As it became known the other day, participation in the continental championship, which will be held from September 3 to 16, 2007 in the homeland of the current world champions, was confirmed by the three best representatives of Serbian basketball in the NBA - center “Orlando” Darko Milicic, forward of “New Orleans” Predrag Stoyakovich and central New Jersey Nenad Krstic. Of the trinity mentioned last summer, only Milichich flew to Japan for the World Cup.
So far, the only holder of the NBA championship ring among Serbian basketball players (as part of Detroit, he won the title in the 2003/2004 season, which he mainly watched from the bench), Milicic does not hide the outrageous mood when it comes to the upcoming Eurobasket.
“I can’t wait for a trip to Spain. I would like to assemble a good team next summer and start from the beginning,” Sportska centrala quoted online as saying Darko.
For Serbia, which in May became a separate state after Montenegro left the union of the two former Yugoslav republics, the 2007 European Championship will be the first major tournament. One of the oldest Balkan states again had its own anthem and flag, which would certainly become an additional incentive for the younger generation, who in the recent past had difficulty understanding what kind of country it was.
“When I hear the Serbian anthem, goosebumps will run down the back, I will score from above with a three-pointer line! Many people think that this is nothing, but since we started performing under the name“ Serbia and Montenegro, ”our affairs have gone downhill,” adds Milichich. - With the new anthem we will start each match with a crazy mood and a lot of emotions. It will be great, I can’t wait. "
It’s hard for Milicic to object - the last great victory the Serbian basketball players, led by the famous Dejan Bodiroga and Vlada Divac, got at the 2002 World Cup in Indianapolis, representing all the same union of the two republics, at that time called Yugoslavia. After changing the name of the state, four consecutive failed performances followed - 5th place at the 2003 European Championships in Sweden, 11th line at the 2004 Olympics in Greece, domestic disgrace at the 2005 European Championship (losing to the French in the eighth finals) and defeat at the same stage from the future world champion of Spain in Japan. The failures of recent years were mainly attributed to personnel leapfrog caused by the increasing refusals of leading players to play for the national team.
The change of the departed heroes - Divats, Bodirog, Rebrache, Tomashevich - was a little late, which forced Shakota, who accepted the national team after the failed Eurobasket 2005, to take a course towards rejuvenating the team with an eye to the Beijing Olympics. As a result, the recent World Cup has become a kind of training ground, a sort of training ground for running in rising stars. Only Matrievich Milicic, who grew up in the real leader of the new Serbian national team, showed himself worthy of him. Together with Milicic and 21-year-old centerpiece (217 cm tall) Belgrade's Partizan Kosta Perovich, who demonstrates excellent basketball this season, Spain’s one of the best fifth NBA Krstichs is ready to strengthen the front line of Serbs in Spain.
"I already said that the team will be able to count on me in the next years ... I took only one break, but it was necessary, because for five years in a row I played without a break for the youth and the first team," the Nets center said. I’m sure that the pause I took last summer was beneficial. Many did not agree with this decision, but I think this summer I improved my playing skills, and the team will only benefit from this. "
According to all the same Milichich, a magnificent sniper Stoyakovich will return to the national team. “The head coach Dragan Shakota has revealed to us the secret that Stoyakovich will play for Serbia for the last time in Spain,” Milicic said, according to whom Cleveland forward Aleksandar Pavlovich will most likely join the national team.
29-year-old Stoyakovich made his debut in the national team of Yugoslavia at the 1999 European Championships; two years later became the MVP of the European Championship 2001 in Turkey, which the Yugoslavs won, and at the 2002 World Cup was included in the symbolic five of the championship. The last time a well-aimed forward played for the national team at the 2003 European Championships in Sweden.
Among the legionnaires who can further strengthen the team, the eyes of Shakota will be primarily focused on the newly made partner of Krstic in the Nets of center Mile Ilic, defender of Minnesota Marko Jaric, striker Lakers Vladimir Radmanovich and recently resumed his performance after a relapse of a heavy injuries to the knee defender “Panathinaikos” Milos Vuyanich. Among the listed players, only Ilic played at the last World Cup in Japan.
Before the October draw of the final part of the 2007 European Championships, the Serbs were most afraid of falling into the same group with the Spaniards - this alignment did not preclude a meeting with Gasol and Co. in the quarter finals. They managed to escape the hosts - San Epifanio, the famous striker of the Spanish “Barcelona”, pulled out the Serbs of other neighbors in Group A - the Greeks, Russians defending the European title and the winning team of the qualifying tournament, the final part of which will take place immediately before the 2007 European Championships.
“Our main headache is personnel. How heavy the group we are in will depend on the composition that we can put together. If the team is strong, any draw is good,” Shakota shared his thoughts after the draw. Grekov called the Serbian specialist the strongest European team along with Spain, and said about the Russian team: “They have excellent players individually, although in recent years Russia has come up with varying success and was completely unpredictable. However, now David Blatt is at the head of the Russian team "the team has a different training system, and the Russians will undoubtedly be strong rivals."
Boyan SHOCH