By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Nemanja Bjelica is a key member of the Serbian national team and after Thursday’s defeat by Greece, he admitted that it wasn’t easy to miss the six previous games of the FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
“It was terrible watching the national team during the winter (the first and second windows of Qualifiers) because I wasn’t able to be there,” he said to FIBA.com. “I spent seven years playing for Serbia and it was very emotional watching them play without me. I just want to be healthy and ready to play for the national team.”
All the NBA players are not available for their teams during the November and February windows and Bjelica returned to the Serbian national team after a long absence due to injuries. “I missed the national team a lot,” he said. “I do feel great to be back after the two summers that I didn’t play. But against Greece, we did look a lot like a team. That’s why need to change things. For Serbia, it’s not good to play like this. We definitely need to play much better.”
Despite having to play without Nikola Jokic, Boban Marjanovic and Milos Teodosic, the visitors still had their opportunities to win.
“Okay we missed some players, but we have to play better in the following game (against Estonia) and then in November, to beat Israel and then to qualify for the World Cup,” Bjelica said. “Here, in Europe, it’s all about the team,” Bjelica said. “Offense and defense as well. I have missed European basketball. That’s why we lost the game against Greece. We didn’t play as a team and Greece played as a team and in front of their crowd, Greece always plays at the highest level.”
Photo credit: FIBA