(Manila) Led by a 23-point performance from Bogdan Bogdanovic and aided by an accumulation of fouls on key players from its rivals early in the game, Serbia defeated Canada 95-86 in the semifinals of the World Cup FIBA Basketball World Cup on Friday in Manila, Philippines.
Already qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Canadian team hoped to reach the World Cup final for the first time in its history.
However, she remains hopeful of collecting a bronze medal, a feat she can accomplish on Sunday against the United States, which suffered a 113-111 loss to Germany in the other semi-final, presented later Friday. .
Andreas Obst had 24 points for Germany, which scored more points than any other team that faced an American team with NBA players. Germany has won all seven of its matches so far in the tournament.
“Terrible,” summed up United States Guard and Captain Jalen Brunson. ” It’s that simple. »
Prior to 2023, Canada had never finished better than sixth at the World Cup, a feat it achieved in 1978 and 1982. At worst, it will finish fourth this year.
In the loss, RJ Barrett led Canada (5-2) with 23 points. Dillon Brooks had 16 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 15 points. This is 10 less than the average per match he recorded when starting the semi-final.
“Let’s give credit to Serbia. She played a great game,” Barrett said. “She played hard, she played physically. They are a very well managed and disciplined team. You have to give him credit for that. »
Montreal’s Luguentz Dort finished the game with three points in just over 19 minutes of action.
“I’m proud of my guys,” said Canada head coach Jordi Fernandez.
“It hasn’t been perfect. We were decent offensively. We were atrocious defensively. When a team (Serbia) makes 62% of its shots and 45% of its attempts from the three-point zone, it is obvious that something was not done correctly, and that we did not prepare enough good for the meeting. »
Ognjen Dobric and Nikola Milutinov scored 16 points each for Serbia (6-1), which reached the grand final despite the absence of its best player, Nikola Jokic, big star of the Denver Nuggets, in the NBA.
Jokic chose to skip the tournament in order to rest in preparation for the next NBA season.
“Who is not here doesn’t matter,” remarked Serbian player Marko Guduric.
“It’s all about this group of guys, it doesn’t matter who is here, it doesn’t matter who wears the Serbian jersey. We never give up. We fight until the end. It’s in our blood. »
The shape of the match, which had been close until then, began to change with just over three minutes remaining in the first quarter.
After erasing a seven-point deficit, Canada led 13-12 when first Gilgeous-Alexander and then Dwight Powell picked up their second foul of the game, prompting Fernandez to call them to the bench.
Just a second after Powell was fouled, Bogdanovich fired a two-point jump shot that eventually gave Serbia a 23-15 lead after the first quarter.
Despite the return to the court of Gilgeous-Alexander at the start of the second quarter, then of Powell midway through the period, the Canadian team saw their rivals not only protect their lead, but even increase it to 52-39 at the end. half-time.
During this first half, Canada amassed 17 fouls compared to 11 for the Serbs. All five of Canada’s starters had at least two fouls by halftime.
The Canadian team finished the match with 25 fouls, three more than Serbia.
“I think we lost because we didn’t play good defense. I’m going to leave the officiating issues to the people who evaluate the officials,” Fernandez said.
“I can only say thank you to them for doing their job. Without referees we couldn’t play basketball. »
Faced with this imposing setback, the Canadians started the third quarter with vigor. They were particularly effective defensively, causing several turnovers without converting them all into points on the scoreboard.
On a few occasions, Canada managed to get within seven points of the Serbians before the end of the third quarter, but a streak of seven points to two allowed Serbia to complete the quarter with a lead of 75-63.
The Serbs then scored the first five points of the fourth quarter, and Canada’s gold medal hopes would eventually be extinguished.
They still have a chance for bronze.
“I know these guys are going to do everything possible to get this medal,” Fernandez said.
Serbia will participate in a second final in the last three editions of the World Cup. In 2014, they lost to the United States.
“No one believed it, but we don’t care about others,” remarked Serbian forward Filip Petrusev.
“We just have fun with each other. This is a wonderful group of guys. There is great chemistry and when you have good chemistry and great players, anything is possible. We believed in it and we are here. »
