Serbia competed at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification in the Europe group.
Background
In July 2021, Serbia failed to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Timeline
12 October 2021: 16-man B-team roster announcement 17–19 October 2021: B-team training camp 15 November 2021: 24-man first window roster announced 25–28 November 2021: First window 15 February 2022: 24-man second window roster announced 25–28 February 2022: Second window 20 June 2022: 20-man third window roster announced 30 June – 3 July 2022: Third window 12 July 2022: 22-man fourth window roster announced 25–28 August 2022: Fourth window 10–13 November 2022: Fifth window 24–27 February 2023: Sixth window
Roster On 15 November 2021, head coach Svetislav Pešić announced an initial 24-man roster for the first window games against on 25 November and on 28 November. On 22 November, he announced a 17-man roster, removing from the list seven players due to the EuroLeague schedule conflict; guards Vasilije Micić, Ognjen Jaramaz, Vanja Marinković, Nemanja Nedović, Ognjen Dobrić, forward Dejan Davidovac, and center Filip Petrušev. On 26 November, center Petrušev was re-added to the roster. Forward Alen Smailagić missed the second match due to injury. Guard Jovan Novak, forward Marko Jagodić-Kuridža, and center Dušan Ristić made their senior debuts with the Serbian national team.
On 15 February 2022, head coach Pešić announced an initial 24-man roster for the second window games against on 25 and 28 February. Guards Miloš Teodosić and Nikola Rebić were the only players unlisted from the 18-man first window roster, while eight new players were called in. Marko Jagodić-Kuridža was named as the captain of the Serbia team in absence of Miloš Teodosić. Guard-forwards Nikola Đurišić and Nikola Jović, both at age 18, and center Balša Koprivica made their senior debuts with the Serbian national team.
On 20 June 2022, head coach Pešić announced an initial 20-man roster for the third window games against on 30 June and on 3 July.
On 12 July 2022, head coach Pešić announced an initial 22-man roster for the fourth window games against on 25 August and on 28 August, as well as for the upcoming EuroBasket 2022. On 15 August 2022, head coach Pešić, following a cut of team captain Teodosić from the roster, announced forwards Nemanja Bjelica and Vladimir Lučić as co-captains for the second round first window.
The following a 16-man roster for the fourth window games at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification:
Depth chart per window The 12-man roster members without playing time are in Italics.
First window The following is the first window depth chart for the matches on 25 to 29 November 2021 against Latvia and Belgium.
Other 17-man roster members, guards Aleksa Uskoković, Nikola Rebić, Nikola Đurišić, forward Dalibor Ilić and center Dragan Apić, were out of the final 12-man roster for both games.
Second window The following is the second window depth chart for the matches on 25 to 28 February 2022 against Slovakia.
Other 24-man roster members, guards Nemanja Nedović, Vasilije Micić, Ognjen Dobrić, forwards Dejan Davidovac, Nemanja Dangubić, Rade Zagorac, Alen Smailagić, Dejan Todorović, Dušan Beslać, Dalibor Ilić, and center Dragan Apić, were out of the final 12-man roster for both games.
Third window The following is the third window depth chart for the matches on 30 June to 3 July 2022 against Latvia and Belgium.
Other 20-man roster members, guards Miloš Teodosić and Uroš Trifunović, forwards Nemanja Jović, Danilo Anđušić, Aleksa Novaković, and centers Balša Koprivica and Marko Pecarski, were out of the final 12-man roster for both games.
Fourth window The following is the fourth window depth chart for the matches on 25–28 August 2022 against and .
Other 16-man roster members, guard Nemanja Nedović, and forwards Boriša Simanić and Nemanja Bjelica were out of the final 12-man roster for both games.
2021 B-team training camp On 12 October 2021, head coach Svetislav Pešić announced a 17-man b-team roster for a two day training camp. The roster was composed of players from domestic and ABA League clubs, excluding Crvena zvezda and Partizan. On 18 October, the Basketball Federation of Serbia canceled the b-team training camp due to health issues of head coach Pešić. The B-team roster included: Mihailo Petrović, Ilija Đoković, Marko Pecarski, Aleksa Radanov, Dalibor Ilić, Stefan Đorđević, Boriša Simanić, Mihailo Mušikić, Nikola Jović, Nikola Đurišić, Matija Belić, Vojin Medarević, Dušan Beslać, Marko Pavićević, Arijan Lakić, Zoran Paunović, and Đorđe Pažin.
Staff
After he got appointed as an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks, head coach Igor Kokoškov parted ways with the Basketball Federation of Serbia as the Serbian team coach on 14 September 2021. On 28 September, the Federation hired Svetislav Pešić as the new head coach for the Serbia men's national team. On the next day, the Federation hired Dragan Tarlać as the new national team director. In November 2021, Oliver Kostić, Marko Marinović, and Nenad Trunić were named assistant coaches. In February 2022, head coach Pešić added assistant coach Vladimir Jovanović, scout Miloš Isakov Kovačević, and physiotherapist Đorđe Milošević to his staff.
