Serbia is out of the Eurobasket. In a shocking turn of events, the primary contenders for the gold have lost to Finland (86:92).
Just between Nikola Jokić (33p) and Nikola Jović (20p) there were over 50 points. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough.
This was meant to be The Last Dance for interim captain Stefan Jović, as well as the culmination of expectations for this entire generation. They had won numerous silvers and bronzes, but not the gold. Ever since Paris and the now mythical match against the USA, the writing was on the wall – Serbia was to win the Eurobasket.
Everything was there: the starlight roster, the amazing squad chemistry that never brought out the individual ahead of the team, the record breaking coach who knows how to win it all, excellent prep games… Even in Riga, records were broken. Expectations were at the peak of the 4/4 in the Group stage. And yet. Serbia returns from that very city after only half a dozen matches and an 1/8 finals.
We can speak of the gruelling schedules, the injuries, the refs, the luck, or maler, which many English speakers will understand as bad juju. But does it even matter tonight? This particular night?
Deep analysis needs to wait for things to cool down. Even though for the Land of Basketball, amongst the people whose world stops on Reprezentacija gamedays, that will prove as a real challenge.
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