Serbia at OQT 2021

[Katastroika]

Watched game this night, he looked brilliant. What makes me most happy is that his clutch attitude is present in literally every game. He takes important shots with confidence and hits them. He has a mindset of a champion. I am no big lover of Bogdan out of obvious reasons but baketball-wise he is really a cornerstone of every team he has played in his life and that's saying everything about him. His decision making is Top 20 in world basketball.

[Katastroika]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe92NiCQUWc

Bogdan is playing on All Star level since comback from injury.

[Katastroika]

Our guys received and accepted invitation for Acropolis Cup 2021. Participants beside Serbia are Greece, Puerto Rico and a 4th country that hasn't been named until now. Very good preparation one week prior the Qualifiers.

[Serbian_Layup]

According to some well informed sports sites, Kokoskov will soon declare a preliminary list of around 30 names for OQT preparations. Interesting info:

- Kalinic and Nedovic are back
- Petrusev is in
- Not only Pokusevski will be on the list, but there is a serious ambition from Kokoskov to include him in final roster. Of course, this is very uncertain because I heard Poku's exit interview for Thunder in which he said he will be working on his body all summer. On the other hand, he also said in interview for podcast that he will be honored to represent NT at Olympics if invited. Little bit of confusion, but I'm guessing Thunder organization will insist on him staying with them over the summer, unless Kokoskov convinces them otherwise. Anyway, one thing is for certain, Kokoskov is already making a serious case for Poku, and I'm glad because there is just a ton of potential and some lineups with Poku completely change geometry of the game offensevely and defensively.
- All NBA players will be there if they don't go too far in the playoffs, still questionable
- Jovic is in if healthy which is a bit suspicious it seems
- There is not any news about Milutinov's health status, there were some reports that he may even play at F4, but I have no idea if it is trustworthy whatsoever

[Katastroika]

If you rely to that article on Mozzart I think it's a bringing together of all possible speculations. I mean, they said everything and nothing

[Serbian_Layup]

Well, they were pretty much spot on in the past, and some other sports sites are citing them regularly. I would say that info about Kokoskov's plan to include both Poku and Petrusev in final roster is a very concrete info which says a lot. Also, it's good to hear that both Nedovic and Kalinic are back, I doubt Kokoskov would include them if he didn't talk to them. There are some interesting stuff if you read a little bit between the lines

[Katastroika]

Well, they were pretty much spot on in the past, and some other sports sites are citing them regularly. I would say that info about Kokoskov's plan to include both Poku and Petrusev in final roster is a very concrete info which says a lot. Also, it's good to hear that both Nedovic and Kalinic are back, I doubt Kokoskov would include them if he didn't talk to them. There are some interesting stuff if you read a little bit between the lines

Of course, I got you, bro. But, to be honest, every person with normal IQ and minimal knowledge of basketball would have the same players on the list, with same pro's and con's and conconlusions.

[Serbian_Layup]

Of course, I got you, bro. But, to be honest, every person with normal IQ and minimal knowledge of basketball would have the same players on the list, with same pro's and con's and conconlusions.

It's expected to see all of them in the preliminary list, but it's definitely not usual to hear info about including two very young players in the final roster. Petrusev was pretty much a lock, but I had no idea what would be Kokoskov's plan for Poku, and it seems he is pretty high on Poku. That tells me a lot about Kokoskov's vision of our NT.

[Katastroika]

Everything's speculation up to now. What means "he seriously plans a role for them" like in the article. For what? Preparation? OQT? Olympic roster spot if we qualify? Somehow I would love to see Poku even I consider it one year to early. On the other hand, if someone understands the needs of a young Euro in the NBA, it's Kokoskov.

My point is that Poku has to work on his body, in his specific situation I think a national team summer and further progress in that segment are not complementary.

But it's really annoying that we are traditionally dead least with our roster in the whole wide world. They are making some kind of sorcery and mystical secret out of it year by year.

[Serbian_Layup]

Everything's speculation up to now. What means "he seriously plans a role for them" like in the article. For what? Preparation? OQT? Olympic roster spot if we qualify? Somehow I would love to see Poku even I consider it one year to early. On the other hand, if someone understands the needs of a young Euro in the NBA, it's Kokoskov.

My point is that Poku has to work on his body, in his specific situation I think a national team summer and further progress in that segment are not complementary.

But it's really annoying that we are traditionally dead least with our roster in the whole wide world. They are making some kind of sorcery and mystical secret out of it year by year.

My perception might be faulty but if a coach is planning a serious role for some players, I think it's clear it refers to final roster, not just being in the preliminary list or participation in preparations. Pokusevski has a lot of work to do in his development process and it's still a long shot that he will be with the team, but after all it's Olympics. I'm pretty sure Jokic wouldn't have been with the team if it weren't for Olympics in 2016. It's a major dream event for any athlete, anything can happen.

[Katastroika]

No, if said so of course you are right, but my point is that we all don't know if this is true. Mozzart has some serious journalists but there is no source. Nothing but speculation.

[Katastroika]

Our guys are doing well in playoffs and their teams have advanced or are on edge of advancing into next round. So I'm pretty sure we will play OQT without NBAers. As it seems Milutinov won't play either at least in OQT so we can expect something like:

Teo, Jovic, Micic, Nedovic, Andjusic/Guduric, Avramovic/Jaramaz, Dobric, Lucic, Bjelica, Kalinic, Petrusev, Raduljica

Others that have at least some chances to play this tournament in my opinion are Dobric, Lazic, Davidovac, Poku, Smailagic.

