Former Blazers Star Slammed by International Coach: ‘Out of Shape and Can Barely Run’

Former Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic was called out by his International team coach over his conditioning while competing in EuroBasket.

The 30-year-old is representing his country of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the European tournament this summer. After scoring 15 points in his country's loss against Montenegro, Nurkic was targeted in head coach Adis Beciragic's fury.

“Nurkic is out of shape and can barely run,” Beciragic said to reporters after the loss.

“Xavier Castaneda is not training; he only started playing five-on-five two days ago. All that needs to be integrated into a team that has played together for two years.

“We have to prepare better for the games. We missed 18 free throws against Serbia. Montenegro is also a very good team and I hope we will be able to convince the players to understand where the problems are."

Bosnia is facing a crisis at the worst possible time, considering that the EuroBasket tournament is coming up.

In the competition, they have a group full of good teams, including Spain, Italy, Greece, and Georgia.

Nurkic played seven years in Portland, playing a key role in the team making the playoffs throughout his time with the team.

He got traded from the Blazers to the Phoenix Suns, where he played a season and a half before moving to the Charlotte Hornets.

At the end of the season, Nurkic expressed his excitement over representing his country in the tournament.

“I’m looking forward to play,” Nurkic said at the end of May.

“We have a really good group of people and players. I really believe we can do special things there. We have a minimum of five games, and we go from there. We may start camp in July, and competition starts in August.”

“It’s a special feeling. No one can pay you or buy you that feeling. You have to experience it in your own way. For me, it’s a blessing, and I am looking forward to doing it in the years to come."

Bosnia and Nurkic will need to find quick improvements if they want a shot at advancing deep in the tournament.

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