Photo: AP Photo/Aaron FavilaSerbia has been waiting for the success of the national basketball team for six whole years. Regardless of how the final game ends, our basketball is at the beginning of a new future and a return to the paths of old glory
The Serbian national team is in the finals of the World Basketball Championship. The signatory of these lines predicted before the championship that every victory of this team is a great success, but that he believes in the abilities of the unjustly dismissed Svetislav Pešić. Going to the World Cup without four members of the first five and reaching the finals is an unprecedented success in the history of Serbian basketball.
When I was informed on Wednesday afternoon that I had urgent commitments on Friday morning, just in time for the first half of the game against Canada, I was just thinking about how to organize myself and watch this match. It happened that I watched the first half in the car. I had to stop several times along the way and every time it was the same picture - empty streets. There is a local cafe next to the pharmacy on Umca. People are standing at the entrance. He is rooting for a team that leaves its heart on the field. Basketball is once again in the center of interest of sports fans in Serbia.
The final match is coming, but now the question arises, who is the favorite against such a team? Whether it will be the US or German national team, I don't see a big difference. Canada's top five is made up of players who play a notable role in the NBA. If we play smart and united like we did against Lithuania and Canada, at least we have an open game.
Another question arises. After such success, is it necessary to change the team for the Olympic Games? Which player from this team does not deserve to appear in Paris? How to tell Avramović, who is the soul of this team, that there is no place for him in Paris? Apart from Jokić, which of the players who did not respond to the coach's call is necessary for this team? Finally, sweet pains for Pešić.
We will have the opportunity to prepare in peace due to the direct qualification to the Olympic Games. Now every player will want to be in the Serbian national team. Once again, basketball is the most important national sport.
Serbia waited for the success of the national team for six whole years. Regardless of how the final game ends, basketball in Serbia is at the beginning of a new future and a return to the paths of old glory.
And one more thing, you shouldn't dismiss coaches in their later years. Experience can never be a bad thing. Greg Popović is the same age as Svetislav Pešić, and in America he is still considered the greatest coach.
Let's go for the gold medal, so what happens. Who can be blamed now in case of defeat?
Read daily news, analysis, commentary and interviews at www.vreme.com
The High Court states that measures prohibiting people from leaving Serbia are still in effect and that Milan Radoičić reported to the police for the last time on November 1. Previously, the former BIA inspector claims that he has unofficial information that Milan Radoičić is in Moscow, but there is no official confirmation of this.
The hospital formed a commission for an extraordinary expert check and informed the health inspection. Cases of death during childbirth in Serbia rarely receive a judicial epilogue.
Two unions of public services supported the request of FDU students for information about RTS employees, since claims appeared in the public that it was a request for "files". The students say they are looking for "public truth about public service."
Among those pardoned is the man who attacked a citizen who came to ask about the street in the office of the mayor of Kosjerić in April. The pardon applies only to one of the two offenses, and the injured party announces a constitutional appeal.
Before the constitutive session of the new convocation, consultations were held with representatives of all the lists that entered the Assembly. The student movement said in advance that they will not turn those talks into political agreements.
At the moment when the institutions of the Republic are destroyed, when Vučić's octopus is still alive, when people are disgusted by the injustice and the stench left behind by the Essenes regime, we have, as Machiavelli said, only civic virtue as the fuel with which we can return to the beginning
The four independent members of REM are an example of perseverance and civic responsibility. Rodoljub Šabić even, upon leaving the premises of REM, after the sentencing of the Informer, experienced that the Essenes insulted him, hit him with their hands and feet. But that too will soon be over
Vučić pardoned the batterers and Dijana Hrkalović. The election winners should abolish the sultan's power that allows one man to run afoul of the entire judicial system
Interview: Branko Stamenković, public prosecutor of the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office
A black picture and the breakdown of the rule of law subscribeThe archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
See all
"I am looking forward to today's big match between the Serbian and Canadian national teams." These are two national teams with a long basketball history, but different player development programs and successes on the international stage. It is obvious that the Serbian team has grown and matured, that it is very successful and respected and that it has a wonderful history," says the former coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Russian national team and Maccabi, who is now a member of the Canadian national team's coaching staff.
