Luka Doncic ahead of game against Serbia: 'The goal is to win EuroBasket gold' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

The Slovenian national team superstar Luka Doncic talked to the media ahead of the Slovenia-Serbia friendly game that will take place today (August 17) at 20:15 CEST in Ljubljana.

Luka Doncic

Position:SGAge:23Height:201 cmWeight:99 kgBirth place:Ljubljana, SloveniaProfileNewsStatistics

"Of course, I'm looking forward to this test. Serbia is a strong team, so this will be a big challenge for us. You know how it is. The better the competitor, the better the preparation for the big competition is.

I am also looking forward to meeting Nikola Jokic. He's a great player. I also respect him as a person. We will go for coffee before the match," Doncic said,via Sport Klub.

He ranks the Serbs among the favorites to win a medal in FIBA EuroBasket 2022. But there are much more contenders, according to the 23-year-old.

"Lithuania, France, Italy, Greece... There are many strong teams," Doncic added.

As stated by the Slovenian wunderkind, he accepts the role of Batman that was assigned to him by the team captain -- Goran Dragic -- before the European championship.

"It will be as he says. He is the captain. He led us to the title in 2017. However, I think it will be the team that matters in the end. Each member of the twelve will have a role. We will only be successful if the whole team stands together," Doncic stressed.

Luka then revealed he is not 100% ready yet to lead the team in preparation games.

"I'm not in my best shape yet, but I will be until the European Championship. However, I played better than expected against Turkey. This gives me optimism and I will only get better. I will be completely ready for EuroBasket," he pointed out.

Doncic did not hide his expectations for the upcoming continental tournament. The Dallas Mavericks player told the media he has nothing on his mind except the gold medal and repeat of EuroBasket 2017 success.

"Pressure? Who's talking about what kind of pressure?" Doncic asked rhetorically with a smile on his face. "We are going to Germany for the European Championship. The goal is a medal. Gold medal. Whenever you go somewhere, you want to be the first. We'll see how it unfolds.

But it's nice to live with pressure. Five years ago, no one counted on us. Now it will be nice to see that every team will be preparing for us," said the Mavs front-runner.

As he says, the NBA club's officials did not put any obstacles in his way to playing for the national team. They only sent a coaching staff member to Ljubljana, who participates in the training sessions and will also watch the match between Slovenia and Serbia.

"We really have a great atmosphere. We have great chemistry. Nobody keeps to themselves. We like to hang together and that's why I always like to come back to the national team," Doncic concluded his time with the press.

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