By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
MANILA, Philippines – At 74 years old, coach Svetislav Pesic proves that age is just a number.
Not only he has the chance to lead Serbia to the FIBA World Cup title again after 21 years, but he is facing Germany, the team he led as a coach in 1993 to its first and only so far Eurobasket gold.
As he said after the last practice before the final: “My memories from German basketball are always positive. I gave my best time as a coach to German basketball. German basketball helped me a lot in bad moments, in good moments. I became the coach, let’s say, on this level in Germany. That means all the people in German basketball are my friends. I have so many friends in the German Basketball Federation. You know that I am still with my family in Munich. I am very close to the basketball in Germany”.
It’s been 30 years, and Pesic remains iconic, having an old-school approach to things for the upcoming Sunday’s final (14.40 CET) which included only him talking to the press and not his players.
However, this approach worked in the past and as they say, don’t try to fix something that works.
So don’t expect him to present Serbia as the favorite or show any kind of disrespect to Germany, which after all so far has been perfect in the tournament.
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As he added: “Both teams deserved to be in the final. Both teams demonstrated team basketball. I have, of course, and not only me but everybody, big respect for the German team. The German team is one team whose most important quality is continuity. They have played together for five years. This is a generational team and they played together excellently. They demonstrated one more time here in Manila”.
Pesic elaborated on what he meant: “They won all the games and that means tomorrow will be for sure one tough game for both sides. They also demonstrated team basketball with good defense, transition offense, and fast breaks. I think what I said before, both teams, Germany and Serbia, deserved to be in the final. There’s no question”.
So may the best team win…