Can Serbia Pull It Off?
- Arjun Peroor
- Aug 7, 2024
- 2 min read
I'm just going to go ahead and say that it is highly likely that Serbia will knock off the US in the semifinals but imagine the storylines if they did. Jokic's case for best player in the world will be untouchable, and the US will face more humiliation than they did in 2004, especially given the roster they have this year. The more realistic outcome will be the US blowing out Serbia and going on to win gold and keep their streak of winning gold in this sport alive. But I'm going to grasp for straws a little bit here:
So what would it take for Serbia to win? Jokic and Bogdanovic would have to play the best games of their career and need real contributions from the rest of the team. They will need the USA to have some surprise struggling performances and the game will have to be close in the 4th quarter. Jokic and Bogdanovic having great games is, of course, a real possibility. Jokic was sensational in the waning moments of overtime today as he finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds 8 assists with 4 steals including the game-sealing jumper in the end. Bogdanovic with 17 today on 6-17 shooting which isn't great but just had a game where he had 30 points on 10-14 from the field and 6-9 from 3 in the game prior. However, the rest of the supporting cast showing up like they did today in their 24-point comeback vs Australia is the bigger unknown. Serbia cannot outshoot the "Avengers" so they need to make the game slow and ugly. The score needs to be low high 90s or low 90s for them to even have a shot. Now to the point of needing some USA players to struggle, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities for guys like Steph Curry, Joel Embiid, and Tatum to have off-shooting nights. I picked these 3 guys because they have had the most turbulent time in these Olympics in terms of production. It is also fair game for anyone else to struggle on Team USA especially if Serbia plays defense like they did in the second half of the game vs Australia. Lebron or KD will probably have good games as they have shown no signs of slowing down even at this age which is just ridiculous.
I'll say this if the game is within single digits by the beginning of the 4th quarter, all the pressure goes to the USA because they are the 16.5 favorites. Of course guys like Bron, KD, and Steph have faced every iteration of pressure in their careers but it makes me wonder how the younger guys on the team will perform when a little bit of adversity hits them and could the Olympic stage be too big, especially for the first timers.
If Serbia does somehow pull this off, put Jokic in the GOAT convo asap.
If you enjoyed reading this and want to read more of The Sporting Maniac, you can make an account and click here:
If you want to see more of my personal work, you can visit:
Comments