| 24 October 2012 EUROBASKET 2013  | | Zoran Erceg's injury will raise the worries of Serbia coach Dusan Ivkovic ahead of next year's EuroBasket |
CSKA Moscow's Serbia international Zoran Erceg has hit the sidelines for at least four months with a torn Achilles tendon. He will undergo surgery on Monday. Erceg, a key man in the Besiktas side that won the EuroChallenge last season, got hurt in training over the weekend and now coach Ettore Messina is without an extremely important player as they attempt to contend for honors in Russia and the Turkish Airlines Euroleague. Andrey Vatutin, the CSKA president, has spoken about the loss of Erceg. "No doubt, this is a serious loss for us; we had big hopes for Erceg, especially on offense," he said. "We are not ready to say if we will look for the replacement. "We are studying the market, we will look if Andrey Vorontsevich can fill Erceg's shoes. "We just can't decide quickly in this stage of season." The injury to the 27-year-old Erceg also raises questions about his involvement at next year's EuroBasket with Serbia. He played eight games this summer for Dusan Ivkovic's team, averaging 6.0 points and 2.1 rebounds in 10.8 minutes per contest as they finished third in Group A and booked a place in the Final Round. | 
