Serbian NT 2024

[Serbian_Layup]

https://basketnews.com/news-208991-serbia-will-miss-two-players-vs-team-usa-in-abu-dhabi.html

Not ideal situation, but this is nice opportunity for Pokusevski to move up in our depth chart. Pesic will have enough material to evaluate how Poku can help this team. I also expect Jokic/Milutinov and Jokic/Petrusev pairings in some matchups. Curious to see how that works.

[Serbian_Layup]

https://x.com/KSSrbije/status/1811475717462589509

Getting ready for the game vs France. Pesic said our physical shape is still far from being optimal.

[Serbian_Layup]

Few things I'm curious to see in tonight's game vs France:

- The level of our physical shape
- The effectiveness of Jokic/Milutinov pairing and whether we can seriously count on them vs Gobert and Wembaniyama
- Who guards Wemby
- Is Poku going to get minutes and can he be useful
- How Micic, Bogdan and Jokic mesh together
- How do we deal with French physicality and size on defense

Bogdan lacks something like 55 points in Olympic tournament to become the best scorer in the history of Serbian NT.

[Serbian_Layup]

Nice game vs France. I was surprised how tightened our defense looked at this stage of preparations. That's a good sign and clearly Pesic's bleuprint. This team is third year under Pesic so they know very well his system and requests for each player. Roles have been defined already and they don't have to waste time on that part which is very important. It's always easier when you have continuity.

As for the game, both teams revealed some stuff and also hid something. Collet could find out that Serbia is basically the only team which can totally outplay French frontcourt. We scored 40 points in their paint. I really didn't expect that. On the other hand, when you have Jokic you can expect everything The way he dominated this game, especailly in the second quarter, reminded everyone why he is the best player in the world. Every time he touched the ball something good happened on offense. Wemby, as talented as he is, can not in any way, shape or form deal with Jokic and his brutal physicality and talent. Also, Wemby was pretty much shut down on offense. Milutinov, Petrusev and Jokic defended him and especailly the first two were very physical with him, leaving very little space. I think Wemby didn't score a single basket from the paint which is amazing. Wemanyiama is almost exclusively taking step back threes. That's all he did on offense. But that's something Collet has to worry about. The lack of creation from French guards was also obvious and that will be harder to solve.

As for tactical approach, it was expected that Pesic will play with both Jokic and Milutinov to counter French size. And it looked good. Milutinov didn't bother Jokic on offense and they looked very stable on defense. This might be problematic when we face teams with skilled and creative guards who can break defense and pass the ball to open shooters. That's where Jokic and Milutinov might struggle to closeout on shooters in the corner. With Jovic we wouldn't be talking about this, but it seems that we will have to rely on Jokic/Milutinov paring more than we should because Jovic is unlikely to recover from injury.

Maybe the best impression of this win is that we managed to close the game without Jokic who fouled out under 4 minutes to go. France got close to just 4 points down and then Micic who had a mediocre game stepped up, hit a three off the dribble and then broke French defense on two straight possessions for open three pointers for Marinkovic and Petrusev. That's champions's mentality. But Micic will have to let go of his 'take it easy' attitude and grind from the start.

As for individuals, everyone looked good. Avramovic continues ti be amazing for NT. The man hasn't had a bad game for NT ever since he started playing. Avramovic, Marinkovic and Dobric are our big strength on defense with 'grit and grind' mentality. And they also contribute on offense. Bogdan didn't force it but still dominated in the second half. Petrusev also very consistent on defense and efficient on offense, hit both outside shots. Guduric also did a good job at ballhandling and scoring important baskets. It wasn't just Jokic who scored in the paint, our guards are really good slashers and it's not easy to contain them, all of Micic, Bogdanovic, Avramovic and Guduric can get to the paint against anyone. That's why it will be tough to defend this Serbian team - inside/outside game is very balanced with many threats around Jokic. We have a lot of solutions which make opposing defense to guess what we are going to do and lose their focus. There was one possession at the end of first half, Micic got doubled, passed it to Bogdan who also got doubled, then he passed it to Marinkovic for a wide open three in the last second. That's what happens when you have strong ISO guards/scorers in the crunch time, defense is stressed out becasue there are many weapons to hurt them. Someone will always be open.

