Svetislav Pesic: 'We're not the best in the world anymore' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Serbia complicated its position ahead of the Second Round of the FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers.

Serbia / Schedule

Latvia Serbia66-59 Serbia Belgium73-74

In a match that was first postponed due to a power outage in Cair Arena in Nis, Belgium stunned Serbia and took second place in the group, leaving the group's favorites in third spot with only three wins in their account.

After the losing effort, head coach Svetislav Pesic came back to what he was talking about before the duel - the lack of continuity.

"Our situation was extraordinary even before this window. Nothing has changed. I know where we are. It will be difficult, for sure. I said that before the beginning of this window.

We cannot count on all players, not to mention the best. We have insufficient time for preparations and that was seen tonight. There were good things, but there were mistakes by the players and the coach too. It is an integral part of the game. We didn't have continuity and it shows in the matches," the 72-year-old specialist stressed in the beginning, via Mozzart Sport.

"Maybe someone can do it better than me, but I can't do it better than this, " the coach continued. "Maybe I also had to ask for more responsibility during the game, to play something else on the offensive end, but that's it. I'm not that bad a coach, but we simply don't have continuity."

Then the Serbian mastermind touched on the opponent a bit more extensively.

"Belgium has been together for a long time. It's not Spain or France, but that chemistry, that's what Belgium has. We don't have that. I congratulate them, they deservedly won. They showed great self-confidence.

We tried to use the high engagement of the players to compensate for the lack of chemistry, but we didn't succeed. We have to see how we will proceed. We all have to think together. We cannot go out on the court and win because we are Serbia. You saw with what confidence the Belgians played," told the bench boss.

The next European Qualifiers matches in the Second Round will be played in August. On the 25th, Serbia will welcome Greece and then travel to Turkey on the 28th of August.

"It's never over, we're not the best in the world anymore. Now, we have to understand that continuity is needed. This is a call to everyone who is here, but also to those who are not here. We now have to win every game. We need to prepare for that," underlined Pesic.

Serbia's last major award came in EuroBasket 2017 when the team captured silver. Prior to that, Serbians won silver accolades in Rio Olympics 2016 and FIBA World Cup 2014 in Spain.

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