By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
MANILA, Philippines – Serbia has a glorious past, and winning silver in the 2023 FIBA World Cup is not a bad way to continue this legacy.
Aleksa Avramovic admitted that this is the case for him and his teammates: “Our heads are already up and our next goal is to have a bigger success in the Olympic games. Germany has been playing amazing, they have been playing together for many years. Details and physicality decided the game. We missed our chance. We have a lot of problems. You know what happened with Borisa Simanic. We lost Ognen Dobric, and even Nikola Milutinov had some problems. It’s not easy to lose, but I am still proud, and tomorrow I will be even prouder”.
Coach Svetislav Pesic echoed this sentiment: “Congratulations to the German team. They deserved this win. They played high level for 40 minutes, they were very physical and if a team wins all their games, like Germany did, we have to say bravo”.
Coach Pesic also talked about the issues his team faced: “We needed a better rotation. For Milutinov we didn’t know if he could play because of a muscular issue. The medical team tried their best for him to play. Dobric was injured, and Bogdanovic was feeling sick before the game. This is what I must say because it’s true, No excuses. I am happy for the coach, and for the German federation, they deserved this title and I am proud of my players. Who can’t be proud of this team?”.
Avramovic was also asked about the physicality of the game and didn’t want to blame the refs for the result: “I don’t want to complain about the refs. They were officiating the final, it was their dream like it was mine to play. We had our chances in the end. I think they let them play physically in the third quarter, but this is the game of basketball. Somebody needs to go home with the silver and the gold. And even the bronze always shines”.