RealGM

Surprised you guys don't have a Jokic/Serbian NT thread going.

Just stopped in to say hello and say that I honestly think that between the 2023 WC qualifier game between Serbia and Greece later this month, and the potential game between them again in the Eurobasket tournament in September, we may be seeing the inaugural battle for world basketball supremacy between Nikola and Gianni. I'm of the opinion that they are going to be the two best players in the NBA for the next 5-7 years (along with Doncic maybe) and the end of this summer may be the inflection point where we get the two most recent (and dominant) MVP winners battling.

As for the schedule, Serbia is hosting Greece on 8/25 for the WC qualifier. In one of the most raucous hoops arenas in Belgrade. Should be an amazing atmosphere (as is Athens). I'm hoping the idiotic sports media here in the States puts this on TV somewhere (NBA TV at worst).

The game is two weeks away, what is there to discuss right now?

Meh, more of a nod to the Denver fans and dog days of summer. Just a shoutout to you guys, I guess.

CharityStripe34 wrote:Meh, more of a nod to the Denver fans and dog days of summer. Just a shoutout to you guys, I guess.

Seems more like a plug to Giannis on our forum than to the Joker if you ask me. There isn't a lot of kudos to Nikola from those that are not his fans. I know I am not of big fan of international FIBA play but sure it has a lot of significance to each Euro's countrymen.

Jokic has been my second favorite player of the last few years. Love his no nonsense play, shot-making and obvious playmaking ability. It's a joy to watch him play. A lot of Bucks fans in the Bucks forum are big fans of Jokic as well (that I've interacted with). I'm legit excited for that Serbia/Greece game.

I also think Jokic is the only other player (maaaaybe a healthy Kawhi?) that is challenging Gianni for best player alive. There are other worthy contenders (Steph, Luka, Durant, maybe Embiid) who have a case, but as far as overall franchise impact (w/intangibles) it's Gianni first then Jokic for me. I'd imagine you guys would have it the other way around but that's ok.

skywalker33 wrote:

CharityStripe34 wrote:Meh, more of a nod to the Denver fans and dog days of summer. Just a shoutout to you guys, I guess.

Seems more like a plug to Giannis on our forum than to the Joker if you ask me. There isn't a lot of kudos to Nikola from those that are not his fans. I know I am not of big fan of international FIBA play but sure it has a lot of significance to each Euro's countrymen.

I don't know about that - I'm doing a Rip Van Winkle awakes and it's amazing how much credit Jokic is getting in the media since I stopped following the NBA (and life in general).

I didn't see this as a plug for Antetokounmpo. Both players are truly elite above all others.
I'll even ignore the East Coast bias for Embiid -- because he's a great athlete but he does not make others better IMO.

Having lived in Nuggets' land and being from Wisconsin, I understand the difficulty of getting respect in either place.

CharityStripe34 wrote:Jokic has been my second favorite player of the last few years. Love his no nonsense play, shot-making and obvious playmaking ability. It's a joy to watch him play. A lot of Bucks fans in the Bucks forum are big fans of Jokic as well (that I've interacted with). I'm legit excited for that Serbia/Greece game.

I also think Jokic is the only other player (maaaaybe a healthy Kawhi?) that is challenging Gianni for best player alive. There are other worthy contenders (Steph, Luka, Durant, maybe Embiid) who have a case, but as far as overall franchise impact (w/intangibles) it's Gianni first then Jokic for me. I'd imagine you guys would have it the other way around but that's ok.

Don't get me wrong most Nuggets fans will be watching, but after two injury plauged seasons I think most of us are just hoping that everyone makes it out of the tournaments healthy.

I think we all respect Giannis and Bucks fans, although we do all lean towards Jokic being better.

Well of course we all love our guys. Should be an entertaining game nonetheless.

Serbia beat Greece in overtime 100-94 for FIBA 2023 World Cup qualifications. Giannis was 40-8-5 while Jokic was 29-8-6, but Giannis didn't outplay Nikola, simple, for some strange reason, Jokic played 10 minutes less than Giannis (30min vs 40min) which clearly makes a difference in numbers. Serbia started badly with these qualifications 1-3 so this game was a "must win" for Serbia. But this big win was a little bit overshadowed by the 2nd quarter injury of Vasilije Micic, Serbian best backcourt player when Bogdan Bogdanovic was out, so Micic is now questionable for upcoming EuroBasket. Talking about the Jokic game tonight I'd say business as usual, except it is unusual to see him live here in Belgrade. In the opening 5 minutes, Jokic already has 4 turnovers and he misses the last 4 free throws, everything else was good, especially in OT despite Giannis guarded him. Serbia should win this already in regular time, but somehow we wasted +8 in the last minute and a half.


Talking about this WC qualification circle, Vlatko Cancar played today for Slovenia as starter, but only 15 minutes, I guess because of the blowout win vs Estonia. Cancar scored 14 points in just 15 minutes, and which is more important he was almost perfect 4/5 for threes (FIBA threes are 6.75 like in NCAA).

In upcoming today's QWC game Argentina @Canada Jamal Murray will not participate (but former Nugget Facu Campazzo will play).

Congrats to the Joker and Serbia for the win. The game was entertaining as hell. Both superstars dominated the game. Serbia's guards were dominating the perimeter, which was the difference in the game.