[Serbian_Layup]

Well, at least Marjanovic is in (Bjelica also). My main rotation at 5 would be Jokic-Milutinov-Petrusev, but in these circumstances he is going to be needed big time in qualifiers as he presents a unique advantage vs Italy. Not a fan of slowing tempo in order to adjust to Bobi's style and play very predictable scheme, but right now we have what we have and it's most important to get the job done.

Also, Bobi was quite good for Mavs in last three games, they had to play zone defense with Bobi and he looked comfortable in that scheme and gave troubles to Clippers team. I wonder if our team will try a little bit of zone defense with Bobi on floor.

[Serbian_Layup]

So, if Jokic, Bogdan and Milutinov are all out for OQT, I think these 10 players are sure names on the roster:

Guards: Teo, Micić, Jović, Nedović
Forwards: Bjelica, Kalinić, Lučić, Gudurić
Centers: Marjanović, Petrušev

These players, if all healthy and willing to play are pretty much safe for OQT.
The last two names will probably depend on Kokoškov’s vision, style of play and offense/defense balance (though he seems like utterly offensive minded coach).

If we dive a bit into guard rotation, PG position is complete and filled with Teo, Micić and Jović.

SG position is also adequate because Nedović and Gudurić (played both SG and SF this season at Fener) can both cover that postion even though I don’t feel so assured because Nedović is more of a combo guard (inconsistency being his biggest flaw is a bit worrisome) and Gudurić is more of a SF. There is also a lineup which can potentially feature Jovic and Teo playing together wtih Teo acting as a SG (similarly to what Teo and Marković played at NT and are still playing at Virtus successfully). So, as much as I like Avramović for example, I’m not sure if there is going to be a need for him because essentially he doesn’t bring a skill that is better or more valuable than what Nedović/Gudurić have in their skillsets. Though I think Avramović is actually a better slasher than both Nedović and Gudurić, and certainly finishes better at the rim than both of them. I don’t know if that is the skill that will convince Kokoškov to make a room for Avramović.

SF position is pretty much filled with Lučić, Kalinić and Gudurić.

Now, PF positon is where things get tricky and might affect some moves concerning other positions. Bjelica is there and who else does Kokoškov have in mind? I can see Kalinić getting minutes there as he is stronger than Lučić. Then, I’m tempted to say Petrušev, but that means he will be sharing court with either Marjanović (or Raduljica maybe) and while I think Petrušev can definitely play at PF, I’m not a fan of pairing another big man with such a heavy players like Marjanović and Raduljica. I don’t like those pairings, our offensive awareness will be minimized and limited in such cases. It’s different with Jokic on the floor and I actually think a potential Jokić/Petrušev pairing could be awesome due to Jokić’s brilliance and Petrušev’s athleticism and shooting but it’s a completely different look with Marjanović or Raduljica who occupy entire paint. That means we have Bjelica and just Kalinić at PF (kinda trying to fake PF which could be problematic facing Melli and Polonara). So we clearly lack depth at PF position. But there are two more names that could compete for one of the last two spots and help improve our depth at PF - Smailagić and Pokuševski (obviously, we need to se what Thunder think about Poku joining NT this summer). Smailagić is still unproven and at this moment unknown to many fans and even for our coaching staff. As much as I could see he is kinda stuck between PF and C. A little bit slow for PF (though deceptively athletic) and a bit undersized for C. It would be nice to see him in a couple of preparation games, get to know his game a little better and try him out at PF and maybe at C, even in some small ball lineups (he can shoot and attack closeuts which would be troublesome to some slow footed centers). And then Poku, the thing is he almost exclusevely played at SF this season for Thunder. And probably with a good reason, he would get pushed around easily in box out situations in the paint, and he probably likes to play more at SF because he gets to handle the ball a lot more. In either way, there are some questions about our depth at PF, Jokic would make it a lot easier for us in some combinations with Petrušev and Milutinov but right now it seems Bjelica and Kalinić will play a lot at PF. That leaves Lučić and Gudurić covering mostly SF postion, which means there is just Nedović as a sure SG option. This might open up the space for one of Avramović/Jaramaz/Anđušić.

Center position has two clear names - Marjanović and Petrušev. I feel like we are going to need another center especially if Petrušev is going to play at PF for some stretches and there are two more options - Raduljica and Smailagić. Raduljica as an experienced veteran with a clear status in this team could help a lot by his presence but I’m wondering is Kokoškov going to drag him through OQT even though it’s clear that our rotation at C is stacked and there are four players ahead of him in rotation, so in case we qualify for Olympics I don’t see how he makes the roster barring some injuries.

Anyway, I think one spot might be open for one of these guards: Jaramaz/Avramović/Anđušić. And one spot is almost certainly open for one of these forwards/centers: Raduljica, Smaliagić, Pokuševski (Dobrić?).

I would like to see at least one of Jaramaz/Avramović at preparations and at least one of Smailagić/Pokuševski/Dobrić, and see how things are looking in actual games. Its not excluded that both spots will be taken by couple of forwards/centers.

[Katastroika]

Good analysis. That's it.

I think that Andjus is a player that could be so valuable to this team and also the final team if we manage to qualify. He plays excellent at the moment.
Averages 21 points in France on 43% 3 point shooting. Especially in OQT every scorer that can create for hisself is very welcome.