By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
MANILA, Philippines – Things have never been so easy for the Serbian national team as in their first encounter at the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Manila. Facing China in front of thousands of fans coming to share support for both sides, Svetislav Pesic’s team imposed itself 105-63.
Coming off the bench to conduct the offense and help Stefan Jovic get some rest, Partizan Belgrade’s own finished the winning encounter with 10 points and 4 assists while shooting 4/6 from the field.
Before going to the locker rooms, he stepped by in the mixed zone to comment on the game with the media. “If you set the tone in the right way and the right direction, this will be the product at the end of the game. We won it by 42 points, and this means we never underestimated China as a team”, Aleksa Avramovic said.
Heading to the Philippines, they first stopped in China to play a friendly game against the hosts. “We played against them a couple of days ago in their country, in Shenzen, winning by 23”, the 28-year-old said before coming back to their 2023 FIBA World Cup opener. “We knew in the first game a lot of players were nervous at the beginning but after a couple of good stops and fast breaks we opened the game and held it in our pocket for the rest of 40 minutes”, he added.
Finally, when asked what they expect from the rest of the tournament, he kept it simple. “We can’t plan like that. We just think about Puerto Rico, and then we will think about South Sudan. That’s how we think. We’ve been doing this preparation since Day 1, that’s it”, Aleksa Avramovic concluded.
PHOTO CREDIT: 2023 FIBA World Cup
Watch the upcoming World Cup on the official streaming service of FIBA! Join Courtside 1891 and never miss a second of the action!