The 2019 Serbia FIBA Basketball World Cup team represented Serbia at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup in China. Serbia finished the tournament in fifth place with a 6âÂÂ2 record and qualified for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Serbia qualified for the World Cup by taking the 3rd place in the European Second Round Group L. The team was coached by Aleksandar ÃÂorÃÂeviÃÂ, with assistant coaches Jovica AntoniÃÂ, Darko RajakoviÃÂ, and Miroslav NikoliÃÂ. The Serbian team won the silver medal at the previous World Cup.
This was the 3rd appearance of Serbia at the FIBA Basketball World Cup; however, FIBA considers Serbia as the successor team of FR Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro who themselves qualified on three occasions. Serbia's best result is 2nd place in 2014; however, FIBA considers Serbia as the successor team of FR Yugoslavia who won 2 World Cups (1998, 2002).
At the end of the tournament, head coach ÃÂorÃÂeviÃÂ announced his decision to leave the position after six years. For his performances, guard Bogdan BogdanoviÃÂ was selected to the FIBA Basketball World Cup All-Tournament Team. With 183 points scored throughout the tournament, guard BogdanoviÃÂ was the FIBA Basketball World Cup Top Scorer by total points scored.
On 24 May 2019, center Nikola JokiÃÂ, who earned All-NBA First Team honors, has confirmed that he will play at the World Cup. All players who won a silver medal at the 2017 EuroBasket in four European countries were included on the 34-man roster besides center Vladimir à  timac who announced his retirement from international basketball after Eurobasket at 29. Guard Branko Laziàis the only member of the 2017 Serbia roster who wasn't listed at the 18-man preliminary roster. Centers Jokiàand Ognjen KuzmiÃÂ, and guard Marko Guduriàare members of the 18-man preliminary roster who didn't play a single game in the World Cup qualifications. On 1 July, the EuroLeague guard Nemanja Nedoviàexpressed his disappointment on his cut from the 18-man preliminary roster. On 14 July, Kuzmiàwas involved in a serious traffic accident near Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which he got life-threatening injuries. On 15 July, Kuzmiàwas put out from the roster due to the unpredictability of the recovery time for such injuries, so coach Aleksandar ÃÂorÃÂeviàinvited center Nikola Jovanoviàas his substitute. On 8 August, coach ÃÂorÃÂeviàannounced the preliminary 14-man roster. On 10 August, the team captain Miloà ¡ Teodosiàsuffered a plantar fascia injury in his left foot in the game against Lithuania and will remain in the roster until new results are known after a recovery therapy. Forward Vladimir LuÃÂiàand guard Teodosiàskipped the Acropolis Tournament due to injuries. On 16 August, guard Dragan Milosavljeviàsuffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in his left knee in the game against Turkey. On the next day, it was announced that guard Milosavljeviàwould not be able to play at the World Cup due to the injury. On 20 August, coach ÃÂorÃÂeviàconfirmed that a guard and team captain Teodosiàwon't play at the World Cup, due to the injury. Center Miroslav Raduljica was selected as a new team captain due to TeodosiÃÂ's inability to play on the tournament. On 29 August, coach ÃÂorÃÂeviàofficially announced the final roster.
The members of Serbia roster at the EuroBasket 2017 guards Stefan JoviÃÂ, Vasilije MiciÃÂ, Bogdan BogdanoviÃÂ, GuduriÃÂ, forwards Stefan BirÃÂeviÃÂ, LuÃÂiÃÂ and center Boban MarjanoviÃÂ are coming back to the World Cup roster. Forward Marko SimonoviÃÂ and centers Raduljica and JokiÃÂ make the first appearance at a major tournament since the 2016 Summer Olympics, while forward Nemanja Bjelica and center Nikola Milutinov previously played at the EuroBasket 2015. The 2019 World Cup marked the first time since EuroBasket 2011 that the Serbia national team roster didn't contain any players from the Basketball League of Serbia (KLS).
The average height of players in the roster was which makes the Serbians the tallest roster in the tournament. Standing at , center MarjanoviÃÂ was the tallest player in the tournament. The average age was 28 years old.
The following is the Serbia roster for the World Cup.
The following were candidates to make the team:
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On 18 July, Darko RajakoviÃÂ was hired as an assistant coach, joining the staff as a replacement for Milan MiniÃÂ. On 20 August, physiotherapist Marko SokiÃÂ returned to the staff.
