Do you think Serbia can dominate European basketball once again ?

[pohani komarac]

That's it, i don't see any superstar prospect among the serbian youngsters as for example have Croatia with Zubzic or Lithuania with Motiejunas or Valanciunas.
Will they still be able to be succesful and win a championships even without a superstar? maybe, it hapeened in the past and might happen again, but dominate without a superstar? i don't think so.

It depends what do you consider superstar prospect. He can be very good player in NBA and upgrade our level of game, but he is not near complete prospect like Kukoc, Gasol or Nowitzki

[penzias]

Sometimes superstars come from nowhere, Like Šiškauskas in Lithuania. IMHO, Teodosic showed some clear signs that he might become a real European super star. BTW, Mačvan is not ranked worse than Motiejūnas, though he looked a little bit too passive and limited in the offensive end IMHO, but It's his first Eurobasket only.

They might be ranked similar as of now but Motiejunas has more upside than Macvan, who can still become a very good player a la Garbajosa but not a superstar.
BTW I don't think that Siskauskas is a superstar, neither Papaloukas or Diamantidis for example.

[Genjuro]

That's it, i don't see any superstar prospect among the serbian youngsters as for example have Croatia with Zubzic or Lithuania with Motiejunas or Valanciunas.
Will they still be able to be succesful and win a championships even without a superstar? maybe, it hapeened in the past and might happen again, but dominate without a superstar? i don't think so.

They do have a superstar prospect IMO: Nenad Miljenovic.

However, superstar prospects don't guarantee you anything, as I exposed. And still, to have those Euro-friendly players that are the core of their NT is a huge advantage for a country like Serbia.

Anyway, I don't consider Zubcic any superstar prospect. Honestly speaking, I'm extremely skeptical about his chances of becoming a star player. I like better Mario Delas or Toni Prostran. They don't have nearly as much potential but I think they have a better mental set in order to maximize it.

[Straight forward]

They might be ranked similar as of now but Motiejunas has more upside than Macvan, who can still become a very good player a la Garbajosa but not a superstar.
BTW I don't think that Siskauskas is a superstar, neither Papaloukas or Diamantidis for example.

Is Jasikevičius superstar? I see what you mean, Šiška is not a superstar compered with Gasol, Dirk kind of players, but he definitely a superstar in European basketball, cause he would be top 5 pick from Euroleague.

[penzias]

Is Jasikevičius superstar?

Borderline superstar.
Let's face it, there are not superstars in Euroleague anymore, as soon as one player show some flashes of greatness he jumps to the other side of the Atlantic.

Haven't seen Miljenovic yet, i'll give him a chance.

[mark123]

How does Argentina look like?

If USA NT gets a medal and Spain NT one more, it leaves only one medal to fight for...

Lithuania may be a wildcard, and they will have a damn good team this time.

I think Serbs will be happy, if they see the team playing good and ranking somewhere in the top 1-6. For me it would be very succesful.

Getting a medal is possible, but how can you demand one, when there are so many tough teams around? With so high competition luck becomes a factor.

Nobody had ever promised Spain a medal on WC.Take a look at the last WC,Spain won the semis against Argentina by only one point 75-74.They could have EASILY lost.Greece defeated team US in the semis,so US played for bronze where they trashed Argentina.Spain could have easily came 4th on that tournament.
Its like WC in Indianapolis Yugoslavia defeated US in the quarters and became WC champion.But we could have easily lost to US in the quarters and where would we be than ?
Spain by no means dominated the WC,didnt play US for medal and had really tired Greeks in the finals.True heroes of the WC are the Greeks. Spain had a lot of luck on that championship as we did in Indiana.

[mark123]

Evidently, Spain appeared consecutively in the finals of the last four major international tournaments. That's the biggest achievement ever by any European national team.

Captain cavemen the greatest achievements of European basketball teams come from Yugoslavia and SSSR.Especially Yugoslavia. We were Olympic,European and World champions at the same time.Thats the greatest achievement ever. How many Olympics have u won ?!
How many European titles ? Just 1. How many WC ? Just 1. There are much greater teams than Spanish when it comes to basketball (or any sport for that matter) throughout the European history.

[mark123]

Great one. Too bad they missed 99 and 2000 finals because it could have been a record. it's like Spain, they got medals in the 99, 2001, 2003, 2007 and 2009 Eurobaskets but couldn't claim gold in 2005 due to that buzzer beater from Dirk Nowitzki. Could have been a better mark.

