A fairly easy win for Serbia against Israel, the host of two friendly matches, as part of the Eurobasket preparation interval. The team lead by coach Aleksandar Đorđević and captain Miloš Teodosić has won by 85-70, in a match with a strong offense and series of easy shots for the guests.
Tonight’s MVP was Nemanja Nedović, with 16 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, and an excellent 3 point score, 4/5. Marko Simonović was a close second, with 13 points and 2/4 for the 3 pointers.
The maximal advantage of the Serbian team was 0f 22 points, during the 3rd, and the beginning of the 4th quarter, which gave Serbia’s coach more space to try out different tactical options in a realistic environment. A series of “new” players ran in from the bench, and showed that even without Teodosić, Marković and other, more experienced players, Serbia still has a multitude of alternatives. Nevertheless, the captain has the power to make all of the difference in crucial moments. Luckily, there was no need for any of Teodisić’s extra magic, so the players gave it a rest, while the host reduced the 22 point difference, leaving it at 15. Tonight was also the first match, in which recently recovered Dragan Milosavljević has played from minute one, scoring 7 points for Serbia. Bogdan Bogdanović hasn’t played tonight, due to a continued back problem.
The next match will be played tomorrow, 18:45, CET, with no Serbian channels transmitting the friendly. There will be a livestream coverage of the event.
Being a well known perfectionist, coach Đorđević has criticised the number of lost possessions. A total of 19, which he considers unacceptable. The squad (Serbia) was looking for their game in the attacking positions. Which is somewhat understandable, considering that everyone wants to reach their full fitness before the beginning of the Championship. (…) We cannot allow up to 19 steals for the opponents, because stronger teams will undoubtably punish us for it.
The matches in Tel Aviv are extremely important, because they represent a final stop for two more players, resulting in the long awaited, finalised roster for the Serbian National Team.
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