<small>Age â describes age on 31 August 2019</small>
<small>Source: KSS </small>
The Serbia roster played ten exhibition games and went undefeated at 10âÂÂ0. They began its exhibition schedule with three domestic games and went undefeated. The game with Lithuania in Belgrade had charity cause. The Basketball Federation of Serbia donated a percentage of the ticket sale revenue to a UNICEF project in Serbia. On 13 August, it's announced that 5.374 million Serbian dinars have to be donated to the UNICEF project. Serbia played at the 2019 Acropolis of Athens Tournament together with Greece, Italy, and Turkey from 16âÂÂ18 August. The Serbia roster went undefeated at 3âÂÂ0 in Athens and won the Acropolis Tournament. Last games was held from 23âÂÂ27 August at the 2019 Austiger Cup in Shenyang where they faced France, Italy, and New Zealand. Also, the Serbia roster went undefeated and won the Austiger Cup.
The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup is the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup championship that is organized by FIBA.
Serbia was drawn into Group D with Angola, Italy, and the Philippines and played all of its group phase matches in Foshan at the Foshan International Sports and Cultural Center from 31 August to 4 September.
All times are local UTC+8.
This was the second game between Angola and Serbia in the World Cup. The Serbians won the first meeting in 2010. The Serbians won in the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the last competitive game between the two teams.
Forward Nemanja Bjelica missed the game due to a knee injury. Center Miroslav Raduljica made his 100th appearance for the national team.
This was the first competitive game between Serbia and the Philippines.
Serbia had a slow start to the game and the Philippines tried to grow in the confidence. Tied at 7-all with six minutes left in the opening quarter, center Nikola Jokiàcame off the bench and the Serbian offense started to roll. The Serbs used a 7âÂÂ0 run to close the first 10 minutes with a 25âÂÂ13 lead. Forward Nemanja Bjelica came off the bench making all 7 of his field-goal attempts, including 3 three-pointers to finish with a game-high 20 points in just 16 minutes of action. Serbia not only out-rebounded Philippines 37âÂÂ23, but they finished with 37 assists against Philippines' 14.
This is the game won by largest points margin at 59 for the Serbians at any of major tournaments since 2006. With 37 team assists Serbia set the World Cup record for the most assists in a single game.
This was the first game between Italy and Serbia in the World Cup. Serbia won in its last competitive game against Italy, in EuroBasket 2017.
The game with Italy kicked off pretty tie, and after a 3-pointer from Bogdan Bogdanoviàin the 3rd minute, the score tied the game at 8-all. After the third straight 3-pointer from Bogdanoviàin the 5th minute, the score was 13âÂÂ10. In the 7th minute, after a 3-pointer from Stefan Joviàand points from Nikola JokiÃÂ, the score was 20âÂÂ14. After Boban Marjanoviàscored 2 free throws and got the lead up to 7 with a minute left in the first quarter, 26âÂÂ19. The first quarter ended with Serbia's 28âÂÂ23 lead. In the second quarter, the Serbians played better and controlled the game, while the Italians kept up with 3-pointers. After two good plays and a 3-pointers by Joviàand BogdanoviÃÂ, Serbia led 39âÂÂ29 in the 14th minute. Thereafter, the Italians had the 5âÂÂ0 run. After a layup by Vasilije MiciÃÂ, with 3 minutes remaining in the first half, the lead was back up to 10 points for Serbia, 48âÂÂ38. At the half time, Serbia led 50âÂÂ42. At the start of the third quarter, the Italians have caught up with a series of 3-pointers and cut the lead down to 55âÂÂ53 for Serbia. With a good defense, the Serbians held up them from getting the lead. So the Serbians lead was going up and down from 2 to 6 points. In those moments, Miroslav Raduljica got fouled three times in a row and Bogdanoviàright after, so the Serbians got the lead back up to 10 point from a free throw line at 64âÂÂ54. Nemanja Bjelica scored for the 13 points lead at 70âÂÂ57 by the end of the third quarter. At the beginning of the last quarter, Italy had a 5âÂÂ0 run and got back into the game, before Bogdanoviàmade a 3-pointer and Raduljica scored from a free throw resisted the comeback at 76âÂÂ62. Thereafter, Bogdanoviàhad a steal and scored for 15 points lead at 80âÂÂ65 within 6 minutes remaining. A minute later Bjelica made a 3-pointer, then Bogdanoviàhad another steal and passed it to Vladimir LuÃÂiàwho scored for the 85âÂÂ67 Serbian lead at 4:30 minutes remaining. Bogdanoviàmade another 3-pointer and got the lead up to 23 points at 90:67. Bogdanoviàscored a career-high 31 points and led all Serbs with 36 minutes played as Serbia won 92âÂÂ77 over Italy.
Serbia finished as the group winner in its preliminary group and advanced to the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup. It played against two top finishers of Group C, Spain and Puerto Rico, in Wuhan at the Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium from 6âÂÂ8 September. Serbia finished as the runner-up in its second-round group and advance to the quarter-finals.
All times are local UTC+8.
