Yet led by its two MVPs, Nikola Jokic (NBA) and Vasilije Micic (Euroleague Final Four), the Serbia took the door in the round of 16 after losing to Italy.
A real feat of Squadra Azzurra, guided by his explosive coach Gianmarco Pozzecco, facing a presumed contender for the European title. Indeed, the Orlovi were generally announced in the last four.
Yes, but here it is:EuroBasket is a dense competition, where no match is given, and the slightest relaxation can therefore be very, very expensive.
A desaster…
Unlike France, Slovenia and Greece, who had to fight but reached the quarter-finals, Serbia therefore paid the price by falling by the wayside. A bitter failure, which follows those of the 2019 World Cup (5th place) and the 2020 Olympic Games (absence), but which above all leaves everyone groggy in the workforce.
” I don’t know what to say… It’s a disaster“, Launches for example the trigger Vanja Marinkovic (63% success at 3-pts!), in the columns of Mozzart Sport. ” The Italians gave their all on the pitch. [Marco] spissu and [Achille] Polonara found their rhythm and took their usual shots… We didn’t score a basket for several minutes. It’s a disaster. “
A disappointment shared by Vasilije Micic, the lieutenant of Nikola Jokic, certainly author of 16 points and 8 assists, but only 5/14 on shots and 1/8 at 3-pts. Beyond his awkwardness in shooting, the player of Anadolu Efes Istanbul regrets above all the collective collapse of his country.
“ We stopped playing, there was no determination, no confidence to try our shots “, he explains. ” We played tense, then they started a crazy series, especially Marco Spissu, who had an incredible evening. [Les Italiens] played hard in defense. Their style of play doesn’t suit us, but that’s no excuse. We started well, then we stopped. It wasn’t easy for Nikola Jokic either, they had prepared for him even though he scored 32 points. But it was up to us, the rest of the team, to take responsibility. We should have done better. “
The vice-champions of Europe (already) on the mat
Quickly installed in control (up to +14 in the second quarter), Serbia then gradually lost their luster in the game. Weighed down by their ball losses (16) but also the Italian external address (16/ 38 to 3-pts), the men of Svetislav Pesic thus left the Azzurri get back in the game.
With, in particular, a huge “run” of… 25-7, straddling the third and fourth quarters.
“ We don’t know what happened. [Les Italiens] got a lot of shots, congratulations to them. They imposed their rhythm on us, with a lot of 3-point shots, a lot of madness… “, Book on this subject Nikola Kalinic, also present in the starting five of the reigning European vice-champions.
Then captain Vladimir Lucic to support the words of his teammates…
“ We got nervous and missed open shots. They put their shots at 3-pointers and they gained confidence. We are very disappointed, it is a difficult defeat to take. Italy gave us a lot of problems, we didn’t manage to execute our pick-and-roll situations. They scored a lot of points from behind the arc, while we missed a lot of shots from long range. That’s the difference. “
Photo credit: FIBA.com
