Serbian NT 2025

[Serbian_Layup]

It's conveniant to start this topic with great news - Kari Pesic remains our head coach for one more year.

That's ideal situation, keep building on his continuity because 2026 is empty summer and there will be a lot of time for a new coach to get familiar with the system and players. Going for a new coach right now doesn't feel right, especailly since all players love to work under Pesic. Bogdan publicly demanded Pesic to stay.

[Straight forward]

What's your prediction on 2025 roster? Do you think most key players will shot up?

[Serbian_Layup]

I expect all core players to show up, barring any injuries. One of the main reasons why Pesic postponed his retirement is to keep this generation intact for at least one more competition. There is a great bond among players in this generation and Kari is a master in perserving such chemistry. Roles are defined, identity has been established, Kari's authority is undisputed and chemistry is awesome. The only thing left is to keep collecting medals or better say picking the fruits of this continuity.

[Serbian_Layup]

Avramovic dropped 30p and 6a in 24 min. for CSKA, LOL. He's been playing like a possessed man ever since the start of Olympics. If there is one good thing about those qualification windows these past years, it's about players like Avramovic who would never have got a chance to play for NT otherwise. That's probably the most positive aspect about qualification system without NBA or Euroleague players for the most part. A chance for a lot of players to prove themselves and earn a roster spot with A team. Avramovic did just that and became much more important than everyone thought he would. Incredible journey for him, Djordjevic introduced him to NT and Avramovic immedustely won us a very important game at buzzer beater vs Austria a few years ago. He absolutely deserved everything coming his way. Great example for young players to follow, grit and grind mentality will always pay off. Avramovic is the dog.

[Serbian_Layup]

Avramovic will be avaliable for November games, that's great. It's questionable how many domestic players for both Partizan and Zvezda will be able to play since they play against each other when we have the game vs Denmark. I guess we will see a couple of new players, young talents from Mega quite possibly.

Jokic said that it is inspiring that Pesic in this age still wants to improve as a coach by adopting modern basketball ideas. We have been truly blessed to have a dozen of elite coaches to lead us ever since we became a competitive basketball team.

https://x.com/stats_feed/status/1851146791502131691

This is looking good. If Jokic continues to play as motivated as he was at Olympics, I think we can make a shot at USA with a little bit of luck and upcoming talents turning into elite players.

[Serbian_Layup]

It's nice to hear that Mario Nakic chose to represent Serbia and that Pesic called him up for November window. Nakic has the potential to be a very nice rotational piece for our NT in coming years if he avoids injuries. Not sure he will play in upcoming games due to minor injury, but very good news from Pesic. He is pulling all the right moves.

Aside from Avramovic and mentioned Nakic, Pokusevski, Plavsic, Dobric, Marinkovic, Davidovac will be available for November window. We will see who will be invited from Mega youngsters.

Monster game from Petrusev vs Monaco, his ability to play both 4/5 and shoot from long range make him really good. I said few years ago that his ceiling is probably a very good Euroleague big man and he is on track to live up to expectations. Can play 4/5, mobile, great in both p&r and p&p, fairly athletic and has yet to hit his prime years.

[Serbian_Layup]

Pesic called 2 new assistant coaches in his staff - Barac and Isakov-Kovacevic, both 35 y.o. Another great and thoughtful move by Kari, especially in the long term. Those two are very talented young coaches, Barac has been great leading Mega these past two years. Kari is really doing what he is preaching, interest of Serbian basketball has no alternatives in his book. I can imagine he already asked Barac in details about those promising kids from Mega - Markovic, Jovic, Petrovic and Kondic (about to get permission to play for Serbian NT).

[Serbian_Layup]

Our rotation at C between Jokic, Militinov and Petrusev is probably the best in the world right now. Petrusev is rising as one of the best and most versatile centers in Euroleague. Scoring is becoming so easy for Peteusev, whether as a roller or pop threat, face up, exploiting mismatches, just great feel for scoring. And there is ability to also play at PF which makes him even more valuable in frontcourt rotation. It's going to be tough for anyone to match their talent and skill level. Such a big advantage for our team. All of them are different type of players and bring a diverse skillset, so Pesic can really play whatever he likes and whatever is necessary against any team.