This was the first game between Puerto Rico and Serbia in the World Cup. Serbia won in its last competitive game against Puerto Rico, in the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Nemanja Bjelica led all scorers with 18 points off the bench, Nikola JokiÃÂ contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds, Boban MarjanoviÃÂ impressed 16 points, while David Huertas - the only Puerto Rican to score in double digits - finished with 11 points.
This was the third match between Spain and Serbia in the World Cup, with both teams winning once in previous matches. Serbia won in its last competitive game against Spain, in EuroBasket 2015 group stage.
Center Nikola Jokiàwas ejected after two successive technical fouls with 6:40 minutes left in the third quarter. Guard Ricky Rubio paced Spain with an individual World Cup high 19 points while Victor Claver chipped in 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks and Marc Gasol picked up 11 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists after just 2 points in his last game as Spain remained perfect at 5âÂÂ0. Serbia came into the game having averaged 103.3 points and holding their opponents to just 62.5 points. But Spain also had averaged just 62.5 points allowed and Serbia could not solve the Spaniards despite Bogdan Bogdanoviàscoring a game-high 26 points to go with 10 rebounds and 6 assists.
Serbia finished as the runner-up in its second-round group and advance to the quarter-finals of the FIBA Basketball World Cup and played against the winner of Group I, which is , in Dongguan at the Dongfeng Nissan Cultural and Sports Centre on 10 September. After the defeat in the quarterfinals, Serbia played the classification semi-finals with the , who lost to , in Dongguan on 12 September. After the win over the United States, Serbia won over in the fifth-place match in Beijing at the Wukesong Arena on 14 September.
All times are local UTC+8.
This was the second game between Argentina and Serbia in the World Cup. The Serbians won the first meeting in 2010.
Argentina were up for most of the game, but it was their response when Serbia took the lead at the start of the fourth that was impressive. Back-to-back and-one plays by Nicolás LaprovÃÂttola and Luis Scola made it an 87âÂÂ76 game with just over three minutes to play. That seemed to break Serbian spirits, there was no comeback by the team that had Nikola JokiÃÂ, Bogdan BogdanoviÃÂ, Boban Marjanoviàand all the other stars here. Facundo Campazzo had 18 points, 12 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals, becoming the first man with 15+ points, 10+ assists, 5+ rebounds and 3+ steals since Croatia's Toni KukoÃÂ, who did it against Canada in 1994.
This was the second game between Serbia and the United States in the World Cup. The Americans won the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup Final. Also, the Americans won in the 2016 Summer Olympics Final, the last competitive game between the two teams.
Serbia shot the lights out in the first period in Dongguan, connecting eight times from beyond the arc for a 32âÂÂ7 lead heading into the second quarter. The Americans found their groove, though, dominated the second stanza and trailed by just four points at the half. Serbia led by just three points at the beginning of the final period, but behind Vladimir LuÃÂiÃÂ, Vasilije Miciàand Boban MarjanoviÃÂ, they erected a 13-point lead with just 4:43 left. Team USA would still try to make a late comeback, trimming the lead to as little as four points, but it was all for nothing as the Serbians proved steadier down the stretch. It remained nip-and-tuck for much of the second half before the Serbians rebuilt their double-digit lead in the fourth period and successfully kept the Americans at bay. Bogdan Bogdanoviàand LuÃÂiàcombined for 43 points to lead Serbia, while Harrison Barnes had 22 for the United States.
This was the first game between the Czech Republic and Serbia in the World Cup. Serbia won in its last competitive game against the Czech Republic, in the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Behind a stingy defense and terrific perimeter shooting, Czech Republic erected a 50âÂÂ41 lead at the half, but the Serbians got their act together in the last two periods to register their sixth win. Bogdan Bogdanoviàhad the hot hand for Serbia with 31 points, and he was assisted well by Nikola Milutinov, who had 14. The Czechs, meanwhile, drew 16 points from Patrik Auda. Staring at a nine-point half-time deficit was not in Serbia's plans, but they rose to the occasion and turned the tables on the Czech Republic in the third quarter. The Serbians outscored their foes, 28âÂÂ12, in that span to retake the lead for good.
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The Serbia roster ended their 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup campaign with a 6âÂÂ2 record, finishing fifth. Serbia didn't manage to clinch the outright European berth for the 2020 Summer Olympics by failing to finish among two highest performing teams from FIBA Europe; Spain and France qualified instead. The only route for Serbia to qualify for the Summer Olympics is to won one of the Olympic qualifying tournaments.
At the end of the tournament, head coach ÃÂorÃÂeviàannounced his decision to leave the position after six years. On 20 November, the Basketball Federation of Serbia named Igor Kokoà ¡kov the new head coach of the Serbia team.