The “Eagles” went to Riga as the top favorites for the gold medal but were stopped in the round of 16, which disappointed the entire nation.
The Serbian national basketball team has finished its participation in Eurobasket, after suffering a shocking defeat to the Finnish team 92-86 last night at the start of the knockout stage.
The “Eagles” left their hotel in Riga today much earlier than anyone expected and headed to Belgrade, arriving in the Serbian capital shortly after 4 PM.
After landing at “Nikola Tesla” airport, Serbia’s coach Svetislav Pešić said he does not plan to resign.
“I never resign. Why would I resign? I came here to do what I did and have done. I accepted this when no one else wanted to. And now, after the Olympics, no one wanted it, so I accepted it because I felt a responsibility to the players. We have an agreement until the end of September. We will sit down and talk; I am always here, available to help in any way. Resignations… this isn’t football, this is basketball; we don’t resign,” Pešić told the journalists present.
Was It the Atmosphere Among the Players?
The answer to this is short and clear: no. This generation was characterized by a great relationship between the players. There were no conflicts, problems, or misunderstandings between them. They were happy to come to national team gatherings; they have had a good atmosphere for years, and this time was no different.
Were They 100% Professional?
There is nothing to criticize them for here either. They didn’t go out in Riga; they were focused on their national team duties. It was clear that they wanted success, that gold, more than anyone else. There should be no criticism directed at these guys.
Was It Due to Injuries?
When you are left with only eight players at one point, it is certainly a factor. Bogdanović’s injury shook the team in all areas. We didn’t have anyone to take on that role. Aleksa’s injury affected him so he was not at his usual recognizable level. Dobrić, Vukčević…
However, we were eliminated and lost to Finland. Germany wasn’t on the other side, so we can’t look for an alibi in injuries. In this Eurobasket, we only played against one strong team, and that was Turkey. Everything else? The teams were far from the cream and top of European basketball.
Did We Live in the Past?
When we look at the trends and tendencies in European basketball and then look at our game, we see that there is a difference… We did not recognize a key moment. In this competition, it was allowed to play extremely rough, and the reaction of the Serbian national team was: we didn’t get into the bonus 15 times in a quarter!
Against Finland, we weren’t even close to the bonus in any quarter until two minutes before the end… When a team responds to such fierce basketball at Eurobasket with softness, we have nothing to hope for. We played our game and thought we would probably win matches on “sheer quality.” When we realized that wasn’t working, there was no Plan B. And we could have seen the trend in other games in the competition when we weren’t on our own. Maybe we could have seen something, learned, and applied it.
What’s Next?
With a new coach, a rejuvenated team, and a new vision of the game… But first, we need to get over this Riga. It will take time.
Source: Kurir, Photo: Printscreen Youtube