Serbia Basketball Roster: Jokic and Jovic In, No Bogdanovic
Head coach Dusan Alimpijevic named Serbia's roster for the August FIBA window. Jokic and Jovic are the only NBA players on the 18 man list, Bogdan Bogdanovic is not included.
Fifteen days. That is what head coach Dusan Alimpijevic has between the moment his team steps into the gym and the first whistle at Belgrade Arena, and that window also has to fit a sparring match against France plus two qualifying games that count in the standings. Serbia’s roster for the August FIBA window was released on Thursday, with 18 names on it.
The list includes Nemanja Dangubic, Aleksa Avramovic, Dejan Davidovac, Ognjen Dobric, Jovan Novak, Marko Guduric, Nikola Milutinov, Luka Mitrovic, Dusan Ristic, Nikola Tanaskovic, Stefan Momirov, Arijan Lakic, Nikola Djurisic, Nikola Jovic, Nikola Jokic, Mihailo Petrovic, Nikola Kusturica and Nikola Dzepina.
Jokic is the reason this roster will be remembered. Alongside him, only Nikola Jovic comes from the NBA, which means just two of the eighteen candidates play in the strongest league in the world, while the rest come from the EuroLeague, the ABA League and domestic clubs. Bogdan Bogdanovic is not on the list.
Seven Nikolas and a bench built on the fly
A detail that only stands out once the list is read aloud: seven of the eighteen called up players are named Nikola. Milutinov, Tanaskovic, Djurisic, Jovic, Jokic, Kusturica and Dzepina. It sounds like a joke to the coaching staff at practice, but it also says something about the makeup of the roster, since it mixes national team veterans with names that have so far only worn the jersey of the younger selections.
Eighteen candidates does not mean eighteen travelers. The qualifying window is played with twelve names on the scoresheet, so Alimpijevic will have to cut six players from the roster before facing Iceland. That is the part of the job that gets done in August without an audience and without an announcement.
When does Serbia play, and against whom?
The national team gathers on August 13. A test against France follows on two occasions, August 20 and 23, and that is the only serious trial before the games that carry points.
Serbia opens the second phase of World Cup qualifying on August 28 against Iceland at Belgrade Arena. Three days later, on August 31, the team travels to face Italy in Pesaro. The first game is the one that has to be won, the second is the one that will show how ready the team really is.
A coaching staff missing three assistants
Alimpijevic is assisted in August by Nemanja Jovanovic, Ognjen Stojakovic, Stevan Mijovic and Marko Barac. Vladimir Jovanovic, Tomislav Tomovic and Milenko Bogicevic are not with the national team this time, since they have club obligations, and that was agreed with the head coach.
The conditioning work is led by Marko Sekulic, Marko Stanojevic and Jovan Petrovic. The medical team consists of Prof. Dr. Dragan Radovanovic, Prof. Dr. Nebojsa Mitrovic and Dr. Boris Vukomanovic, along with four physiotherapists. Nebojsa Ilic is the team manager, Jovica Anicic is the equipment manager, and Nina Kolundzija handles public relations.
Lined up one after another, the dates leave little room for experimenting. From August 20 to August 31, Serbia plays four games in twelve days, two of them friendlies and two that count toward qualification. Between Iceland in Belgrade and Italy in Pesaro stand three days and a trip, so how minutes are split in the first game shapes how the team looks in the second.
This is the national team’s first roster of the season and it settles nothing in advance. With Jokic in the lineup, Serbia is the favorite against Iceland, in the Arena or anywhere else, but two games in three days, with a squad that only comes together starting August 13, tend to reveal how much work has actually been done. The first test comes on August 28 in Belgrade, the second on August 31 in Pesaro.
