If at any major basketball tournament the US team is not an unconditional favorite (it is always just a favorite), among its competitors are primarily called Serbs. Because it is a tradition, because it is a school. And few people are interested in the composition of the Serbian team who came to the championship: anyway, it should show the class. It is the Serbs who knocked the Americans out of the fight for medals at home for the last world championship in Indianapolis. It was the Serbs who became the best on the planet four years ago, having pulled in overtime the hardest final match against Argentina.
But something recently the usual scheme began to fail. At the Athens Olympics 04, the national team of Serbia and Montenegro did not leave the group. Here, in Japan, she runs the risk of repeating this “achievement” (by the way, although the country is divided again, here the team appears under the flag of Serbia and Montenegro - just like at the last European championship). She lost her two starting matches to the national teams of Nigeria and France.
Of course, you can remember about the composition. For the tournament, where the presence of the National Basketball Association is simply striking, the Serbs got only one player from overseas, and even that is not a superstar - Darko Milicic from Orlando Magic. Ognen Ashkrabich, who is listed on the official website of the championship as a player in St. Petersburg Dynamo, comes out in the starting five, although such a team no longer exists. The leaders of this team - in addition to Milichich, of course - Igor Rakochevich from Real Madrid and Moscow Dynamo Boyan Popovich. Well, where, tell them against LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and company?
But then James and Wade, and here that the Serbs will not win against the Nigerians, hardly anyone could imagine. Although among the exotic participants of the championship, Nigeria, of course, is no match for Lebanon or Qatar: since the time of Hakim Oladzhuvon, she has identified herself on the basketball map of the world as a rather noticeable spot. Ime Udoka (he was the most productive in the match with the Serbs - 18 points) now plays for the New York Knicks, three of the current squad are in the NBCAA student league (future replenishment for the NBA), and four more - in Europe. But to beat the Serbs! .. The most amazing thing is that the next day the Nigeria team lost to the Venezuelans, who, in turn, lost to Lebanon the day before. So in group A, the tournament situation is completely confused.
Only Olympic champions won here - Argentines with Manu Zhinobili at the head. The Serbs are the last - two defeats in two matches. The second they suffered from the French, who came to Japan already with five representatives of the NBA in the composition. One, however, has already departed. Tony Parker, the main star, broke his finger in the last of the test matches. At the same time, he was eager for battle and convinced the coach that he would be able to play, but Claude Bergot reasoned that it was not worth the risk, and ordered a ticket to Tony for San Antonio. The French team was immediately deleted from the list of favorites. Fans of tricolors were sad, but there was a man whom Parker's injury was not too upset. Paradoxically, this is his girlfriend Eva Longoria, the host of the popular Desperate Housewives show in the US. “I'm a big fan of basketball,” the TV star explained, “and I like many players, including James, Wade and Chris Paul playing here.” Naturally, I am a fan of the US national team and I just can’t imagine what I would do if Tony had to play against the American team. ”
Eva’s favorites played two of the most productive matches in the tournament so far and have actually secured their way to the playoffs. But who, in addition to the Serbs, may have problems, is the Lithuanian team. Antanas Sireyki's team fell into the strongest group (C) and already lost in the end to the Turks and Greeks (the latter in overtime). After a day of rest, the Lithuanians have to play with an outsider - Qatar, and then - decisive meetings with Australia and Brazil.
Mikhail Melnikov