Also, our transition was smooth and great. Collet could see that the parts of the game in which France is very strong, Serbia can be just as equally dangerous. We are a tough matchup for France.

Few general observations:

- Offense is smooth and will be better
- Defense better than expected at this moment
- Jokic is the GOAT
- We need to take better care of the ball bringing it up halfcourt. Our guards made 4 turnovers under pressure. At some moments we dealt easily with French pressing, but also struggled when our guards got blitzed early in possession.


We'll see if Poku gets a chance vs Australia. Pesic is hesitant to try him out, but we probably need to test him as Jovic is most likely out and we definitely need another PF to help our rotation.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rufaXbaro-A&pp=ygUXU2ViaWEgZnJhbmNlIGJhc2tldGJhbGw%3D

https://x.com/HarrisonWind/status/1811851098384400425

https://x.com/katywinge/status/1811853564266054057

[Serbian_Layup]

Poor game and a loss vs Australia. Pesic said before the game that he wants to try out some players and see whom he can count on, and it's safe to say that Jaramaz and Radanov (like his energy but he is just unplayable on offense) are just not good enough to get any minutes in important games. I hate to say it but this goes for Poku as well. He lacks confidence and still not strong enough to play with physical imtensity. So, in a way, this was a good test, Pesic now knows what to do next in setting our rotation.

Few things we need to do better:

- Cutting down on turnovers. Lot of cheap turnovers.
- Micic. He hasn't played since April and you can see it. A lot of sloppy plays from him, very turnover prone. He needs more games and quicker decision making. He makes some brilliant passes and them immediately throws some boneheaded turnover. He probably needs more time, but he must be better. Also, that defense is not adequate, his energy is still not there.
- Petrusev has been great. He is growing. However, our depth at PF is really thin. Petrusev is adequate but not enough. Jovic's recovery will be crucial. Jovic and Petrusev would be a great rotation at PF. Without Jovic we will be exposed in certain matchups on defense, and our shooting will suffer a bit on offense.
- We have to be able to convert open shots. Jokic made tons of passes for open threes but we shot 3/22 (with Bogdan, Jovic and Dobric this won't happen, hopefully).

I like this loss because it shows what we need to do to get better. Few more strong games will hopefully get us where we want to be. It's certainly clear what will be our main 9-10 men rotation. Micic getting into form and Jovic's recovery are main priorities until the last prep game vs Greece in Belgrade. Everything else should lay into place.

[Straight forward]

Yup, watched the game a bit and it doesn't feel that Poku can be legitimate force for Serbia. There's a huge need of Jovic. If Jokic, Jovic, Bogi, Micic click then Serbia will be full fledged force. If Micic happens to be meh, there's no Jovic, and Jokic constantly doubled...I can see a scenario of disappointment.

Mills still cooking being 35yo. Something. Doubt he can be consistently good in Olympics though.

[Serbian_Layup]

Yup, watched the game a bit and it doesn't feel that Poku can be legitimate force for Serbia. There's a huge need of Jovic. If Jokic, Jovic, Bogi, Micic click then Serbia will be full fledged force. If Micic happens to be meh, there's no Jovic, and Jokic constantly doubled...I can see a scenario of disappointment.

Mills still cooking being 35yo. Something. Doubt he can be consistently good in Olympics though.

If Micic can't meet expectations, then Pesic will revert to safe option - give the ball to Bogdan and make him primary ballhandler. That brought us results when we played in weaker rosters. Still, Micic needs more time, he hasn't played a competitive game since April, and maybe whole season considering that Hornets are a bad tanking team. Poku played his first real game with NT. He also needs time to find his place and role but we can't rely on him. Jovic will be crucial here, it's different game with him on both ends. One thing is also clear, shooters have to make open shots. No excuses. Jokic will absolutely get doubled in the post, no one is crazy to defend him one on one, so everyone has to be ready for his passes and taking open shots. It won't happen that we play with 2 very bad shooters like Jaramaz and Radanov in the same lineup with Jokic. Pesic threw some experimental lineups which we won't see in Olympics. Teams will double Jokic, but it's different game when Bogdan, Jovic, Marinkovic, Micic are waiting for open shots instead of Jaramaz and Radanov. That will be fine when real games begin. Monitoring Micic's form and integrating Jovic are primary focus points until the game vs Greece.

