Serbia beats Estonia (98:64) at their Eurobasket opener, showing us the first taste of what is is to come in Riga. Coach Pešić: “We wish to not overestimate nor underestimate this win.”
Team Serbia played a triumphant first half imposing their pace within minutes, which left Estonia defenceless before halftime (56:29). Team Estonia was trying to fight back in the third quarter, but with no avail. It is only during the final four minutes of the match, that the Estonian squad was able to get some honorary points. They stood no chance against the likes of Jokić (11p, 10rb), Jović (18p), Avramović (13p), Petrušev (12p), Bogdanović (11p).
Given that tonight was Serbia’s first match at this year’s Eurobasket, fine-tuning is to be expected, with experience and mastery of coach Pešić. He expressed his desire for the media not to overburden the players with the high hopes at the press conferences leading up to the Eurobasket. Those hopes exist in every fibre of the Serbian public.
The grandmaster of coaching remains adamant in keeping the eyes on the next game, rather than creating enormous expectations for the tournament before it even began. That way, the pressure on the squad itself would reduce rapidly.
The pinnacle of a generation
This is the time of the year when everybody in Serbia watches basketball, regardless of their general interests. After the end of the past Olympic cycle, which included a bronze metal in Paris and a World silver in Manila, Serbian basketball fans, as well as experts worldwide expect Serbia to reach the highest step of the podium this Summer. It would be the pinnacle of this incredible generations’ performance.
Their stellar matches, as well as this team’s wonderful chemistry deserve to be fully crowned and credited.
“Our victory was important, but just the triumph wasn’t enough. We want more and more. We’ll search for ways to find solutions and create opportunities for the players to improve their individual form. Tonight, the attitude, the focus, as well as the defence were played in a way that makes us all happy”, said coach Pešić in his post-match statement.
We hold off the medal talk – only for the time being. 😉
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