Qualifications for 2027 World Cup

[Serbian_Layup]

Now that we know our new coach, we can start discussing our chances to qualify for World Cup. It's going to be very, very hard to get this one. We don't have any room not to win against "smaller" teams. It's far more important to win all games against those teams and then just split games with Italy, Turkey and Lithuania. I think that will be enough to qualify. Easier said than done though. Alimpijevic will have to come up with the list of approximately 30 players to count on during these qualifications. If I leave out NBA players (though they could play in summer window and will be necessary I think) This is the list I can come up with:

PG: Micic, Avramovic, Miljenovic, Drezgic, Uskokovic
SG: Guduric, Andjusic, Momirov, Bosnjakovic
SF: Dobric, Marinkovic, Nikolic, Cerovina, Dangubic, Radanov
PF: Smailagic, Pokusevski, Markovic, Davidovac, Beslac, Medarevic
C: Milutinov, Petrusev, Koprivica, Miletic, Ristic

+ 5 NBA players - Bogdanovic, Jokic, Jovic, Topic, Vukcevic

Kusturica still too young (as well as Dzepina, Backo and Radovic), Filip Jovic, Petrovic and Kostic in NCAA.

Players who can give us boost and compete for A team in near future - Drezgic, Nikolic, Markovic, Bosnjakovic. In windows without Euroleague players, these youngsters could really lift their stock and be positive surprise and show we can count on them for future actions with A team.

It's funny how all of Milutinov, Guduric, Micic, Petrusev had great games in first round of Euroleague and how terrible they looked just a month ago in NT. Their shape right now compared to month ago is like heaven and earth difference.

 

[Serbian_Layup]

Alimpijevic was officially introduced a few days ago. I liked everything that I heard from him at press conference and would emphasize these remarks:

- He will adjust his coaching to the profile of players we have, meaning he won't force his style of basketball if there are no such profiles of players to play it. But one thing is for sure, he will demand full effort on defense.
- Naturalization of foreign players is not an option.
- Emphasize on our players in college basketball and players of our origin who were born in USA and play in college. He will give a strong consideration about including some of those players on the list of 30 plus names that he will count on for entire qualification period.
- Ognjen Stojakovic is remaining as part of our coaching staff with the addition of Nemanja Jovanovic who is an assistant coach at UCLA. Great moves.
- It seems Alimpijevic is very fired up to coach NT and has the necessary attention to details. I noticed this when he talked about importance of athletic trainers and doctors in our team. He wants it to be on elite level.
- Mentioned that Pesic left NT in great spirits, relations between players are awesome and the cult and joy to play for NT is very obvious.

We will have very ambitious and knowledgeable coaching staff with quite modern approach to basketball. They are also familiar with all our talents and will keep an eye on all upcoming players. I expect that we will promote a few new players in these windows and throughout this Olympic cycle.

 

[Serbian_Layup]

Poku, Petrusev and Smailagic with great games last night.

- Smiley shooting 45% from 3 point range. Averaging 10.5 per game with improved defense. He is not a good rebounder and is kind of stuck between 4 and 5, but he is always playing with a lot of heart and improving defensively. He remains in conversation for A team if he shows consistency and keeps improving his weaknesses. We need to have bigs who can stratch the floor like that and Smiley can also face up on closeouts, has sneaky athleticism.

- Poku with a blueprint how his game should look going forward. I noticed that he reshaped his game a bit, finally using height to his advantage, taking short shots around paint area on fade aways and he is hitting them. Another thing is that his 3 point shot looks better and he is taking them with much more confidence. Definitely gained weight. We'll see if he can be consistent, he has plenty things to offer and should remain as one of players to follow.

 

[Straight forward]

Nice to hear that. Alimpijevic seems to be very spot on with his attitude. And I agree that the key is not to slip on weaker opponents cause games between Lithuania, Serbia, Turkey, Italy in most cases will be hard to determine.

