By Rigas Dardalis/ dardalis@eurohoops.net
Milos Teodosic had one more stellar game and Serbia got the 90-85 win over France in the second FIBA World Cup semifinal. The team of coach Sasha Djordjevic will meet USA in the final and will try to finish the tournament with a bang against the big favorite after an epic semifinal.
In the first half the Serbs were leading by 14 points (46-32). France seemed “empty” during the first 20 minutes – maybe because of the big quarterfinal upset against Spain – however that changed in the last quarter after cutting the lead of Serbia to three (82-79) with one minute to go. Still the come back was never completed with the eventual winners making 6/6 free throws in clutch time.
Τhomas Heurtel made it a two points game with 1/2 free throws and 17.7 seconds left (84-82).Nikola Kalinic answered with 2/2 shots made from the charity line (86-82), Heurtel missed the next shot and the game was over with Nemanja Bjelica scoring also 2/2 free throws (88-82). Nicolas Batum made a three (88-85), but with just two seconds on the clock, nothing could change as Marko Simonovc also with 2/2 free throws sealed the final result. Teodosic had 18 points and three assists in the first half and he finished the game with 24 points on 5/7 threes. Batum tried his best by scoring 35 points for the French on 8/12 threes, but that wasn’t enough.
Just after the game Milos Teodosic said about the team and him personally: “When I was younger I was thinking about critics. Now I care only about the critics of my coach and people I love. We showed we are a great team and I am proud. It’s true that there is a good chemistry between me and coach Djordjevic”. His coach replied: “Milos is an exceptional player. He is the MVP of the competition. He managed to lead us into victory. He is unique. I will not compare him with me and he deserves all the credit”.
Nicolas Batum noted that he expects a better finish: “We didn’t have a good start. We have to do what we did against Spain and we didn’t. Now we have to forget, we have a big game coming up tomorrow and we have to try and give our best”. Coach Vincent Collet added: “We were waiting for the whole first half in order to start defending. Still I can’t forget our effort in the second half. We had spirit, but Serbia had the control until the end, getting basket by Krstic and Raduljica, Bogdanovic and Teodosic. In such a game you have to play both halves”.