Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the Fiba World Cup. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pulled off an impressive outing to fuel Canada over Slovenia in the 2023 Fiba World Cup quarterfinals but the squad may need more of that performance to go all the way.
After finishing with game-highs of 31 points and 10 rebounds, the Oklahoma City Thunder star knows the Canadians can’t afford to let up, especially against Serbia in the semifinal.
“Serbia has a group of guys that really knows how to play basketball so I think all of them are dangerous. Can’t take none of them lightly,” said Gilgeous-Alexander after their 100-89 victory at Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday.
“Obviously, this long in the tournament most teams are really good.”
The Serbians, backed by Atlanta Hawks gunner Bogdan Bogdanovic, showed they’re also a force to reckon with when they made easy work of Lithuania, 87-68, in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Bogdanovic led Serbia with a game-best 21 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
But Bogdanovic wasn’t alone in knocking off the Lithuanians as Serbia shot a blistering 55 percent from the field.
“We know that going in and we’re just going to try and prepare as best we can and we’ll try to get it,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.