The Serbian National Basketball team – a Way-back Machine part 2
Hello, fellow sports fans! I am glad that you could make to the second part of our journey, a journey through history, a journey that follows the path of success of the Serbian National Basketball team. This is the team that brought happiness and many joyful moments to the nation exhausted and torn from the wars in past. They have become the national heroes!
A brief break from success – the Olympic Games in Sydney
The nation had high hopes for the Olympic Games in Sydney. Everybody expected the last year in Millennium to bring another success, and another medal. The “Blues” opened the championship very well. The Russian squad was beaten in the first round, and afterward, Yugoslavia won against Australia (with the NBA center Luke Longley), and Angola. The match for first place in the group stages was with Canada. Former NBA star Steve Nesh lead his team to victory and first place. Everybody was thinking now about the possible match in the semi-finals with the Dream Team. However, the obstacle before the USA squad was the old rival – the national team of Lithuania. Having in mind a match that is yet to come was not a good idea. The Lithuanian squad was the last, insurmountable obstacle. Yugoslavia was beaten! This was the end of one successful era. Some of the players, such as Danilović retired from the national squad, and the coach Obradović resigned. Will the “Blues” be successful again? Are we going to see some new Danilović posterizing Sabonis? Those were the questions that will be answered in the years ahead. Yugoslav team got the new coach assigned, Mr. Svetislav Pešić, and he had many challenges to deal with!
Taken from: https://www.eurohoops.net/
Serbian national team – The new beginnings
Despite the “Blues” were without a medal in the last tournament during the Olympic Games in Sydney, they were nominated as one of the favorites in the upcoming European championship. Bodiroga remained the squad captain, and some of the new players got the new significant roles. The new leading players were Stojaković, Gurović, and Jarić. The new strength was received from the players that played in the national league, Veselin Petrović, Dejan Milojević, and already established player Igor Rakočević.
The „Blues“ finished the group stage in a dominant way. The first squad to be beaten was the Croatian squad. Afterward, Yugoslavia dominated the match against Estonia (113:58). The German squad with NBA star Dirk Nowitzki also was not good enough for the „Blues“. In the quarterfinals, the team of Latvia was not a match for the dominant Yugoslavian squad. Yugoslavia won the match 114:78 and scheduled the meeting with Spain. However, rising NBA star Stojaković and Pedja Drobnjak did not let Spain team be a serious threat. The “Blues” won the match 78 – 65 and scheduled the meeting with the tournament hosts – the national basketball team of Turkey. The finals were though as expected. Turks had great help from their fans, that were cheering frantically. However, it was not enough to win against the inspired team of Yugoslavia. Stojaković and the squad won the match and the third gold medal in the last 4 European championships. Pedja Stojaković was the MVP of the tournament, where the Yugoslavian squad dominated as no one has ever before. You can quite often hear that this Yugoslav team was the most dominant in the history of European championships.
Taken from: www.fiba.basketball
Indianapolis 2002 – Champions of the World
The basketball world did not wait long for the next big championship. In the 2002 the best squads in the world gathered in the USA, Indianapolis, where the World Basketball Championship was held.
The Yugoslav coach, Mr Svetislav Pešić managed to get by his side the Sacramento Kings tandem, Vlade Divac and Pedja Stojaković. Divac, who previosly retired from the national team, said that he received a call from Mr Pešić that he couldn’t decline and that he felt a need to help the young squad to defeat Dream Team on their home court. Thus, Yugoslavia had the two real NBA stars, and expectations were the highest once again. The whole nation believed that Yugoslavia is strong enough to win the gold medal! Home squad at that time looked very powerful, and with the NBA stars such as Paul Pierce, Reggie Miller, and Ben Wallace seamed to be the biggest obstacle to be passed on the path to gold medal.
The Yugoslav team started with the win against Angola, but the next match brought an unexpected defeat against Spain. Without the best player, the NBA star Steve Nash, the Canadian national team was not good enough to deal with Yugoslavia. In the second phase, another unexpected turn of events occurred. The Puerto Rico squad won against Yugoslavia. The situation was difficult, and the team had to win the next two matches to qualify for the quarterfinals, and most probably chose the most difficult route. On this route, the USA team waited for the next phase. Yugoslavia won the matches against Brazil and Turkey quite dominantly (respectfully 90:61, and 110:78). The long-awaited clash between the European “Dream Team” and the American “Dream Team” became a reality. Inspired Divac led his team in the first half where the “Blues” had the advantage of 4 points. The world of basketball saw a great, exciting match. Milan Gurović played a game of his career. He was hitting threes from all over the court. Bodiroga, the team captain “schooled” the NBA stars with magnificent moves. His play was so graceful, that he received songs after him. The whole nation was singing songs (that rhyme better in Serbian) “Seks, droga, Bodiroga” (sex, drugs, and Bodiroga) or “Mi imamo svoga boga, ime mu je Bodiroga” (We have our own god, his name is Bodiroga”). The great win became certain. The European “Dream Team” showed supremacy and won the match! What an epic victory against the fearful rival! The victory was the enormous effort/consumption both in a physical and emotional ways. That almost caused the squad finals. In the semi-finals, the very though New Zealand gave a very hard time for the Yugoslav team.
Taken from: https://sport.org.rs/
In the finals, we saw a match with Argentina. Their generation was talented, and they already showed great potential by becoming the first squad to beat the “Dream team” (in the group phase). As expected, the match was tough. Vlade Divac had a chance to solve the question of the winner from the free throws. However, the experienced NBA star missed both shots, and Argentina had a chance to win. Fortunately, this thriller did not end in the last seconds, where Fabricio Omberto missed the last lay-up. The finals went in overtime. The overtime started with three-pointers from Pedja Stojaković, and the new young NBA star Marko Jarić begin to hit the shots. It was certain now that Yugoslavia will defend the gold medal! The end of the tournament brought one controversy. When the whole basketball world expected Pedja Stojaković to be MVP of the tournament, the German NBA star Dirk Nowitzki won the prize! However, this did not spoil the celebration. Once again, the whole nation was waiting for their heroes in front of the balcony of the city hall.
Stay tuned for the rest of the story next week.
Did you miss the first part? Check it out here
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