Serbian expert Darko Rajakovic and his work have caught the attention of the top basketball player from the recent tournament, specifically the FIBA World Cup.
Rajakovic took over the Toronto Raptors this summer, in a very interesting coaching twist. Indeed, the native of Cacak is one of the reasons why the reigning world champion with Germany, Dennis Schroder, will be wearing the Canadian team’s jersey next season.
“The first coach of the Raptors, Darko Rajakovic, was a turning point. We met five years ago in Oklahoma. We became friends. Definitely, I told my agent that I wanted to be in Toronto. It’s a great combination,” Schroder said in an interview with ESPN.
Schroder arrived in Canada as one of the replacements for the team’s former leader. Fred VanVleet left the Raptors and went to Houston.
The German point guard had an outstanding FIBA World Cup performance. He was instrumental in his team’s victory over Serbia and the subsequent gold medal win. In the final, he scored 28 points, including the game-winning drive where he used a dribble to get past Aleksa Avramovic and extended what would turn out to be an insurmountable lead for the Serbian team.
This marked Germany’s first-ever world basketball championship title. Prior to this, they had triumphed at the EuroBasket in 1993. The coach of that team was Svetislav Pesic, who is currently the head coach of the Serbian national team.
The FIBA World Cup is not the only tournament that Schroder is looking forward to. Before the start of the season, the NBA introduced a similar competition system under new rules.