The 2022 Serbia EuroBasket team represented Serbia at the EuroBasket 2022 in the Czech Republic, Georgia, Italy, and Germany. Serbia finished at the 9th place with a 5–1 record, following a lost to in a Round of 16 game.
Serbia qualified for the EuroBasket by winning the EuroBasket 2022 qualification Group E. The team is coached by FIBA Hall of Fame coach member Svetislav Pešić, with assistant coaches Oliver Kostić, Marko Marinović, and Saša Kosović.
This will the seventh appearance of Serbia at the EuroBasket as an independent state; its best results are second places in 2009 and 2017.
Background
Timeline 12 July 2022: 22-man roster announced 1 August: The players gathering in Crowne Plaza, Belgrade 3 August: Start of a training camp in Stara Pazova, at the FAS House of Football 15 August: The end of the training camp 13–20 August: Exhibition games 25–28 August: Fourth window of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification 31 August: 12-man roster announcement 1 September: Departure of the team to Prague, Czech Republic 1–18 September: EuroBasket 2022
Roster
On 10 June 2022, it was announced that an NBA guard Bogdan Bogdanović will miss the EuroBasket due to a right knee surgery. It was the first time that Serbia national team plays without Bogdanović at a major tournament since EuroBasket 2011. On 15 June, center Nikola Jokić, who was named the NBA Most Valuable Player Award for the 2021–22 season, has confirmed that he will play at the EuroBasket.
On 12 July 2022, head coach Svetislav Pešić announced a 22-man preliminary roster for the EuroBasket 2022. The 22-man roster includes three NBA players (Nemanja Bjelica, Aleksej Pokuševski, Jokić); then two All-EuroLeague Team members for the 2021–22 season: guard Vasilije Micić and forward Vladimir Lučić; as well as seven domestic league players. Furthermore, the roster includes three high-profile-leagues MVPs for the 2021–22 season: Jokić (NBA), Micić (EuroLeague Final Four MVP), and Miloš Teodosić (EuroCup Finals MVP).
The initial 22-man roster excluded NBA center Boban Marjanović and EuroLeague guard Danilo Anđušić. On 14 July, guard Anđušić expressed his disappointment on his cut from the 22-man preliminary roster. Marjanović was not included due to an injury. On 3 August, head coach Pešić announced that NBA players Pokuševski and Nikola Jović are cut from the roster due to disapproval of their clubs, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Miami Heat respectively. On 8 August, two more players were removed from the rooster, veteran guard and team captain Teodosić due to coach's decision and forward Alen Smailagić due to his long prolonged injury. On 15 August 2022, head coach Pešić, following a cut of Teodosić, announced forwards Bjelica and Lučić as co-captains. Following the Bjelica's cut from the roster due to injury, Lučić became sole team captain.
On 1 September, center Nikola Milutinov was reported injured due to health issues, missing a team departure to Prague. On 5 September, he arrived to Prague. On 7 September, following the Game 4, guard Nemanja Nedović was reported injured and out for the rest of the tournament. Two days later, Nedović left to Madrid, Spain, for a therapy on his injury.
The members of Serbia roster at the 2019 Serbia FIBA Basketball World Cup guards Micić, Marko Gudurić, forward Lučić and centers Jokić and Milutinov are coming back to the EuroBasket roster. Guard Nedović and forward Nikola Kalinić made the first appearance at a major tournament since the 2016 Summer Olympics. Guards Ognjen Jaramaz and Vanja Marinković, forwards Dejan Davidovac and Marko Jagodić-Kuridža, as well as center Dušan Ristić made their debuts at a major tournament. The average height of players in the roster is . The average age is 29 years old.
The following is the 12-man Serbia roster for the EuroBasket:
Depth chart
Earlier candidates The following were candidates to make the team: +Player Team Added Removed Reason Mega Withdrawn Oklahoma City Thunder Virtus Bologna Roster cut Partizan Injured Injured Roster cut Golden State Warriors Injured Anadolu Efes 12-man roster cut Crvena Zvezda Mega
Staff Head coach Pešić won two EuroBasket editions, with in 1993 and with in 2001. He was introduced to the FIBA Hall of Fame as coach in 2020.
Position Staff Member Age Affiliated Club Head coach Assistant coaches Borac Čačak Conditioning coach Mega MIS Scout Crvena zvezda mts National team director Team manager Crvena zvezda mts Physicians Physiotherapist Equipment manager Press officer Age – describes age on 1 September 2022
Source
Uniform
Supplier: Peak Main sponsor: Triglav Back sponsor: Raiffeisen Bank (below number) Shorts sponsor: mts
Exhibition games
Serbia is scheduled to play four exhibition games prior to the EuroBasket tournament, excluding two games of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification, against on 25 August and on 28 August 2022. The team is scheduled to play at the 2022 Supercup Hamburg tournament together with , , and the from 19 to 20 August 2022. On 26 July, it was announced that Serbia will go to play against Slovenia on 17 August in Ljubljana. The match with Montenegro on 13 August in Belgrade was played behind closed doors and it started with a moment of silence for the victims of Cetinje shooting from the day before. On 20 August, Serbia won the 2022 DBB SuperCup following an 83–56 win over Germany.
