Bojan Bogdanovic: the pain of losing to France was almost physical

Bojan Bogdanovic is making his way to Brooklyn via Istanbul where he will bid farewell to that organization (and no doubt wish his replacement, Bogdan Bogdanovic well), then head to Nets training camp.

But before he left, he sat down with a reporter in his hometown of Mostar, Bosnia, and spoke about the Croatian national team's loss to France, a game where he shot 11-of-19 on his way to a 27-point performance.

"It was very difficult. Never more difficult. The feeling after I finished the game against France was truly awful," said the Nets rookie, describing the pain as physically palpable. "I was really depressed."

Known as a very emotional player, Bogdanovic said he was not satisfied with his own performance, which ended with him missing a three-pointer that would put Croatia in the lead with 24 seconds left. "Starting with me, we did not turn our goals into reality. We were not that good ... The potential of this team has not been exploited fully. If I am not satisfied with myself, I do not think the others can be satisfied."

Bogdanovic declined to get into the big controversy surrounding the national team, whether the Croatian Basketball Federation should replace coach Jasmin Repeša. Toni Kukoc has said he's love the job. That decision, he said, was up to the federation but pointedly didn't offer any endorsement of Repeša.

Bogdanovic averaged 21.2 points per game, third overall, but tops among players who got out of the preliminary round.

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