[Straight forward]

Our rotation at C between Jokic, Militinov and Petrusev is probably the best in the world right now. Petrusev is rising as one of the best and most versatile centers in Euroleague. Scoring is becoming so easy for Peteusev, whether as a roller or pop threat, face up, exploiting mismatches, just great feel for scoring. And there is ability to also play at PF which makes him even more valuable in frontcourt rotation. It's going to be tough for anyone to match their talent and skill level. Such a big advantage for our team. All of them are different type of players and bring a diverse skillset, so Pesic can really play whatever he likes and whatever is necessary against any team.

Jokic shot threes purely in Olympics though. Any explanations on this? Random? Yeah, top 3 C rotation in the world. Probably USA has a slight edge overall with Embiid, Davis, Bam and France is also a huge competitor with Wemby, Gobert Sarr. Forth best would be Lithuania with Sabonis, Valanciunas, D-Mo/Tubelis.

I personally would love to have a big with Petrusev shooting touch at 5, even though he doesn't shoot much threes yet, but likely will in the future.

[Serbian_Layup]

Jokic shot threes purely in Olympics though. Any explanations on this? Random? Yeah, top 3 C rotation in the world. Probably USA has a slight edge overall with Embiid, Davis, Bam and France is also a huge competitor with Wemby, Gobert Sarr. Forth best would be Lithuania with Sabonis, Valanciunas, D-Mo/Tubelis.

I personally would love to have a big with Petrusev shooting touch at 5, even though he doesn't shoot much threes yet, but likely will in the future.

I didn't notice anything strange with Jokic's shooting mechanics, so I think it was just a bad shooting form. He missed a lot of wide open shots and had plenty of time to set his feet on many shots. Just a bad shooting stretch becuse everything else was at his usual level. He is shooting lights out in NBA this season.

I don't think USA has an advantage. Embiid is declining a little bit and always out of shape with health problems, and I would be very surprised if he suits up ever again for USA. Davis and Adebayo are no match for Jokic. He is abusing them. On top of that, USA doesn't have one decent big behind Davis and Adebayo. They will be in trouble.

To be honest, I expected way more from JV/Sabonis pairing in past years. JV was actually good and difficult to stop in his younger days but not a big threat right now. As for Sabonis, he seems to be much bigger dissapointment. He has a hard time to handle physicality of crowded paint in FIBA ball. And ti seems that it is his only go-to move when he plays for Lithuania. I would put German frontcourt with Hartenstein, Thiess and M. Wagner ahead of Lithuania. Maybe not more talented on offense but definitely with size, strength and enough talent to neutralize JV/Sabonis. I don't think Motiejunas and Tubelis can compete with best centers in the world. I remember Petrusev blowing past Motiejunas and shooting open threes in that game in Manilla. That difference is even more obvious now. Maybe with top point guard (Jakucionis maybe) Sabonis would have better impact but as it seems right now he is pretty much clueless how to win games with Lithuania. His numbers in NBA are great but I'm wondering how much impact they have on actual winning. On top of that, Sabonis has yet to prove himself im playoff games. I was kinda higher on him earlier which is a little bit absurd because he is putting his best numbers these past two seasons, but that doesn't seem to translate to winning. That's why I have doubts about his real impact behind great numbers. Ant it shows in Lithuanian NT. However, if Jakucionis and Buzelis pan out as real deal players, that would help Lithuania a lot to make a transition from Sabonis/JV post up game which is hard to win by in FIBA game.

[Straight forward]

I didn't notice anything strange with Jokic's shooting mechanics, so I think it was just a bad shooting form. He missed a lot of wide open shots and had plenty of time to set his feet on many shots. Just a bad shooting stretch becuse everything else was at his usual level. He is shooting lights out in NBA this season.

I don't think USA has an advantage. Embiid is declining a little bit and always out of shape with health problems, and I would be very surprised if he suits up ever again for USA. Davis and Adebayo are no match for Jokic. He is abusing them. On top of that, USA doesn't have one decent big behind Davis and Adebayo. They will be in trouble.

