The Americans will have to work on Serbia in the coming weeks. Ahead of their confrontation in Group C at the Paris Olympic Games, the two teams will face each other in preparation on July 17 in Abu Dhabi.
And one of the members of the opposing selection, Nikola Jovic already announces the color: he “ will not respect Americans », in the sense that he will not be impressed by the quality of the American workforce.
The Heat player, whose comments are taken up by BasketNewsadds: “ I don't think we should respect anyone. The fact is that they are all excellent players, but we are going to win every match. »
A great promise, with a dose of “trashtalk”, which obviously doesn’t come out of nowhere. Fourth best nation in the FIBA rankings, Serbia remains on a silver medal acquired during the last World Cup, after its defeat in the final against Germany. Two places better than Team USA.
Good people for Serbia too
And for Paris, the Serbian Federation has a pre-selection of 16 players with also a bunch of high-sounding names (Vasilije Micic, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Aleksej Pokusevksi, Filip Petrusev…). Starting with the biggest of them, Nikola Jokic, but whose state of health still makes him uncertain. His quasi-homonym Jovic appeared with a protective boot on his left leg during the team's first meeting.
The Heat player is still recovering from an injury and is expected to return to practice next week. “ The injury I sustained is getting better, the swelling is almost gone. But we will wait a few more days for the control scan. […] Honestly, I'm not 100% sure I can play, but I definitely believe in it », he displays.
The interior explains that he was injured when the season was already over and he was training individually in Miami. If he was not required to play for the Games, he at least got the message across to his teammates.
| Nikola Jovic | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2022-23 | MIA | 15 | 14 | 40.6 | 22.9 | 94.7 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 5.5 |
| 2023-24 | MIA | 46 | 20 | 45.2 | 39.9 | 70.2 | 0.5 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 7.7 |
| Total | 61 | 18 | 44.3 | 36.9 | 77.3 | 0.6 | 3.1 | 3.7 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 7.1 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
