SF: Australia vs Serbia

[Srle]

To be fair Serbia had a pretty mediocre group stage and were seeded 4th coming into the knockout stage. Now it clearly wasn't an upset but no one was expecting such a thrashing.

I actually cringe more when commentators point to the FIBA World Rankings as indicator of an upset. The rankings are good for pointing to how good a team has been over the course of a decade but does a piss poor job of rating a teams current ability. A friendly reminder Argentina, for the moment, still out ranks Serbia and Russia is right behind the Serbs in 7th.

The objective was to avoid USA in semi finals, we won games that we had to win , also other games that we played in our group were competitive , we were flying under radar because we chose to do that , its similar path to the finals that we took in 2014 at WC.

[ncjazz]

The objective was to avoid USA in semi finals, we won games that we had to win , also other games that we played in our group were competitive , we were flying under radar because we chose to do that , its similar path to the finals that we took in 2014 at WC.

Dont know if I buy this, but I have been a fan of Serbian team for a long time so happy to see them in the finals. Serbia just needs a little more in the frontcourt (Bobo and Bjilecia of course would have helped) and upgrades at the SF as others have said. We will see what kind of team US puts out there for World Cup especially with the Olympics only one year away.

[Hepcat]

The objective was to avoid USA in semi finals, we won games that we had to win , also other games that we played in our group were competitive , we were flying under radar because we chose to do that , its similar path to the finals that we took in 2014 at WC.

Oh come on. As if Serbia's 2-3 record and fourth place finish in the group phase were all part of some grand design. Serbia just wasn't as good in the group phase as were Australia and France.

[CoachZ]

Oh come on. As if Serbia's 2-3 record and fourth place finish in the group phase were all part of some grand design. Serbia just wasn't as good in the group phase as were Australia and France.

I agree, it was not a grand design. The idea was to beat AUS in group and go for second place since France already lost to them and we could've been 2nd and achieve this same thing. When we lost to AUS, yes the key was to be 4th and the games were exhibition like style.

We were always this good, we just didn't play well. I think there is a big difference between being good and playing well. As Spain has demonstrated over the years. They are always good, but they play well when they need to.

[Srle]

Its all about pacing yourself , playing best basketball when it matters, I never doubt that we would crash Australia in semi's , and I am pretty sure we didn't want to win that game against France