To be honest, I expected way more from JV/Sabonis pairing in past years. JV was actually good and difficult to stop in his younger days but not a big threat right now. As for Sabonis, he seems to be much bigger dissapointment. He has a hard time to handle physicality of crowded paint in FIBA ball. And ti seems that it is his only go-to move when he plays for Lithuania. I would put German frontcourt with Hartenstein, Thiess and M. Wagner ahead of Lithuania. Maybe not more talented on offense but definitely with size, strength and enough talent to neutralize JV/Sabonis. I don't think Motiejunas and Tubelis can compete with best centers in the world. I remember Petrusev blowing past Motiejunas and shooting open threes in that game in Manilla. That difference is even more obvious now. Maybe with top point guard (Jakucionis maybe) Sabonis would have better impact but as it seems right now he is pretty much clueless how to win games with Lithuania. His numbers in NBA are great but I'm wondering how much impact they have on actual winning. On top of that, Sabonis has yet to prove himself im playoff games. I was kinda higher on him earlier which is a little bit absurd because he is putting his best numbers these past two seasons, but that doesn't seem to translate to winning. That's why I have doubts about his real impact behind great numbers. Ant it shows in Lithuanian NT. However, if Jakucionis and Buzelis pan out as real deal players, that would help Lithuania a lot to make a transition from Sabonis/JV post up game which is hard to win by in FIBA game.

Yup, I kinda forgot Germany, I think you are right.

Yes, I also had this more like random bad shooting streak and that's it. But I would love Jokic taking more threes when he's on it. Why not to kill it completely.

Yeah, what you put on JV/Sabonis narrative is spot on. That's the story in a nut shell. However, I'm not done with Sabonis as winning piece, specially in NBA, I think he generates amazing offense as 5 piece, and Kings offense had the best rating at some point last season, and now they are very good also, but not really winning everything. They improved defensively somehow, even Sabonis D ranked well. But Fox started to play D. When he wants it, he is deadly with his feet. So Kings will be interesting in playoffs this season. Fox and Demar are clutch players, Monk grew and Sabonis adds his stuff.

Regarding NT, we have to put off the focus from Sabonis. Not only Jakucionis, Buzelis, but prime Jokubaitis will also provide that (also plenty of very quality role players, elite role players, tons of it). When the focus will be lesser to Sabonis, he should feel much more comfortable. 3 spots world class presence in Sabonis, Buzelis, Jakucionis can create very interesting chemistry and legit multiple threat. If you ask Sabonis to take the ball and do things, it's not gonna work, he's not Jokic. But when the game will be run by Jakucionis, IMO true winning player who does exactly what if has to be done to win, be it amazing facilitation or more of a scoring touch when the game is tight, and there also Buzelis' aggression which will be hard to stop be it NBA or FIBA, IMO. This trio becoming the focus of our entire NT is our best chance to establish a real deal presence again which we lack for a long seasons now.

[Serbian_Layup]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzb0hGj6Ccc

Jovic is hopefully finally healthy. Missed entire last off season with injury and wasn't able to help much at Olympics. We have another big weapon in this youngster, which is a bit scary considering how good we performed at Olympics while missing Jovic's impact.

[Straight forward]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzb0hGj6Ccc

Jovic is hopefully finally healthy. Missed entire last off season with injury and wasn't able to help much at Olympics. We have another big weapon in this youngster, which is a bit scary considering how good we performed at Olympics while missing Jovic's impact.

More of role player though. It doesn't seem like he has potential to go to "Franz" territory or close as a versatile forward. More of Mirotic, rather than Franz. Still great piece for Serbia long term, specially when you'll have such facilitators as Topic. Injuries has been a problem for both guys though.

[Toruko]

More of role player though. It doesn't seem like he has potential to go to "Franz" territory or close as a versatile forward. More of Mirotic, rather than Franz. Still great piece for Serbia long term, specially when you'll have such facilitators as Topic. Injuries has been a problem for both guys though.

Serbia produces high level players each year and not only for a certain position. They know how to develop. Its really annoying sometimes but you need to acknowledge their success.

[Straight forward]

Serbia produces high level players each year and not only for a certain position. They know how to develop. Its really annoying sometimes but you need to acknowledge their success.

When I didn't? You waved by emotion from different threads.