Coach grateful for Doncic, Slovenia cheers from Manila crowd

MANILA, Philippines – Despite playing in back-to-back days, crowd favorite Luka Doncic “played great” supposedly because of the cheers of the Manila crowd, Slovenia head coach Aleksander Sekulic said.

In both games against Canada and Lithuania here in Manila, every time Doncic holds the ball, he is cheered on by the Manila crowd.

Against Lithuania, Doncic scored 29 points 7-of-21 shooting.

Sekulic told reporters that he does not know where the Dallas Maverick got his energy especially after consecutive grueling contests.

“Luka is amazing. The thing I liked about him, he came to me and he said ‘I am ready to play. I am fresh, I am good, I am great, I want to play.’ I do now know where he got his energy, he was just amazing,” Sekulic said after the defeat.

“He probably wanted to show his gratitude to the fans here in the Philippines who really love him. So, maybe it is connected,” he added.

“Perhaps, he is getting energy from the fans.”

The crowd’s cheer is loud not just for Doncic, but the whole Slovenia team as well.

Sekulic thanked the crowd for the warm welcome.

“We would like to thank them for this amazing support. [We are] really thankful,” he said.

“I wish they could come and cheer us for the next game we play, because it is great to play in this atmosphere,” he added.

Even if Slovenia is falling behind in the game, the crowd is cheering on Slovenia and Doncic.

The team is 0-2 in Manila, losing both games in Canada and Lithuania.

Slovenia will face Italy on Saturday afternoon at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.