The former head coach of the Serbian national basketball team, Svetislav Pešić, spoke in an interview with Nedeljnik about the events at the European Championship in Riga. Serbia finished the competition with a loss to Finland in the EuroBasket Round of 16, and Pešić also talked about “non-basketball issues.”
Specifically, he was asked if he called the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, regarding the fans who were sent to Riga by the authorities. This information was publicly announced by the trophy-winning Partizan coach Duško Vujošević.
– What Duško Vujošević said on television is completely untrue. They sent me from the federation to see what appeared in the media. A month has already passed since the European Championship, but again the European Championship is a topic. And he says he is a little surprised by the result – which is okay, everyone is surprised, he has the right to be too – but he didn’t criticize baselessly from the basketball side like some others. However, he said there were some other things, that he received information second-hand that I called Vučić – Pešić said and added.
– OK, Dule is not to blame, he probably heard it somewhere, but no one thought to ask me first-hand if I called Vučić. And whether the players wanted to leave, whether there was any insulting, whether there was an attack on Gudurić’s brother and similar things. That was not a topic for me at all, of course I didn’t call Vučić… So, you have no contact?
– We have contact during receptions and official events. I remember the last accidental encounter in a restaurant, that was when our biggest clubs did not want to give players for the national team, meaning the qualifications were still being played. I remember, because we talked about it. So, that is my contact with the President of the country, unless it is something official. So, I did not call him, nor did he call me. And were there problems with those fans?
– No one caused us any problems. I perceived them, those who allegedly came on some special plane – maybe they did come, I really don’t know that – as some of those fans who visited us at the hotel. We did not feel anything in the sense that someone insulted us. Or I was completely focused on what was happening on the court – Pešić concluded for Nedeljnik.
Problems with the Virus Pešić also explained what kind of problems our team encountered during the competition in Riga. Everything started great, and then the downfall of our team began with Bogdanović’s injury.
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“The preparatory games were excellent, as were the start of the European Championship. And then came the game against Portugal, where Bogdanović got injured. One of the most important players. Bogdanović’s injury increased responsibility and motivation within the team in a different sense, so that other players felt the need to take on more responsibility. And we played a fantastic game against Latvia. That game boosted our confidence,” Pešić pointed out in the interview with “Nedeljnik.”
“I was satisfied because I didn’t have to tell the players that we had lost Bogdan and that they needed to take responsibility. It was visible that they felt it. But then comes Turkey. and in the fifth or sixth minute Avramović got injured. And he is our most important player. He is the driving force of our complete defense. We live off defense. Of course, we have the best player in the world, but Jokić also relies on everyone else. Then Vukčević also got injured in that game. Of course, he is not the most important player, but the rotation is reduced. Then Gudurić gets injured. One practice he can, the next practice he can’t. We lose the game against Turkey by one possession, and that was without Avramović.”
After that, our team was “decimated” by a virus, which very likely started from the Latvians – Nikola Jokić and Nikola Jović “fell ill” before the game with Finland.
“I come to breakfast, and Jokić is not there. Nikola Jović is not there either. Where are they? Professor Doctor Gaga Radovanović informs me that they are sick. So, these were the problems we were dealing with. It seems it was some kind of virus. The day before, the elevator opened for me in the hotel, and Latvian coach Banki was in it. He tells me – some virus caught us. A day later, two of our players cannot get out of bed. Several members of the medical team and management also. The sick players did not go to practice, they were given infusions three times a day, and food was brought to their rooms. And before the game in the morning, they say their fever had passed. Nikola Jović says: ‘I’m good, I’m playing’. Jokić, even if he’s in pain, he will never say that he is hurting. That’s the type he is, he can endure anything,” Pešić said.
Serbia lost to Finland 92:86 and was again eliminated from the EuroBasket in the Round of 16. Pešić did not resign, he waited for his contract to expire in 23 days, and he was replaced by Dušan Alimpijević.
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