Rio Olympics: Denver Nuggets in Qualifying Tournaments
By Drew Albee
Nikola Jokic for Serbia
Nikola Jokic and his Serbian countrymen will have the benefit of playing their qualifying tournament in Serbia’s capital city, Belgrade, and they are favored to win the tournament. Serbia has the highest ranking of the six teams in the tournament, checking in at sixth in FIBA’s World Rank. The next highest ranked teams in the Belgrade tournament are Angola at #15 and Puerto Rico at #16.
The Serbian team’s roster will not feature many names familiar to the majority of basketball fans in the United States. Other than Jokic, the only NBA player on the Serbian roster is Sacramento Kings swingman Bogdan Bogdanovic. That does not, however, mean the Serbians are untalented — the entire roster plays professionally in Europe, including five players who are also teammates for Crvena Zvezda in Serbia — Serbia is ranked sixth in the world for a reason.
Jokic has been lighting it up in international friendly play so far this summer, including dropping 20 points and grabbing 5 boards against Greece on Tuesday, per the following tweet from BSN Denver’s Harrison Wind:
Jokic with 20 & 5 in Serbia's 91-76 win over Greece. pic.twitter.com/6jRi9H6yd7
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) June 28, 2016
Watch Jokic beat the shot clock with this three-pointer in the same contest.
Serbia begins qualifying play on July 4 against Puerto Rico.
Assuming Jokic and Serbia qualify for the Olympics, the Nuggets ultra-talented big man will have his plate full, playing a lot of basketball this summer.
Next: Danilo Gallinari for Italy