If we had one 99 and 200 nobody in the world would ever watch basketball again.

[mark123]

I will be happy with top 6 finish at olympics these boys are still kids and we are just excited that we have finally got a medal our first in 7 years the long wait is what fustrated us so thats why we are so happy.... But Serbian people have a fukd up mentality we are crazy and always expect to win at everything which really pisses me off. Thats just how we are so dont get offended

They play to win not to lose as all of them have said.Or maybe u think they should play a game just so they can lose it. Like some did this year r clearly a genius and a true patriot Milic.Maybe u shouldnt post so much

[LuDux]

I have a question concerning Lithuanian basketball, i was looking forward to the team but they disappointed me, i am big fan of Lithuanian basketball beacuse yous like Serbian have a strong basketball tradition and school.

Whats going wrong?

Let me try.
Suspicious decisions by federation lead to suspicious coaching. Plus bad luck - illnessess in Kaukenas and Kalnietis famillies. Kalnietis couldn't concentrate on basketball, Kaukenas couln't play at all. I have suspicion that Kaukenas might have played similar leader role as Siskauskas in 2005 with similar results.

[Point_Guard]

There are much greater teams than Spanish when it comes to basketball (or any sport for that matter) throughout the European history.

There are only three european nations who have been world champions. USSR, Yugoslavia and Spain. Spain is a top-team in european basketball history. And yes, only 1 european title, but they also have played 7 finals, and this tells a lot about spanish competitivity.

Spain is a classic of the european basketball. Not at the same level of USSR or Yugoslavia, but a classic. They deserve more respect.

[mark123]

There are only three european nations who have been world champions. USSR, Yugoslavia and Spain. Spain is a top-team in european basketball history. And yes, only 1 european title, but they also have played 7 finals, and this tells a lot about spanish competitivity.

Spain is a classic of the european basketball. Not at the same level of USSR or Yugoslavia, but a classic. They deserve more respect.

Yugoslavia,SCG has more gold medals than Spain has finals SSSR also.

[Buducnost PG]

Spain is a great basketball country. I like the way they play and what they have done in the last ten years is huge. To be on top or near the top for 10 years is amazing. And every medal is a huge succes. And Spain has won many in the last 10 years. The only real bad result in the last 10 years are the OG in Sydney 2000. They were not able to past the 1st round. The OG in 2004 ended unlucky for them. They won every single game in the group and lost to the USA with 100-82 in the quarterfinal.

With Gasol, Navarro, Rudy and Calderon in the team, for me they will be 2010 and 2012 the 2nd team after the USA. I think they will definetly play in 2010 and 2012. They should rest 2011 in Lithuania. After that Spain will have another team with other upcoming stars and perhaps a different style of play. They will definetly miss someone like Pau in the paint. Pau is the player that makes them so strong and dangerous. In FIBA competitons he is great at both side´s of the floor.

The goal of this Serbian generation was a medal and still is in London 2012. But most of the players could play until 2016 without any problems for the NT if they want and the atmosphere is nice around the NT. And that is something we have to work on. To play for the NT must be kind of fun for the players and not a must. But we have also to see that playing every year is difficult. So if a player take a rest after 4-5 years in the NT and after that join the NT again for another 3-4 years it is OK for me.

[penzias]

They play to win not to lose as all of them have said.Or maybe u think they should play a game just so they can lose it. Like some did this year r clearly a genius and a true patriot Milic.Maybe u shouldnt post so much

I guess you haven't understand what he tried to say.
This silver medal was a surprise, and the next year the competition will be much tougher, with complete Lith and greek teams, Argentina, Brazil, USA...reaching the QF is going to be really hard and getting a medal for Serbia almost impossible, and he's afraid that some people start blaming the players and creating bad mood towards the NT if they can't fullfill his inflated expectaions.

[mark123]

I thought this post was about the future, and not about the past. Obviously, Yugoslavia has a great history in basketball. Obviously Spain cannot compete with it, and is not even trying. Spain has been able to develop an incredible team in a country where basketball is unfortunately too much behind football, and you see the top teams with problems to fill the courts even we have one of the best basketball leagues in Europe.

Thank u very much.This is the truth.