By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
MANILA, Philippines – Serbia is back in the World Cup finals. The team led by coach Svetislav Pesic, who won the last gold medal for Serbia in the 2002 World Cup, defeated Canada in the semifinals after a stellar team performance.
Nikola Milutinov had another outstanding game with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, completely outplaying Canadian big men under the rims. After the game, he praised the team effort, especially in stopping Canada’s key player – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
“It has to be a team effort, it has to be five players; you can’t guard him with one guy. He’s an amazing player. We knew that he’s gonna score his points, we just had to make him work hard for every point and we did it today. I knew what I had to do, but team effort was on the highest level today. To play against Canada, everybody has to give something to the team, to play above our abilities, and today’s game was exactly like that,” Milutinov said.
Aleksa Avramovic played a crucial role in stopping Oklahoma City Thunder star, with yet another incredible defensive effort.
“This is what he’s been doing all his life. He’s crazy, good crazy, and this is what he is doing. He knows his role and he’s doing his best.”
Serbia lost to Italy at the start of the second phase of the tournament, but since then, they have been dominating.
“We improved our energy and defense after that loss against Italy. We really stepped up after that and we are showing everybody how good a team we are.”
In the finals, Milutinov and his teammates will face USA or Germany.
“Whoever comes, it’s gonna be really difficult and it’s going to be a real war, so we just have to enjoy today our victory and get ready for whoever comes.”
Serbia suffered a big blow in the third game of the tournament when Borisa Simanic was severely injured and had to undergo two surgeries on his kidney, which eventually had to be removed.
“Every victory is for him and I’m really happy that he is getting better day by day. I can’t wait to see him. The good thing is that he is now texting us and he’s feeling better. I hope he’s proud of us, and we are going to make one more step for him.“