DBB Supercup Hamburg
2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification, Group I
Tournament
The EuroBasket 2022 is the 41st edition of the EuroBasket championship that is organized by FIBA Europe. It will be the first since it was agreed it would take place every four years, with a similar system of qualification as for the FIBA Basketball World Cup. It was originally scheduled to take place between 2 and 19 September 2021, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics to 2021, it has been postponed to 1 to 18 September 2022. Like the previous two editions, the tournament will be co-hosted by four countries. Games in the group stage will be held in the Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, and Italy. The knock-out phase will be played in Berlin, Germany.
Preliminary round
The draw took place on 29 April 2021 in Berlin. Serbia was drawn into Group D with , , , , and and played all of its group phase matches in Prague, Czech Republic, at the O2 Arena from 2–8 September. The top four teams advanced to the knockout stage.Competition system
Results by round
All times are local (UTC+2).
Netherlands Center Nikola Milutinov was out of the Serbian roster due to health issues.
A Dutch forward Worthy de Jong played one of the best games of his career, getting 28 points for the Netherlands, but Serbia had another gear in them and were unfazed en route to a winning start, a 100–76 victory in front of a large group of their fans in Czech Republic. The main reason for Serbia never losing their composure was the fact they have center Nikola Jokić and guard Vasilije Micić in their ranks. Both stars played outstanding games to safely guide Serbia to a first win ahead of their match-up with the group hosts on Saturday. The Netherlands were a stubborn opponent on Friday night, not giving up for even a second. Their best stretch was in the beginning of the third-quarter, when Worthy de Jong helped them reduce the deficit to 56–51 with five to play in third. However, Jokić and Micić remained calm and created a 14-3 run to get back into double digits. They were on cruise control the rest of the way, even with Oranje coming back to single digit deficit a couple of times. Guard Micić was impressive with a 15-point, 12-assist double-double, while Jokić finished with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, sitting out the entire fourth quarter. Serbia were +10 in rebounds, +8 in steals, +10 in assists, -9 in turnovers, +9 in points from turnovers, +10 in fast break points, +17 in second chance points, +24 in points in the paint, +8 in points from the bench. They are just warming up, and that's a scary sight when they scored 100 points in this one. Guard Vanja Marinković had five threes and 18 points, center Dušan Ristić and forward Nikola Kalinić were also in double figures, all 11 players played and all 11 of them scored. Perfect start for Serbian coach Svetislav Pešić, who is still waiting for Nikola Milutinov to join. The Netherlands made Serbia work, and Worthy de Jong scored 28 points in 27 minutes, done on 11-of-14 shooting from the field. Guard Keye van der Vuurst de Vries was the only other man in double digits with 11.
It is the second highest scoring game for Serbia in the EuroBasket history. Guard Micić became the second Serbian player with a 15+ points and 10+ assists game, as well as the 16th Serbian player with a double-double at a major tournament since 1995.
SRB Statistics NED 23/39 (59%) 2-pt field goals 17/34 (50%) 14/31 (45%) 3-pt field goals 13/25 (52%)12/17 (71%) Free throws 3/6 (50%)15 Offensive rebounds 8 22 Defensive rebounds 19 37 Total rebounds 27 26 Assists 16 7 Turnovers 16 10 Steals 22 Blocks 1 12 Fouls 18 TCL Player of the Game: Nikola Jokić and Vasilije Micić
Czech Republic Center Nikola Milutinov was out of the Serbian roster due to health issues, as well as a Czech guard Tomáš Satoranský.
It was always going to be an uphill battle for Czech Republic, and after learning that their captain Tomáš Satoranský would not suit up for the game against Serbia, it got tougher. Svetislav Pešić's men used a dominant second quarter to escape their opposition and secure their 2-0 record. Backed by the crowd in the sold-out arena in Prague, the hosts were holding on in the first quarter, ending it with a five point deficit. However, Serbia's next huddle proved to be the winning one, as head coach Pešić found the panacea for the poison already after 10 minutes. A much more determined Serbian squad came out in the second, and a 15-0 run followed, suddenly making a couple of thousand Serbian fans louder than the Czech majority in the stands. The biggest lead was 23 points in the third quarter. However, the hosts did have one final push to raise the volume in the arena again. The Czechs got back to a single-digit deficit a few times in the last quarter, only to see Vasilije Micić, Nikola Jokić and Vanja Marinković come up with big shots and assists, pushing the lead back to safety. Serbian center Jokić was unstoppable, recording 18 points in 25 minutes of playing time, done on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, with 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Turnovers hurt Czech Republic, as they committed 15 of them, which Serbia turned into an 18–8 advantage in points off turnovers. At the same time, Serbia lost possession only five times in the entire game. It finished 81–68, meaning Serbia sits on top of the group standings or now. Czech Republic are now in a do-or-die situation at 0–2 with three games remaining.
Serbian center Jokić recorded his third double-double at a major tournament, becoming the fourth player since 1995 to do so.
CZE Statistics SRB 16/37 (43%) 2-pt field goals 19/37 (51%)8/21 (38%) 3-pt field goals 8/27 (30%)12/13 (92%) Free throws 19/23 (83%)8 Offensive rebounds 1030 Defensive rebounds 2438 Total rebounds 3419 Assists 1915 Turnovers 52 Steals 81 Blocks 224 Fouls 16 TCL Player of the Game: Nikola Jokić
Finland Guard Vanja Marinković was out of the Serbian roster due to stomach issues, while center Nikola Milutinov returns.