The experienced and cunning one is up to something. Svetislav Pesic. Or so Team USA fears, skeptical of the logic of easy precedents that says the United States should have no problems in tonight’s semifinal against Serbia (21:00). Despite having the best player in the world, Nikola Jokic, The Balkan team lost 26 points to the world’s leading power in the friendly match prior to the Olympic Games (105-79) and the first phase match (84-110).
But something is smelled Steve Kerr.
“We have to be prepared for their best effort. We have to think about what they are going to do differently. I guess Jokic could play 40 minutes. What else do they have up their sleeve?” warned the American coach in statements collected by ESPN. The winner will face the France-Germany.
“We can’t sleep because we beat them twice,” warned the ever-cautious Kerr.
Duel between Jokic and LeBron again
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Nikola Jokic He suffered in the first friendly, with a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds but he remained at an unusual 6/19 in shots for him. triple MVP He was better in the group stage, with 20 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists in 31 minutes with 8/15 shooting.
The question is whether Pesic will take the risk and be able to leave his star on the court for the entire match, but it would be more realistic for the former coach of Barça make the Joker play around 35 minutes, who is coming off a great exhaustion against Australia. Although the star of the Denver Nuggets He laughed at fatigue with a recital in extra time, and could blame the 39 minutes he had to play to work the miracle for Serbia, which led to the biggest comeback in the history of the Olympic Games (24 points).
The world runner-up, an achievement that was achieved last year without the pivot, is like Night and day when Jokic is not playing to the point where he is capable of matching Team USA with him and being a toy in the hands of the American team without him. In the first round match, the score was 81-81 with the triple MVP on the court and no less than 29-3 with the center on the bench. The 21-year-old center was part of the Serbian team that took silver at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games after losing the final to the American team by an authoritative 96-66.
“We can’t sleep because we beat them twice”
Steve KerrTeam USA Coach
In the United States, there is suspicion about Pesic’s strange handling of Jokic, especially in the friendly. The veteran coach, weeks away from turning 18, 75 years (August 28), kept the Joker on the court for the entire first three quarters, something unusual in an exhibition game. One could think in this case that Pesic wanted to observe the different ways that Team USA defended the star depending on the different players they used. The American team managed to contain the Joker in that match with the double pivot strategy with Anthony Davis y Bam Adebayo that the Minnesota Timberwolves used so successfully with Karl-Anthony Towns y Rudy Gobert.
In the first phase match, the coach of the first Euroleague azulgrana took a while to put Jokic back on the court in the midst of the explosion of the United States and Kevin Durant in a game in a decisive quarter. The former Barça player was able to draw the clear conclusion that Serbia cannot afford to be without Jokic for too long against Team USA.
Pesic, an old dog, found the perfect balance in his pre-match analysis. All the flowers needed for the United States to increase the pressure but with a clear nod to his charges.
Spoelstra expressed his admiration for Pesic
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“We will play against an exceptional team, the best in the history of national team basketball. The Americans no longer only have exceptional individual quality, have grown as a team. We respect that, but we also respect ourselves and we are not afraid. We want to play a good game,” said the Serbian coach in statements collected by Basketnews. The Balkan already said before the Games that this American team is better than the Dream Team of Barcelona ’92.
“We are not making a threat, we do not have the right to threaten anyone now, we are aware of who we are playing against,” added the former Barcelona player, highly respected by Kerr and by another NBA champion coach like Erik Spoelstraone of the assistants on this Team USA. The Heat coach, asked by MD if he had any European coaches as a reference, expressed his admiration for Pesic last season.
“The fact that we are among the top four teams is a great success in itself, but we said that we came here not only to give our best, but to dedicate ourselves to winning an Olympic medal. It is the first opportunity, and we do not want to miss it,” said Pesic, who gave his players a rest yesterday.
“We will play against the best team in the history of national team basketball”
Svetislav PesicSerbia national team coach
“We will have a 45-minute to 1-hour session tomorrow and we will go into the match against the Americans with a lot of confidence,” Svetislav Pesic said.
But regardless of what the former Barça player has in store, Serbia cannot afford to miss so many. triples as in the two previous matches. For a logical question of improving their numbers in attack but also for not giving up transitions Team USA, where the American team is almost infallible. A fast-paced match resulting from a series of mistakes can only be won by the United States.
Serbia shot just 9/37 from the perimeter in the group stage (24%) and the need for improvement on the three-point line also includes Jokic, who shot 1/6 in that game. If the center is an outside threat, Team USA will have to push up the lanes when distributing from the top and that will make it easier for them to find openings in the paint.
Kevin Durant, defended by Marinkovic, was a nightmare for Serbia in the first phase
USA Basketball
But the Joker also needs his teammates to convert the opportunities he creates when attacking the post. The vast majority of three-pointers that Serbia generated were open and well-selected, so it’s just a matter of execution. Bogdan Bogdanovic He comes into the game with 48% from long distance with a high volume of 6 attempts.
Aleksa Avramovic y Vasilije Micic They will have to give an extra boost, because despite their 11 and 10 points they did not generate advantages in several possessions.
There will also, of course, be a part of invoking luck so that no one on Team USA gets merciless with the fresh memory of a Kevin Durant in a supernatural state that hit Serbia with 23 points in 16 minutes with 8/9 in field goals. Mostly point shots.
On the part of the United States, the most important adjustment is to expect a reduced playing time for Joel Embiid, inferior to Jokic in the post when the Sombor native hits there and slow to counter Serbia’s dynamic ball movement. The 2023 MVP only played 11 minutes in the first phase match despite starting for the pair’s 19 Adebayo Davis.
Bogdanovic, Jokic’s luxury squire
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LeBron James He also made this very clear to his colleagues.
“Every game is a test in itself. It doesn’t matter what happened in the first two, this is about what happens on Thursday night,” The King said.
Serbia’s natural competitive ferocity is another reason to believe that the Balkan team can, at the very least, make Team USA suffer. This ferocity is embodied by Svestislav Pesic, who found his boys’ backbone against Australia after a monumental fight during a timeout.
But what the United States fears most is not what the ex-Barça player shouts, but what he has in mind. It would not be the first time that an old sage of European basketball has made them suffer by ‘deceiving’ them. Aito Garcia Reneses He did it in 2008, when Spain was crushed in the first round match (82-119) and then pushed Team USA to the limit in the final (118-107). If not, just ask LeBron. Svetislav Pesic, a cunning fox on the prowl.
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2024-08-08 06:36:35
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