By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Serbia coach Sasha Djordjevic addressed the ejection of his star center Nikola Jokic with a second technical foul in the mid of the third period during the loss to Spain.
“I didn’t like the stupid reaction of our player who should be on the floor. We can even lose with him. Why not, if the other team is better? But he should stay on the floor and be one of the leaders,” Djordjevic said in the post-game presser. Serbia suffered its first defeat in the tournament in the hands of the Spanish team.
Djordjevic was asked if he discussed the incident with Jokic.
“We already talked. We cleared things out in the locker room. We don’t have time for long meetings and stuff. He knows he’s a tough kid. One of the greatest right now. We need him. We need him on the floor. I’d love to have him on the floor. This isn’t some kind of excuse that our best player was ejected so we couldn’t play without him. We can’t play without anyone. Not this year, not in any year. You must at a level like this. That’s an episode we just have to understand, analyze and I hope it won’t happen again.”
After a follow-up question on Jokic’s personality, Djordjevic mentioned the following:
“I believe he has a great personality. Players grow during all their career. They grow every day until the end. Until the last day they play. This is a moment for him to grow. To understand how this competition is played. He’s a big kid. So he will understand.”