By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Serbia was impressive also in Rio. However which Serbian generation is the most succcesful the last 20 years? Eurohoops tried to divide them in three different perios and you can vote for the best.
In Rio the “Eagles” have already secured a medal, its third with Milos Teodosic as the leader after the silver of Eurobasket 2009 and the silver of the FIBA World Championship in 2014.
Still can they be compared to the first version of the Serb national team after the division of Yugoslavia and the World Champs of 2002?
Of course we are not taking into account older generation and the team of united Yugoslavia, but only the teams that returned on the spotlight of the world stage after 1995.
Yugoslavia 1995-1999
After the division of Yugoslavia, the Serbs kept the name for their national team which also included Montenegro. They wanted to return with a bang and they did it by winning Eurobasket 1995. The base of that team were players who in the past have played for the united Yugoslavia (Divac, Paspalj, Savic, Djordjevic, Danilovic) and also young talent (Bodiroga, Tomasevic, Rebraca, Sasha Obradovic).
Dusan Ivkovic and Zeljko Obradovic were sitting on the bench and that was the start of one more period of dominance. This was the team that won also Eurobasket 1997, Mundobasket 1998, silver in the 1996 Olympic Games and bronze in Eurobasket 1999.
Εurobasket 1995
Final: Yugoslavia – Lithuania 96-90
Mundobasket 1998
Final: Yugoslavia-Russia 64-62
Yugoslavia 2001-2002
With the older generation of Divac, Danilovic, Paspalj, Savic and Djordjevic leaving the team, Bodiroga, Sasha Obradovic, Tomsevic, Tarlac and also Stojakovic, Jaric and Rakocevic became the next generation which had to defend a great legacy.
Under coach Svetislav Pesic the Serbs won Eurobasket 2001 and Mundobasket 2002, confirming their talent and their abilities.
However after an initial good start the team finished sixth in Eurobasket 2003, 11th in the 2004 Olympic Games and 9th in Eurobasket 2005 which was organized in Serbia.
Eurobasket 2001
Final: Yugoslavia – Turkey 78-69
Mundobasket 2002
Final: Yugoslavia-Argentina 84-77