Svetislav Pesic criticizes Serbian media, gives advice to players / News - Basketnews.com

Svetislav Pesic told that defense is essential in the Serbian mentality of basketball and called out the media for not appreciating defensive players enough.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

The Serbian national team defeated Great Britain on the final day of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers and clinched the last spot in the upcoming World Cup.

Serbia / Schedule

Greece Serbia97-92 Serbia Great Britain101-83

After the game, Serbia's head coach Svetislav Pesic emphasized defense in the post-game press conference and almost immediately took a subtle jab at the media.

"I hope the media will understand how important defense is, especially for our mentality," Pesic started off. "We watch the NBA a lot. Young people can learn plenty of things from the NBA but you have to be selective about what you can take away and what you cannot."

"Serbian national team and Serbian players do not change from year to year, from generation to generation. They show attacking talent but I know better than anyone here how the Yugoslavian national team won the medals," he said during the press conference. "We had very talented players offensively but we were among the best defensively. You can't win anything without balance. They were champions because they played defense."

Pesic continued talking about the impact defense has on the Serbian basketball mentality and offered advice to up-and-coming players.

"It's a special message for the youth, for upcoming generations, and players who want to improve. Talent without work, I would say, without defense is not enough. Nowadays, it's difficult to exist in the EuroLeague or European basketball as a whole without defense. This is different basketball, this is not the NBA," Pesic shared.

After complimenting the fans that gathered in the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Belgrade, Pesic returned to his points about defense and even called out the members of the media that were present in the press conference.

"The gap between the favorite and non-favorite countries has decreased. We have to be aware of that in Serbia. When Italy won against us [in the EuroBasket], we all grabbed our heads. You wrote that it was a scandal that we lost but that is your right," Pesic told members of the media. "Italy is a basketball country, it has one of the strongest professional leagues. If we had played just a little better defense, our talent in attack would have led us to that victory."

"Without defense, we can just take a photo at the World Cup, and it will be over very soon," the veteran specialist concluded.

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