Serbian head coach Svetislav Pesic saw his team’s valiant efforts at the 2024 Olympics come to a crashing halt with a 91-95 loss to Team USA where Serbia blew a double-digit lead. In his post-game comments, Pesic tried to remain calm and respectful but couldn’t hide his disappointment with how the referees treated his team in the loss.
“I’m not looking for any excuses, I just want to say… The one who loses has the right to be angry. Why am I angry? Because we didn’t get respect from the judges here. Not only in this game. I don’t talk about it too much, but I have to say it.
Pesic gave specific examples of Nikola Jokic and Bogdan Bogdanovic not getting free throws.
“If one of the best players in the world, if not the best, shoots only four free throws in 37 minutes, and every other offense he has the ball in his hands. And if our second-best player, Bogdanovic, shoots only one free throw in 32 minutes, and every second or third attack he has the ball, then strange things happened.”
Pesic gave plaudits to Team USA but made it clear that he’s not happy with how the Serbian national team was treated in this loss.
“I congratulate the Americans and I wish them much success in the finals. But tonight strange things were happening. I don’t know if you saw it. I am calm. I’m not angry, I’m proud. I’m disappointed because we didn’t get respect for this team, not Serbia as a basketball nation, from the refs. That’s one of the reasons we didn’t complete this magnificent game we played today. But that’s how it is. We have to forget that and get ready for the next game.”
Serbia gave it their all in this loss. Bogdan Bogdanovic led the team in scoring with 20 points, with Jokic putting up 17 points and 11 assists on an inefficient scoring night. Starting point guard Aleksa Avramovic had a strong 18-point showing, but it wasn’t enough when faced with Stephen Curry‘s 36 points or LeBron James‘ 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists for a history-making triple-double.
Serbia’s next game will be against Germany in the Bronze medal matchup in a rematch of last year’s FIBA World Cup Final. Serbia was without Jokic for that tournament, so they’ll be hoping they fare better this time around and pick up their second Olympic medal since Rio 2016, where they won Silver.
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