National team head coach Yeng Guiao. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Serbia, which plays the Philippines in the opening round of the Fiba World Cup, is among the few teams tipped to win the gold medal in China.
Much of it is due to its versatile center Nikola Jokic, who is considered as one of the best big men in the NBA today with his unique skill set for a player his size at 7-feet.
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But the Serbians are not just a one-man team and Gilas Pilipinas head coach Yeng Guiao is fully aware of that.
“If you’re specifically talking about Jokic, the only close matchup we can have against Jokic is Andray Blatche then, maybe after that, it’s going to be Japeth,” Guiao said. “So we will just look at those matchups and to me, Jokic might be a problem but Jokic is just really somebody who is going to play smart and will just facilitate for his teammates.”
“Most of the time it’s Bogdanovic who is really the problem for the other teams,” he added. “Our problem is really not Jokic. Our problem is their shooters.”
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Guiao was referring to Serbia’s deadshot swingman Bogdan Bogdanovic, one of the key players for the Sacramento Kings in the NBA.
The 6-foot-6 Bogdanovic and Jokic are just two of five Serbians currently in the NBA, who will suit up in the World Cup. The others are 6-foot-10 Nemanja Bjelica, 6-foot-7 shooting guard Marko Gudurić and 7-foot-3 Boban Marjanovic.
Serbia’s offense, though, starts with the do-it-all Jokic, whose deadliest aspect of his game is his passing.
“His (Jokic) presence is always felt, inside, outside, with his passing, with his defense we won’t see him scoring heavily but the rest of his teammates around him are getting the benefit of him being a threat and a smart player.”