Bad news: Serbia better than Italy

FOSHAN – Coming off a 46-point drubbing by Italy, Gilas is in for tougher opposition against powerhouse Serbia at the FIBA World Cup here tonight but coach Yeng Guiao is far from blinking.

Guiao said Italy plays like Serbia although it’s several notches below in terms of personnel, quality of execution and overall gamesmanship. Last Saturday, Serbia opened its campaign for the gold medal with a clinical 105-59 thrashing of Angola. The margin of difference was exactly the same as in the Philippines’ 108-62 loss to Italy.

Serbian coach Sasha Djordjevic masterminded the annihilation and left Angola in tatters behind a scorching fastbreak attack fueled by an unforgiving defense. Angola was held to only 20 points in the first quarter, 12 points in the second, 15 in the third and 12 in the fourth. Serbia destroyed Angola off the boards, 41-19 and shot 65 percent from the floor. NBA veterans Nikola Jokic and Bogdan Bogdanovich combined to knock down 8-of-10 triples. Serbia was virtually unstoppable in executing on both ends.     

What appeared to be a little chink in Serbia’s armor was overpassing. Djordjevic cited Serbia’s unselfish play, resulting in 32 assists but there were instances where shooters turned down open looks to get others involved in the offense, leading to miscues.  Jokic committed four turnovers and 7-3 Boban Marjanovic, recently signed by the Dallas Mavericks, had five.

Djordjevic rested Sacramento Kings forward Nemanja Bjelica and said it’s not sure if he’ll play against the Philippines. He said Bjelica has a knee issue with a bothersome cyst. While Djordjevic said Bjelica is a vital cog in Serbia’s war machine, it didn’t look like he was missed at all in the Angola massacre.

Every man whom Djordjevic deployed had at least 10 minutes of playing time and everyone scored except for Miroslav Raduljica. Bogdanovic set the tone for the demolition by scattering 11 of his 24 points in the first quarter. Jokic and Nikola Milutinov wound up with 14 each. Marjanovic towered over the Angolans and compiled 12 points and 10 boards in 17:29 minutes.

Djordjevic applauded his team’s effort in both offense and defense but declined to comment if this was a portent of things to come. He said the focus is to play every game hard without taking any opponent lightly. Djordjevic said Serbia will be prepared for Gilas. “We’ve scouted the Philippines,” he said. “We know what they do. We also know about the Philippines’ passion for the game. We’re ready for them.”

Guiao said dwelling on the loss to Italy isn’t on his mind. “We need to just put the Italy game behind us,” he said. “Focus on the next game and get better every game. We can’t dwell on the negatives because that’s just going to hold us back. We can still improve our standing overall and not let one game define our World Cup. We need to keep learning and improving.”

At the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain, the Philippines finished 21st of 24. Now, there are 32 teams in the competition. If the Philippines fails to advance to the second round, it will be relegated to a classification group to determine No. 17 to No. 32.

Gilas special assistant to the president Ryan Gregorio mentioned three priorities that the team will keep in mind against Serbia. “Defend harder, cut down on turnovers and slow the game,” he said. Pace is key because slowing the game will mean stretching the minutes and less possessions for Serbia. The focus is to keep it close and maintain a manageable margin so Gilas has a chance to steal it down the stretch. The quotient system will determine placings if there are ties in the standings so margins are critical.

“We have two more games to play,” said Guiao. “This is a learning experience for all of us. Now, we’ve got to gather ourselves and recover physically.” The team scheduled two practices yesterday, at noon and at 8:30 p.m. Viewing of tape was in the morning.