Position Staff Member Age Affiliated Club Head coach Assistant coaches Borac Čačak Conditioning coach Mega MIS Scout Vojvodina National team director Team manager Crvena zvezda mts Physicians Physiotherapists Borac Čačak Equipment manager Press officer Age – describes age on 25 November 2021
Source:
Uniform
Supplier: Peak Main sponsor: Triglav Back sponsor: Raiffeisen Bank (below number) Shorts sponsor: mts
Exhibition games
Serbia played one exhibition game in June 2022. The game was played behind closed doors without any game reports or statements given after the game.
Qualification
First round – Group A
As one of the 24 national teams that qualified for EuroBasket 2022, Serbia automatically qualified for the First round. Serbia was seeded in the Seed 1. The draw for the First round was held on 31 August 2021 in Mies, Switzerland. Serbia was drawn into the Group A with the Latvia, Belgium, and Slovakia. These matches was played in three windows in November 2021, February 2022, and June/July 2022 with two games played by each team in every window.
Group A is one of eight qualifiers groups of four teams. The groups will be conducted in a round-robin system, with each team playing all other teams in the respective group in home and away games. If Serbia finishes as one of the top three teams in its group, they will advance to the Second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification and will play against top three finishers of Group B, which is composed of Belarus, Great Britain, Greece, and Turkey. In February 2022, following a 3–1 record in the first four matches, Serbia secured their place in the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European qualifiers.
Results by round
Latvia home game
Latvian guard Rihards Lomažs scored 33 points including six of theirs 16 three-pointers, but it was still Serbia who were left celebrating at the end of a thrilling duel in the Aleksandar Nikolić Hall, Belgrade. In his debut at the Serbia's bench, Svetislav Pešić oversaw his side's 101–100 triumph sealing victory in the closing seconds to start their quest towards the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Latvia looked to be heading to a big victory as triple after triple rained down on the court in Belgrade, but the hosts stayed alive and overturned a 93–88 deficit with three minutes to go. Serbia took the lead inside the final minute and had another chance after Latvia leveled with Serbian forward Marko Jagodić-Kuridža sinking the decisive free throw for the win. Serbian guard Miloš Teodosić came off the bench with a typically instrumental performance to contribute an efficient 21 points along with 9 assists and was backed up by a string of valuable displays, including that of Aleksa Avramović, who had 17 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. The game was played at a frantic pace and both teams shot above 70-percent from inside the arc and in a game of small margins, Serbia out-rebounded their opponents 29–20 and had the edge on second chance points at 11–6. Latvia had the lead for over 25 minutes, but not when it counted as the final buzzer sounded. Plenty to build from for both sides and Serbia will be mightily relieved to get off to a winning start.
In after-game interviews, Serbian players dedicated their victory to Stevan Jelovac, a former Serbian national team player who suffered a brain hemorrhage during an AEK practice session ten days prior to the game.
Belgium road game
Forward Alen Smailagić was ruled out of the roster due to injury. He was replaced by center Filip Petrušev.
In the battle to finish the first window with a 2–0 record, it was Belgium who prevailed to overcome Serbia in a 73–69 victory for a perfect start to their 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup European Qualifiers campaign. Belgian guard Sam Van Rossom stepped up to drain the go-ahead triple inside the final minute and added a late free throw to ice the game as Belgium produced a final flourish to take early control of Group A as the leaders. Serbia were in the ascendancy early on and moved 36–22 ahead in the second quarter and were still ahead by double-digits late in the third. There was a brief delay before the start of the fourth and Belgium resumed reinvigorated with a 12–2 start to take the lead and they would come through an exciting finish. Belgian center Ismaël Bako starred for the Belgian Lions with 14 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals in an action-packed display, while Van Rossom top scored with 20 points and was clutch in the closing minutes to help secure the victory. Serbia finished 57 percent from inside the arc, but their struggles from outside amplified in the final quarter as they missed all nine attempts from three-point range and were held to 3-of-15 overall in the fourth. Two from two for Belgium is the dream opening, while Serbia were on the wrong end of another close encounter to finish the November window at 11.
Slovakia home game
Serbia dropped Slovakia to 0–3 with a 75–63 win behind Aleksa Avramović's 14 points. Forward Marko Jagodić-Kuridža scored 13, as did guard Jovan Novak.
Slovakia road game
Once again, Serbia did not have things all their own way as Slovakia pushed them even closer in Levice before they prevailed for a 71–63 success. Serbian guard Aleksa Avramović played a leading role with 24 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds in 30 minutes with teenage forward Nikola Jović stepping up with a contribution of 13 points and 7 rebounds amongst the starting five. Center Dušan Ristić was the third - and final - Serbian player in double figures with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go with 8 rebounds and the starting center gave deserving praise to the opposition.
Latvia road game