MIES (Switzerland) – After missing out on a spot among 12 teams at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Serbia is now back in the race. Speaking of comebacks, this time they have a three-time NBA MVP to help them out.

Nikola Jokic’s return to the team, along with Vasilije Micic, has allowed head coach Svetislav Pesic to assemble one of the most impressive rosters ever, even by Basketball Nation’s incredibly high standards.

Serbia will face South Sudan, Puerto Rico and the United States in Group C in Lille. The top two teams from the group will advance to the Quarterfinals along with the top two third-placed teams from each group.

Staff

What if we told you that they made it to the finals of the 2023 FIBA ​​Basketball World Cup and will be even stronger in 2024?

The idea was there from the very beginning, with the majority of the squad coming from the generation born in 1994 and 1995, making them lifelong teammates from their days at various youth events. Two more guys from that generation are here now, Vasilije Micic (1994) and Nikola Jokic (1995) making their comebacks.

This means head coach Svetislav Pesic will have the luxury of playing alongside Jokic, Micic and Bogdan Bogdanovic, who will be playing together for the first time since the FIBA ​​Basketball World Cup 2019.

But while they were well-known back then, they have become superstars today. Jokic is a three-time NBA MVP, Vasilije Micic is a two-time EuroLeague champion and two-time Final Four MVP, and Bogdanovic always looks like a superhero when he sees SRBIJA written across his chest.

The star power is there, and that’s not even the half of the story. Pesic likes to pair Nikola giants with Milutinov next to Jokic, while guys like Aleksa Avramovic, Marko Guduric and Ognjen Dobric provide left-handed shots when needed.

With the Serbian basketball mindset, they always have a few guys who represent the next generation and are ready to take over in the future. Nikola Jovic and Aleksej Pokusevski are the youngest at the moment and hope to follow in the same vein as the two youngsters from the 2016 team.

Those two were Nikola Jokic and Bogdan Bogdanovic. They turned out pretty good, you’ll agree.

Question

Should we talk about FIBA ​​EuroBasket 2022? Serbia played some phenomenal basketball back then with a similar roster, albeit without Bogdan Bogdanovic, but completely fell apart in the Round of 16 against Italy.

Have those ghosts been put to rest now? Or are Serbia better when expectations are a little lower, as they were at last year’s World Cup in the Philippines?

Hope

When they play their style of basketball, no one is static and the ball moves so fast that it is a joy to watch. Of course, when Jokic is playing, he is more defined and looks to be in great shape.

In fact, he averaged 21.7 points, 10.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.8 steals in just 25 minutes per game at the FIBA ​​EuroBasket 2022.

With a three-time NBA MVP on their roster, they certainly have hopes of winning another Olympic medal.

All this and we haven’t even begun to talk about defence. The pressure Serbia puts on opposing defenders is unbearable. Dennis Schroder has managed to avoid it in 2023, but just ask the French who lost their bearings at home last night.

Serbia crushes France’s party in Lyon

Jokic’s paint dominance played a role in Serbia’s impressive performance against France

Fear

Sometimes the pressure can be too much for Serbia. In 2019, they were one of the favorites to win the World Cup, finishing fifth. They were the clear favorites to win the 2020 FIBA ​​Olympic Qualifying Tournament, losing to Italy in the Final.

They were probably the deepest team at FIBA ​​EuroBasket 2022 and didn’t make it to the Quarterfinals. The fear is when expectations are there, your heart gets broken.

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