Bogdan Bogdanovic: Serbia is ready for more
Bogdan Bogdanovic - I said last week from Granada that my team and I expected to get better moving forward in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, that we had not played our best game yet. That wish came true in Madrid this weekend. We arrived from fourth place in our group to play Greece, the first-place team from Group B. They were unbeaten while we had lost three games, but we were able to defeat Greece by 18 points with a strong second half.
We played a complete game against Greece, but I can say now that at the beginning of it, we were a little nervous. You maybe couldn't tell watching, but it's true. That's because it was very different than our previous games in Granada. The scoring pace in this one was high from the very first moment. But we were able to follow that pace, and then a couple of great dunks by Nikola Kalinic and some other big plays calmed us down and showed us the way to victory.
I also said in my first blog that I hadn't played my best game yet. Against Greece, I was able to score 21 points, which is my highest total ever with the Serbian senior national team in an official game. I scored more, I think, in a friendly game against Russia once, but in an official game, this is my personal high mark. That it came at such an important moment for our team made me very happy, of course. After the game, I got a lot of messages, of course, from family and friends, but also people I am not always in contact with sent congratulations. It was very nice.
One funny thing was finding out after the game about my new apartment in Istanbul, where I will go to play for my new team, Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul, after the World Cup ends. My parents had gone to Istanbul to find an apartment for me, but they were home in Serbia by the time of the Greece game. So when we talked after, they told me about the apartment, which they had no problem finding close to the arena, so I can get to practices easily. That was good news, too.
We had a free night after the Greece game and the players celebrated by going out, here in Madrid. We had to be back in our rooms by one o'clock, so we didn't go far or plan a big night out. We found a place close to the hotel that we liked and all went out to dinner together. We ordered Spanish ham and cheeses, which we all like. The fact is we weren't really hungry: more than anything, it was a little celebration for our big win over Greece.
Next, we will play Brazil in the quarterfinals, which is a rematch from our group game in Granada, when they beat us by 8 points. It is, of course, another difficult opponent, but we know them well. Physically, Brazil is a superior team, but I think we can use our basketball IQ to win this game. To make it to the semifinals would be a huge success for either team. It would mean two chances to fight for medals. A semifinal win would guarantee either silver or gold. And even losing the semifinal leaves you the opportunity to try again in the bronze-medal game.
Any medal in a World Cup is something great, so I finish this blog hoping again that we still haven't played our best game in the World Cup. We want at least one more big win in Madrid, and you know that Serbia will fight for it. Wish us luck!
POSTED BY BOGDAN BOGDANOVIC, SPAIN
