kwollity

With just .6 seconds left on the clock in a NLB League final game, the Croatian basketball team nailed a 3-pointer and cinched a narrow victory. Naturally, celebration ensued. That is until Serbia, with just .5 seconds left, threw up a miracle half court shot and took the game right back.

The terrible (or most hilarious) part of this video is that Serbia didn’t just ‘steal the game’. Croatia didn’t finish playing the game. They scored, and with time on the clock (a mere .6 seconds, but still), starting celebrating! They’re running and jumping around, hugging each other, and they let their guard down. All 5 Crotia players were in their own half of the court, and not a single person put any pressure on the Serbian shooter. You can see the coaches frantically pointing and yelling. Any athlete, especially at this level, should know “it’s not over until the fat lady sings”. The lesson: keep your composer and play till the end. Save the celebrations for the buzzer.

A lesson I’m sure none of these players will ever forget. Ouch.

The best part is the stunned silence of the crowd. And also, just at the shot goes in, it sounds like the stadium announcer was about to start saying something, but loses his words as the ball goes in.

I wish I knew what the players were saying at the end. Anyone speak Croatian?