[Serbian_Layup]

One option to think about if Micic continues to struggle next to Jokic and Bogdanovic is to come off the bench. Micic off the bench while Jokic and Bogdan rest could be nice solution which will give Micic all the freedom he likes. Having Milutnov and Petrusev as lob threats and Dobric/Marinkovic and Guduric as shooters. This could work very well for Micic. If he can't find his groove with Bogdan and Jokic, it's logical to give him the keys of the second lineup. I would still wait and give Micic a few more games with Jokic before such move. He is still very valuable, but playing with Jokic means that the ball must be flying around and get to him early in possession. Micic likes to dribble way too much and often forgets that he is playing with Jokic, not Bryant Dunston or Tibor Pleiss (I like them both a lot).

Poku seems to be heading to Partizan. It's going to be make it or break it under Obradovic. After that he is either going back to NBA or falls out of picture completely. He still lacks a lot of strength to play intense basketball, and probably few years away from reaching physical maturity.

[Serbian_Layup]

Interesting quote from Guduric regarding the injury status of Jovic and Davidovac: "We are getting positive feedback from Belgrade, so we hope that both Jovic and Davidovac will be able to join us when we return to Belgrade". They are still questionable, but this is encouraging.

Our Federation posted this footage the day after one media site broke news that Jovic won't play due to injury and broken ankle.

https://x.com/KSSrbije/status/1812506285973062003

Jumping and running with broken ankle in full intensity is science fiction. It's like Federation in a subtle way mocked that media. The way I see it, only Heat could make problems with Jovic's participation in Olympics, but it seems that he is recovering nicely from injury based on this footage.

[Serbian_Layup]

I liked very much how we played USA in the first 15 minutes, we were really good. Then, Curry showed why he is the best shooter of all time, while our legs got really tired. I'm hopeful that this is going to be a lot better with Bogdan, Jovic, Milutinov and Davidovac. With these guys we have a chance to extend our intensity a lot further than 15 minutes of good play vs USA. Jovic's recovery will be the key.

Pesic started Micic off the bench and it seems that's the way it should be going forward. We need Avramovic and his energy with Jokic and Bogdanovic, while Micic should look better coming off the bench. The problem is he plays with Jokic in the same way he plays with Brayant Dunston (for example), thinking Jokic is just a finisher, and that is not going to do us any good. The ball has to go to Bogdan and let him play two man game with Jokic. Micic will hopefully make the difference in the second lineup where he can play the way he is used to. I think we will be good when tough gets going, with hope that injuries will finally give us a break.

As for individuals, Petrusev continues to impress. Avramovic, Marinkovic and Dobric are big fighters. Jokic is motivated and feels comfortable, we have a big and still hidden weapon when Jokic and Bogdan engage in full capacity and play of off each other. Micic should get into better shooting form rather sooner than later.

[Serbian_Layup]

https://x.com/NBA/status/1813612039929274673

Transition basketball has become our big weapon, the way Jokic reacts here in a blink of an eye and sends one handed outlet pass is beautiful, this guarantees a fair amount of easy baskets. Hopefully, Jovic is also someone who is going to enjoy this brand of basketball, flying around the court. We still have a lot of stuff we haven't fully unleashed, primarily Jokic-Bogdan one two punch, Jovic's two way play + shooting, Micic rounding his form, Jokic in full beast mode.

Petrusev has been great so far, he has no fear against anybody, showed that vs USA. He is using his size and athleticism at PF to finish everything around basket. His outside shot has also been good, becoming a real inside/outside threat. Avramovic doing his things, doesn't care who he plays against. Dobric and Marinkovic as important as expected. Basically, we are waiting for Micic to speed things up and Jovic's comeback from injury. I can't state enough how much versatility Jovic adds to our game on both ends. Jovic/Petrusev combo at PF and no worries about anything.

