Serbia means business

Teamwork is our trademark all these years

SASHA Djordjevic is the man behind’s Serbia impressive run in the World Cup. AFP

FOSHAN, China — There is one team that really stands out as title favorite in the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Basketball World Cup — and it’s definitely not reigning champion United States.

Actually, Serbia — the second-placer in the previous World Cup in Spain — is tipped to go all the way to win the title.

The Serbians carried themselves with aura of invincibility here, where they crushed their opponents in Angola, Italy and Gilas Pilipinas by an average winning margin of 40.0 points.

This is a team that entered the World Cup without losing a tuneup match and, not surprisingly, the Serbians’ strong start has boosted their confidence even more as they head to Wuhan, where they are set to face Puerto Roco and Spain in their second round matches.

Serbia’s head coach Sasha Djordjevic perfectly embodies the team’s innate confidence, which almost borders on braggadocio, but that’s what this team needs as it seeks to unseat the Americans and stop their dominance at the biggest stage of international basketball.

After Serbia’s first win of the tournament against Angola, Djordjevic was asked about whether the team accepts the tag of being the title favorite, especially after FIBA placed it on top of the World Cup Power Ranking.

His answer came in three words: We do accept.

That, in a sense, reveals a lot about this team’s character. The Serbians are aware they have a golden opportunity to break the Americans’ stranglehold on the World Cup and prove a point — that it will take more than putting together a team of 12 NBA players to win the whole thing.

For Djordjevic, more important than talent — even NBA talent — a champion team should be defined by chemistry and teamwork. “Teamwork is our trademark all these years,” he said.

“We like to share the ball. We like to pass. We have guys who are not selfish, and this is great for a coach. I’m proud when I see them display that trademark of Serbian basketball.”

That’s not just empty talk, too. The numbers back it up. As of now, Serbia leads all 32 World Cup teams in scoring, assists, field goal shooting, and team efficiency. Basically, Serbia has been the best team in the World Cup, and it intends to stay that way.

How will they do it? By setting very high standards for themselves. Their 15-point win over Italy to end their first-round campaign? For Serbia, that was a bad game. “Obviously, we didn’t play at the top level, but we don’t even need to look perfect,” Djordjevic said after beating Italy. “Every good thing is important — our players are slowly coming to the point that it does not matter individually how you play, that you are happy with yourself, it is only important that you contribute.”

Djordjevic said it’s not enough to just beat their opponents. They want to beat them convincingly, as close to dominance as possible.

And though that will be tougher in the next few rounds, Djordjevic is all business with his outlook.

He couldn’t care less about highlights or rankings or anything like that. It’s all about the win. It’s all about lifting the World Cup trophy and being champions after the final game on 15 September.

“I want my players to forget the highlights,” he said.

“Every game is a trench fight, where every ball is important, every mistake is crucial, every possession, anything that gives us a huge victory.”