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Mirza Teletovic scored 21 points and Bosnia beat Belarus by 25 in the first "friendly" --that is, exhibition-- tournament of the summer in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. Teletovic played limited minutes for the Bosnians who are preparing for the FIBA Europe Qualifying Tournament next month. Bosnia will play Iceland and Great Britain in home and away games during August in hopes of qualifying for next summer's FIBA European championships.
Teletovic will face Italy on Saturday in the Sarajevo tournament, which benefits victims of Bosnia's widespread flooding this spring.
Four of the Nets five international players --Teletovic, Jorge Gutierrez, Sergey Karasev and Bojan Bogdanovic-- are expected to play for their national teams this summer, Gutierrez and Bogdanovic for Mexico and Croatia in the FIBA World Cup in Spain, Teletovic and Karasev in the qualifying tournament. Andray Blatche, the Nets free agent, will play for the Philippines. All told, the players will participate in more than 25 games between now and NBA training camp.
In an interview in Moscow Friday, the coach of the Russian national team, Evgeni Pashutin, expressed confidence that Karasev would play this summer. "We are waiting the imminent arrival of Sergei Karasev, who is now getting in shape in the United States. I'm sure he will quickly adapt."
The Nets other international player, Andrei Kirilenko, has retired from FIBA competition, and two-time Olympic gold medal winner Deron Williams continues his rehab from off-season ankle surgery.
If you want to keep up with all the international action this summer, Welcome to Loud City put together a great calendar we --and you-- can consult as the summer goes on and on without hoops.