[Serbian_Layup]

https://x.com/OKSrbije/status/1813236423161417741/mediaViewer?currentTweet=1813236423161417741&currentTweetUser=OKSrbije

Good luck to all 112 Olympians!

Good news circulatimg today, both Jovic and Davidovac started to practice with the team. We play vs Japan tonight, I guess Jokic will be spared since we play vs Greece tomorrow, I expect full roster im that game. We'll see about Jovic and Davidovac tonight.

[Serbian_Layup]

Fun game vs Japan, 119-100. Japan fired almost 50 three pointers. LOL

I would highlight few things from this game:

- Jovic is back. This is huge for us. Jovic and Petrusev at PF and we are good to go. He still needs time to shake off the rust.
- Micic! He is heating up. Pesic started him off the bench again and that's probably the best way to go. But he still played a lot of minutes with Jokic and made beautiful passes of off p&r and hit few outside shots. Very positive game from Micic.
- I don't remember when we played such transition basketball. What a beautiful brand of basketball, the ball is flying around all over the court, touchdown passes as soon as we secure defensive rebound. Our big weapon definitely, in line with modern concept of basketball.
- Micic and Jokic with 7 assists, Bogdan had 8 assists. When your best players share the ball like this, entire team is on fire.

Tomorrow we play Greece, that's going to be a game with much more intensity and different approach. The way I see it, Pesic is going to play Jokic 30 + minutes per game at Olympics. He played almost 30 minutes vs Japan. Pesic won't make the same mistake twice when he benched Jokic for too long in thst game vs Italy.

We even got to see the Sombor Shuffle

https://x.com/HarrisonWind/status/1815110278771515748/mediaViewer?currentTweet=1815110278771515748&curre ntTweetUser=HarrisonWind

https://x.com/HarrisonWind/status/1815098412829987024

https://x.com/BasketNews_com/status/1815101075311251898

[Obina]

Petrusev is in the best shape.

Micic still worries a lot.

Overall I am happy what I saw in prep. games.

[Serbian_Layup]

We should be able to play really good basketball in Olympics and when tough gets going we will be hard to beat.

Micic is the only one we are waiting to find his form and play at least close to his abilities. Jovic will be valuable but still needs time to get into physical shape. I think he will be his best version when we get to elimination games.

Petrusev has been great. Holding his own vs Lebron and Giannis on defense while also making great impact on offense. He is becoming a real impactful two way player.

Bogi with a casual 5/5 from 3. He is going nuclear in Olympics.

Jokic effortlessly doing his things. The ball will get to him in the post far often when real games begin. However, I have the sentiment that we are looking very good as a team, not overusing Jokic nearly as much as we could or maybe we are saving it for elimination games. This is good because all players need to contribute and play substantial role, not just relying on Jokic. This is basically the same team which won medal in Manilla, so with or without Jokic we know how to play. In 2022 there was basically just Jokic and everyone else just stood and watched him. This is different team, big improvement from 2022. That is Kari's signature.

Milutinov https://x.com/SerbsInSports/status/1815455289199448355

When tough gets going I think we will be seeing much more p&r game between Bogdan and Jokic. That will be our big weapon in crunch time. They both manipulate p&r and can score or assist to open shooters/cutters. Dobric, Avramovic, Jovic, Petrusev are playing great of off Jokic, cutting to the basket or staying in corner for open shots.

This is how Jokic/Milutinov pairing can be successful on offense - https://x.com/KSSrbije/status/1815467601843421406
High/low combo for Milutinov who will have a size advantage in most cases.

https://x.com/KSSrbije/status/1815457448733667682

Jokic again from the high post, this time easy pass to Dobric who recognizes the play and cuts to the basket for an easy dunk from the baseline. You just need to move and Jokic will find you. If he is in the high post - cut to the basket. If he is doubled in the low post - stay in the corner.