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“…may God help them”: Nikola Jokic’s Serbia squad is the best bet in 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup

By Michael Walton

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 21: Nikola Jokic #14 of Serbia during the Gold Medal Game on Day 16 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Carioca Arena 1 on August 21, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 21: Nikola Jokic #14 of Serbia during the Gold Medal Game on Day 16 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Carioca Arena 1 on August 21, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Nikola Jokic
NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 6: Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets (Photo by Matteo Marchi/Getty Images) /

1. Nikola Jokic

Nikola Jokic is hungry for a gold medal after modest success in his international career. He has a silver medal from his time on the Serbian U-19 national basketball team, where he averaged 7.1 points and 5 rebounds per game during the 2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship

Despite playing quite well in the 2016 Olympic Qulaifiers–17.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game –Jokic was mostly silenced against Team USA in the gold medal game. The Serbian national team finished with the silver medal in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup after losing by 37 points to Team USA in the finals, so the point here is, there is quite a bit of history between Team USA and Serbia should these two meet again and Jokic will provide quite the mismatch.

The current stable of USA centers–Mason Plumlee, Brook Lopez–outside of Myles Turner, are more traditional, plodding big men, so it will prove tough for them to contain Jokic if Serbia’s pick-and-pop game gets going. Plumlee will perhaps have a bit of insider info on how to slow down the Serbian star, but expect Jokic to be uber-confident coming off a career-best year in which he averaged a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double with over seven assists per game.

Serbia’s offense will surely run through Jokic, heightening the powers of shooters Bogdanovic (35.1 percent 3-point shooting in international competition) and Bjelicia (32.0 percent 3-point shooting in international competition). But the real change in Jokic’s game that will actually allow Serbia to challenge for a gold medal was the defensive improvement of ‘The Joker’.

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The Nuggets took a leap from 23rd in the league to 10th in the league in defensive rating over the past two seasons. Jokic took a small step forward in defensive rating from 107.8 to 107.5 points allowed per 100 possessions from 2018 to 2019 and was noticeably better in terms of lateral movement. If Jokic can help disrupt what should be a potent Team USA offense, Serbia has just enough scoring punch to pull off the upset.

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