Safe to say that Joker and Freak are both ready for Eurobasket and the upcoming NBA season. Should Serbia and Greece face off again in the tournament it will make for high drama hoops. Hope Micic and Kosta Ante are both alright.

Gotta say nice to see Giannis having a solid all around game, his passing skills are developing

This was an interesting video. Never heard of these guys but their reactions to the game and the atmosphere were fun to listen to and watch.

Joker leads Serbia over Turkey, just praying no injuries like Danillo had.

To not open a new thread about EuroBasket-2022 I will put here a short report after the group phase, with a focus on Jokic and Giannis Cancar.

As expected, teams with NBA superstars (Serbia-Jokic, Greece-Giannis, Slovenia-Doncic) dominate so far followed by those with several notable players like France (Gobert, Fournier..), Lithuania (Sabonis, Valanciunas..), Germany (Wagner, Schroder, Theis..).

Jokic only once scored over 20 points while Giannis and Doncic already have 40+ games, but Jokic playing under 25 minutes per game (Serbia won all games so far, +20 on average, so Nikola barely played 4th quarters) and his efficiency is insane 20-10-5 for someone playing under 25 minutes and with a ridiculous 75% TS%. Against some opponents, Jokic looked at the time almost like a grown man vs kindergarten!

On other hand no playing time reduction for Vlatko Cancar, Slovenia played in the hardest group, and only Luka Doncic played more minutes than Vlatko (28mpg) for their team. His 15-5-2 numbers turned now into 10-5-2 because he underperformed in the last two games (FG 2-10).

Defending champ Slovenia has an easy road to the semifinal (BEL, POL/UKR) where they will face Jokić's Serbia if they previously in QF beat Gobert's France. Giannis Greece is the favorite in the opposite half of the draw, but teams like Lithuania or host country Germany can challenge them in Berlin.

THE J0KER wrote:On other hand no playing time reduction for Vlatko Cancar, Slovenia played in the hardest group, and only Luka Doncic played more minutes than Vlatko (28mpg) for their team. His 15-5-2 numbers turned now into 10-5-2 because he underperformed in the last two games (FG 2-10).

Too bad to hear Cancar's numbers slipping, sounds like the opposition had more to do with that. Still keeping hope his confidence remains high, international play can't hurt there.

Well, Italy shocked Serbia in the EuroCup elimination round, now Jokic can get a little rest before he starts TC (which would be in about 2 weeks ??). Rooted for the guy but can't say I am unhappy, at least he got out of there uninjured.

skywalker33 wrote:Well, Italy shocked Serbia in the EuroCup elimination round, now Jokic can get a little rest before he starts TC (which would be in about 2 weeks ??). Rooted for the guy but can't say I am unhappy, at least he got out of there uninjured.

I don't think this shocking upset was any good for Jokic. He sacrifices almost the whole summer for nothing. With just 2-3 extra games and wins, he would back to Denver in a much better mood, without any frustration.

The only positive thing I see in this EuroBasket episode Is that Jokic played well, including yesterday's 32-13-4 performance with +11 in +/- when he playing. But our coach underestimated the opponent, so once Serbia lead +14 in 1st half he benched Jokic (I guess resting him for France) so at halftime was just +6 in Serbia's favor. In the final quarter, Italy started with 16-2 so Jokic come too late in the game. Jokic played in this do-or-die game for just 28 minutes (for example in the Slovenia game Cancar played 32 minutes, 36yo Dragic 33, Doncic 36 minutes).

I wish Vlatko to stay till the end.

THE J0KER wrote:

skywalker33 wrote:Well, Italy shocked Serbia in the EuroCup elimination round, now Jokic can get a little rest before he starts TC (which would be in about 2 weeks ??). Rooted for the guy but can't say I am unhappy, at least he got out of there uninjured.

I don't think this shocking upset was any good for Jokic. He sacrifices almost the whole summer for nothing. With just 2-3 extra games and wins, he would back to Denver in a much better mood, without any frustration.

The only positive thing I see in this EuroBasket episode Is that Jokic played well, including yesterday's 32-13-4 performance with +11 in +/- when he playing. But our coach underestimated the opponent, so once Serbia lead +14 in 1st half he benched Jokic (I guess resting him for France) so at halftime was just +6 in Serbia's favor. In the final quarter, Italy started with 16-2 so Jokic come too late in the game. Jokic played in this do-or-die game for just 28 minutes (for example in the Slovenia game Cancar played 32 minutes, 36yo Dragic 33, Doncic 36 minutes).

I wish Vlatko to stay till the end.

Well, Jokic stayed in playing shape AND didn't get injured, so there's another positive. But his coaches/teammates relied on him too much, no support in that loss. Maybe a bad mood Joker will light a big fire for his NBA season, wouldn't want to miss out on a second championship opportunity.

With all the upsets going on in FIBA tournament, makes me question, is Eurobasketball really that good, or just plain bad ??

skywalker33 wrote:With all the upsets going on in FIBA tournament, makes me question, is Eurobasketball really that good, or just plain bad ??

To me it makes me wonder if the NBA players have lost the big gap they had against euro league players. Due to defense and rule changes it could be argued that our stars are less rounded to more traditional game than ever and the athleticism is no longer enough to compensate for that.