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Bojan Bogdanovic (Still a Net!) scored 18 points to lead Croatia over Canada and Anthony Bennett (Not yet a Net?) who scored 10 points in Thursday's "friendly" game near Venice, where Croatia is training. The final score was 78-70. The game was played in the hours before the NBA Draft, when some had speculated that the Nets might move Bogdanovic for a pick. Didn't happen.
Despite the presence of the Magic's Mario Hezonja and the 76ers soon-to-be rookie Dario Saric, the Croatians ran their offense through the Nets' shooting guard, as they have for the last several years. Croatia plays Bogdanovic in the backcourt but often posts him high and low. The Nets assistant coach, Chris Fleming, met with Bogdanovic last week and encouraged him to do more of that in the NBA. Fleming is the German national team head coach. So he's familiar with the differences between the NBA Bogdanovic and the FIBA Bogdanovic.
Bennett, who had 21 points three days ago in a Croatia - Canada exhibition was limited to 10 points this time.
Both Croatia and Canada will now travel to venues on opposite sides of the globe in hopes of gaining a spot in the Rio Olympics. Croatia will play in Turin, Italy; Canada in Manila, the Philippines in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament which runs July 5 through 10. As a result, neither Bogdanovic nor Bennett will play in either of the NBA summer leagues. Still no word on where Bennett will wind up playing next season. He's worked out with both the Nets and Knicks.