By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
In anticipation of the February–March FIBA World Cup qualifying window, one matchup stood out — Serbia vs. Turkey.
Ergin Ataman’s side prevailed after a tough 40 minutes in Belgrade and then managed to beat Serbia once again in front of their home crowd in Istanbul, punching a ticket to the second phase of the competition.
As for the Serbian national team, where coach Dušan Alimpijević couldn’t count on the best available players, Aleksa Avramovic stood out after being unable to participate in the first game.
Dubai’s point guard nearly recorded a double-double with 16 points and nine assists in Istanbul and shared his thoughts after the game, starting with Turkey’s quality, as Ergin Ataman had eight players from the previous EuroBasket at his disposal.
“Congratulations to Turkey on a well-deserved win. Compared to the team we faced in Riga, they were missing only two NBA players — Şengün and Bona. Still, congratulations on the victory,” Avramović said.
Despite the loss, the Dubai Basketball guard had only words of praise for the Serbian national team.
“I’m very proud of our approach to the game. All the turnovers and mistakes we made, we compensated for with 22 offensive rebounds and 21 assists. That shows we weren’t selfish and that we shared the ball well. There are no excuses — I’ve been playing FIBA windows for nine years and I know how this works. We had only two days together, but that’s the reality. We came, gave everything we had, but it wasn’t enough to win in this kind of atmosphere. It’s very important that we never gave up. Never. They had the lead, we came back.”
He believed the game could have gone Serbia’s way in the final moments.
“In my opinion, some situations could have gone our way and maybe that would have changed the momentum. Of course, everyone makes mistakes, nobody is perfect — that’s life.”
Serbia will play its remaining two games in July — an away game against Switzerland and a home matchup against Bosnia and Herzegovina. With a win against Switzerland, they would join Turkey and Bosnia in the second phase.
“We have to analyze ourselves and bounce back. I’ve been in even tougher situations during these FIBA windows, when we had even fewer chances. Now we’re 2–2. I hope we’ll have all players available in the next window. Finally, once again, congratulations to all members of the coaching staff, everyone in the federation, and my teammates,” Avramović concluded.