Serbia’s representative Aleksa Avramovic spoke at a press conference after the final game of the FIBA World Cup.
Avramović was unable to win the World Cup, as his team was defeated by Germany in a dramatic final. He was the top scorer for the “Eagles” with 21 points.
“We have achieved a great success. Our heads are already held high. This is already in the past. We are already turning our focus to the Olympic Games to achieve even more. Germany played fantastic. They won bronze last year, and they have been playing together for many years. The attention to detail and their physicality made the difference. We had a chance, but we missed the shot to tie the game. We had many problems.
A friend and teammate, Borisa, you know what happened to him. Dobric twisted his ankle at the beginning of the game, and he’s very important to us. Milutinov had an issue, but that’s not an excuse. We are proud. We know we made our country happy. I’m sad we didn’t win, but I’m happy that we made them proud, and tomorrow I will already have a smile on my face,” Avramovic said.
About referees?
“We matched their aggressiveness. I don’t want to blame the referees; they officiated the World Cup final, fulfilling dreams like mine. Germany played more aggressively in the third quarter. We had our chances, but we didn’t succeed. Someone has to go home with gold, someone with silver. This medal shines like gold, that’s my feeling and the feeling of all my teammates. This is in the past,” Avramovic concluded.
Olympic games?
“We knew that France was the host and that it was one less European team competing for the Olympics. That was our first goal, and the second was to win a medal. We accomplished both goals. You’ve seen how many NBA stars the USA has, but they didn’t win a medal. Thanks to the coach for helping us reach the final. We’re not just talking about basketball; this is a great group of people. The medical team, coaching staff. I hope they will help us be better together for another year. Australia, one of the best, didn’t make it to the quarter-finals. I am extremely proud.
The entire Serbia was cheering for us. I kept my head high, my brother came to hug me, he traveled for 36 hours. That’s when I “broke down. I know how much we made people happy by reaching the quarter-finals. We defeated Lithuania, look at Canada, what a team they have, God save us… The two best teams made it to the final. The better team won today. I’m not saying they will win next year if we meet,” Avramovic concluded.