Nikola Jovic spoke ahead of the match against the Dominican Republic at the FIBA World Cup, which is crucial for reaching the quarterfinals.
After the defeat to Italy on Sunday, Serbia will face the Dominican Republic in Group I at 14:00. The calculation is clear: the winner advances to the quarterfinals.
“Heads have cooled down, there’s nothing we could have done about that loss. We knew we had to win the next one anyway, and we are focused on it,” said Nikola Jovic to reporters in Manila.
He provided further comments on how Italy managed to overcome a 16-point deficit from the third quarter.
“It just played out that way; it seems they did an excellent job and read us well. Each time, we were running out of time in the last five or six seconds of the offense, and we had to take shots over tall defenders or rush our attempts under the basket. Once they caught up and equalized, they had the game under control and executed their plan perfectly,” he explained.
The final play for Serbia appeared disorganized.
“As for the final play, we grabbed the ball with seven seconds left, and we weren’t sure what exactly to do. There was no timeout before that. Jovic and I tried to figure it out, but there was a misunderstanding,” he added.
Now, they are facing the Dominican Republic, led by NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns.
“We’ve done the scouting; we roughly know how we’ll defend him and what we want, and we hope it works out well,” said the young Serbian basketball player, touching on the team’s atmosphere:
“It’s good; we’re all positive, expecting that win, and then we’ll see what’s next and how.”
He mentioned that they haven’t looked too far ahead regarding potential opponents or their position going forward.
“Honestly, no. It all depends on the Dominican Republic. We expected to beat Italy, and now we expect that and will give our all to win on Sunday. If we don’t win, there’s no ‘next,'” he concluded.
The team has been in contact with Borisa Simanic, who had to leave the World Championship due to surgery.
“We’ve all sent him messages, and the doctors are in touch with him. We’re not yet able to visit him. We pray for him every day, for a swift recovery, to get back on the court as soon as possible, and to stay healthy.”
Serbia is guaranteed to advance if they win, and their final position depends on the outcome of the game between Puerto Rico and Italy. If Italy wins, Serbia will finish second.