 

[Serbian_Layup]

Another name to follow is Lazar Stefanovic. After college career, he signed for FMP in ABA league and is currently shooting 59% for three on almost 6 attempts per game. Sharpshooter at SF position, might be very interesting for window games. We need shooters.

 

[Serbian_Layup]

Poku with another good all around game in Euroleague. Three point shot is falling and close mid range shots. He is playing with more confidence and is tougher mentally. Would be nice if Obradovic lets him play for NT in upcoming window.

 

[Serbian_Layup]

Alimpijevic published his first list as a Serbian head coach. 24 players included for the first window.

Petrusev, Avramovic, Milutinov and Guduric won't play in this window. Avramovic just recovered from injury, Guduric is still not in physical shape and has lingering issues from Eurobasket, Milutinov with heavy minutes recently for Olympiacos. I think Petrusev could have been here, that game vs Bosnia is going to be hard, and I hope it won't backfire. Out of Euroleague players, we can count on Micic, Dobric, Pokusevski, Smailagic, Davidovac, Lakic and Radanov. Couple of them are only nominally Euroleague players though.

If I got it right, we will have 9 new players for this window. Some of them will certainly make a debut for NT. As I understood we will play vs Switzerland without any of Euroleague players, so there will be a lot of young players carrying that game. Might be a risk not to call even just a few experienced Euroleague players for that game. As much as I love to see young players, every game here matters a lot for the next phase, so every game is a must win basically. We are gambling a little bit again.

9 debutants: Drezgic, Miljenovic, Barna, Tanaskovic, Stefanovic, S. Nikolic, Medarevic, Momirov, Lakic. Markovic and Djulovic already debuted earlier. Good to see Poku and Smailagic on the list. I expect Drezgic, Djulovic, Markovic, Tanaskovic and probably Barna to have big roles in a game vs Switzerland if we play without any Euroleague players. I'm happy to see a lot of young players on the list but also think we could have used at least Petrusev in this window, that game vs Bosnia won't be easy. I guess some players are still having injury problems since Eurobasket.

Micic will have to show up big time in a game vs Bosnia.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1990465759261438239

 

[Serbian_Layup]

Somehow we got away with two wins in this first window and that's most important. My eyes were bleeding watching these games, it was ugly but the most positive aspect was that we came back in both games and didn't give up when it seemed we were losing ground, We showed high character when it mattered the most. Honestly, this roster is more like our C team, we won both games thanks to debutants. Miljenovic with near triple double vs Switzerland and Tanaksovic with absolute gem of a game vs Bosnia. Captain Ristic was phenomenal vs Switzerland (10/10 FG) and debutant Momirov hit two huge threes vs Bosnia. Jaramaz with a god game too. We had to rely heavily on new players literally playing their first game for NT to win both games. The first time ever to play in this roster after like two days of practice. Ridiculous.

Kudos to Alimpijevic. Strong start for him. Whatever he did in locker room after -23 at half vs Switzerland obviously triggered players to do their best in the second half. Very encouraging to see that reaction. Then, he made great adjustment vs Bosina in the 4th quarter, moved Tanaksovic to 5 and benched both our centers. It was the best possible move as we locked down on defense and scored enough on offense, while Tanaskovic was crucial in both ways. Most important is to win these games vs small teams. Hopefully, we can count on all our Euroleague players in February window.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1994142993469812990

Ristic was phenomenal in that game vs Turkey for World Cup qualification in Manilla couple of years ago, and he was instrumental again vs Switzerland in that famous second half. Such a great shootung touch, too bad he is so slow footed on defense. Nevertheless, fantastic contribution in recent years. He deserved to be captain in these windows.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1995239790141399284

 

[coinho]

I expected a bigger role for Bogoljub Markovic.
He is really dominant in ABA league.
ABA league teams are not less quality teams then rosters of Switzerland and Bosnia

 

[Serbian_Layup]

Too short time to define roles and Alimpijevic relied on more experienced players. I expect Markovic to have bigger impact on defense, he can be a good rebounder, help side defender and pretty switchable on the perimeter.