By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
MANILA, Philippines – With two minutes left in the second quarter, more or less, Kendrick Perry went 2/2 from the free throw line to give Montenegro the comfortable 11-point lead at 45-34 against Egypt. Everything was calm and relaxed, as the red-and-yellow national team kept going.
In the following action, Petar Popovic stole the ball from Karim Elgizawy, opening the court for the number 55’s fast-break. Running the floor, he took flight from the same line where he was clutch earlier on. What followed, it’s one of the most spectacular plays of the 2023 FIBA World Cup so far.
“A lot!”, Kendrick Perry said exclusively to Eurohoops when asked how many messages he received following that extraordinary 2+1 dunk which left Amr Zahran in the poster. Landing roughly on the floor, he made sure everybody was concerned about his health condition, with a focused eye on Andalucia. “Mostly were a lot of guys checking on me too because it was a hard foul, but it’s fun and exciting to be a part of. To everybody who might be worried, especially Malaga fans: I’m okay! Everything is good”, he added.
Those points helped Montenegro go all the way to the final 89-74 win against Egypt, the second straight success for the Balkan side since the start of the International competition. With Lithuania also getting their back-to-back wins in Group D, they became the first two teams to officially qualify for the second phase. “Obviously, we are a confident group right now”, Kendrick Perry said about their moment.
“We understand we haven’t delivered our best basketball in terms of standing as sharp as possible for 40 minutes, but at the end of the day, we are still able to look back and say we got two wins, and we put ourselves in a position to advance to the next round”, he added.
However, their path in the first phase hasn’t ended yet, as they will face the unbeaten Lithuania today at 14:30 CET. “I’m looking forward to facing Lithuania. We have to be better and sharper because they are a high-quality team, one of the most talented countries here. We have to get ourselves in a position to make a surprise that some people might not think we are capable of”, Unicaja Malaga’s leader said.
The @YSUMensHoops 🐐 @kendrick3perry checking in at #5 on the @SportsCenter Top 10 with this 🔨 while representing Montenegro at the @FIBAWC!#FIBAWC | #WinForMontenegro 🇲🇪#GoGuins 🐧 pic.twitter.com/il2MKvdGv2
— YSU Men’s Basketball (@YSUMensHoops) August 28, 2023
After missing EuroBasket 2022, the best player on the Montenegrin national team is back to business in Bosko Radovic’s squad, playing for the first time next to Kendrick Perry. “He makes everybody else’s job easier”, the naturalized player commented on playing with Nikola Vucevic.
“Being who he is, and what he’s been able to do in terms of establishing himself as a player and as a person throughout his career, our job is to make sure he feels welcomed and fit in. He knows a lot of these guys from the past growing up playing with each other so my biggest thing throughout this whole process was to make sure he and I had a good chemistry on and off the court. It can be translated to try what to do to lead our team to victory. So far we’ve done a pretty good job with that”, the 30-year-old point guard also added about the NBA veteran.
And now, after representing Montenegro both at last year’s EuroBasket – where he put up 15.2 points and 7.2 assists per game – and at the 2023 FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers, the Youngstown State product has definitely embraced Montenegro’s pride. “Honestly, it’s humbling”, he said about being a part of this national team’s expedition. “For the Federation to allow me to be in this position and put that trust to help lead this team, speaks volumes to the trust and the confidence they have in me”, Perry added.
“It speaks numbers to the confidence and trust I have in myself. My job is just to go out there and do whatever I can to win basketball games. At the end of the day, it’s not about scoring but victories. Whatever I gotta do to make sure we come out victorious, that’s what I’ll do”, he went on saying.
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If nothing utterly shocking happens, Montenegro and Lithuania will both find Team USA – probably the main candidate for the gold medal in the most anticipated tournament of the year – in the second round. That looks like an exciting encounter for Kendrick Perry, against his native country.
“It would definitely be a great experience, and to be honest it would be a fun one no matter who we play, because, at this stage and this moment, every game is gonna be competitive”, he first said before underlining all of their thoughts are currently on beating Lithuania.
“We can’t look too far ahead. Obviously, you have those thoughts in the back of your mind, but our main focus is to make sure we try to get a win against Lithuania. Whatever it comes from that, we’ll face it”, Perry added. However, “if there’s a possibility to happen, it will be a great opportunity not just for myself but for the rest of the guys on the team to showcase their talent on such a huge stage against such a formidable opponent”, he said.
While Team USA seems the strongest candidate to get on the first step of the podium at the end of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, the 30-year-old seems intrigued by other teams in the competition. The first one that comes to his mind, for example, has his teammate Melvin Ejim on board. “I think Canada is probably the biggest one. What they were able to do against France in the first round and follow up with a super strong performance against Lebanon, they look really good right now”, he said about Jordi Fernandez’s squad.
With that being said, the Montenegrin playmaker set his eyes on other candidates as well. “Germany is always a strong team, you never count out Serbia and even Latvia, the way they showed real character. Japan as well, the Dominican Republic… It’s a lot of countries out there that are showing their pride and that we can compete with just about whoever ends. I’d like to include ourselves in there, as well. When you look at it in the grand scheme of things, it’s a lot of good basketball being played right now. High-level quality basketball is being played right now, it’s great to be a part of it”, Kendrick Perry added.
Nowadays, the 30-year-old is among the best players at sharing the ball in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, 6th in this statistical outcome with 7.0 assists per game while adding 13.5 points with 62.% from two when entering the court with the Montenegrin jersey. But he doesn’t really care about personal accolades. “Individual success comes with the team winning. My main focus has always been what can I do individually to help our team succeed”, he said.
“We’re just taking things one day at a time, we try not to put too much pressure on ourselves, being a small country and an underdog. We are playing with house money right now, so we have all the confidence in the world to go out and just play. Without being worried about any outside influences or shots not falling. This is a huge opportunity for all of us here, we’re excited to be a part of it and thankful to be here. We deserve to be here. We’re coming out and hooping, trying to make the country of Montenegro proud”, Kendrick Perry finally stated ahead of the clash with Lithuania.
PHOTO CREDIT: 2023 FIBA World Cup
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