, we did not succeed.”
The Turks will now go back to the drawing board and look to replace Tanjevic and think about whether they will apply for a wildcard spot in next year’s FIBA World Cup in Spain.
