FROM the looks of things, Serbia has no plans of taking Gilas Pilipinas lightly as the two sides clash on Monday night in the Fiba Basketball World Cup in Foshan, China.
The Serbians are eyeing a 2-0 lead in Group D of the competitions opposite the Filipino cagers, who suffered a 108-62 beating at the hands of Italy on Saturday.
Serbia coach Sasha Djordjevic said the team already has an idea about the Philippines even before Gilas faced Italy.
“We have already scouted the team. We know who we are fronting,” said Djordjevic during the postgame press conference after Serbia’s victory over Angola, 105-59.
“We know how important basketball is in the Philippines. We know how much pride (they have in) their game. We have to be ourselves thinking about us first and then we will approach the game the right way,” said Djordjevic.
As head coach of the Serbian team, Djordjevic led the squad to silver medal finishes in the 2014 World Cup, 2016 Olympics, and 2017 Eurobasket.
Djordjevic said the team will prepare and play the game against Gilas Pilipinas the same way the Serbians have been doing in the past.
“There will be no difference in the approach of the game. We prepare each and every game the same way all the necessary information that we can give to the players,” Djordjevic said.
Serbia is considered one of the favorites to win the World Cup this year even in the presence of a U.S. squad still composed of NBA players.
Djordjevic said the Serbs welcome the high expectations on them.
“We love it,” Djordjevic said.
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