Serbia and Brazil will square off today in Spain for a place in the FIBA Basketball World Cup semifinals. The two also met in the group stage, with Brazil winning 81-73.
Serbia is being led by Milos Teodosic and Bogdan Bogdanovic in this World Cup and an analysis will say they are a good, cohesive team with lots of experience in Europe despite not boosting notable NBA talent. In the group stage Serbia was a little bit disappointing, losing to Spain, Brazil and a France without its best players and they did not impress in the wins against Egypt and Iran either. However, Serbia produced its best performance right when it mattered, destroying Greece 90-72 in the Round 1 in a masterclass performance both offensively and defensively.
Brazil is absolutely stacked in the frontcourt with Anderson Varejao, Thiago Splitter and Nene, but also boost a solid backcourt with the likes of Marcelinho Huertas and Leandro Barbosa. With a lot of NBA and European talent, Brazil cruised trough the group stages, losing only to Spain, and easily routed Argentina (without Ginobilli) in the Round 16, beating the strong southamericans by 20 points.
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When the two teams met earlier in the group stage Serbia has an amazing 3rd quarter, winning it by 20 points, but still lost the game by 8. Brazil was supreme in all aspects of the game from field goal percentage to rebounds and deserved to win that game. The matchup analysis is simple, Brazil has a big advantage in the frontcourt while in the backcourt things are pretty even.
Both teams are coming after big wins and excellent performances but you have to feel Brazil is the more likely to continue on the same trend. They have better basketball players and have been much more consistent during the tournament, while Serbia played it`s only real good game in the Round 16 and it will be tough for them to repeat that performance. Brazil also have big bodies that will always be consistent, while Serbia relies more on shooting. Brazil was clearly the better side between these two in the group stages and I don`t see any reason for which they would fail to reach the semifinals. Expect Brazil to pound the glass and dominate under the paint, while their experienced perimeter players should be able to stop Serbia`s 3 point game.
The Europeans are not good enough to win while losing the rebound battle, and it`s very hard to believe they will get more rebounds today, so my tip is Brazil to win. Odds on a Brazil win are slightly going up, but I`m happy with that as we get a slightly inflated price. Prediction: Serbia – Brazil 70-77.
Pick: Brazil
Odds: 1.57 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 5.13
Event date: 10 September
wow…a 30 points difference wins for the serbians. what do yo call this one my friend?
a big time failure
SERBIA-BRASIL 84:56…Sorry man… Bad pick… Greetings from Serbia
Yes, epic fail from my part. congrats to your team mate, I should have known you have heart. I didn`t doubt your skill, just thought Brazil had more. But what was with those 6 free trows + possession in the 3rd quarter ??
You mean technical fault?
yes man, but 6 + possession? i wasn`t watching with attention and just saw with the corner of my eye the free throws coming and coming 🙂
There was 4 free throws by Teodosić… And ball possession after that… I can’t say that technical fault didn’t affect the game, but I am sure that even without that technical fault we would won the game. In group stage, Brasil played great against us and I was mad at our players because they played so lousy. But today, we were better team
Raduljica also shot 2 technical before Teodosic (missed one), that`s why it was very strange for me. Commentators had no idea what was happening and at that time the FIBA play by play also did not state what the decision was. If you scored the following possession (which I don`t remember) than it was a 7 or 8 point play which must be some kind of record. Of course, I`m not suggesting you won because of that, your win was absolutely deserved, but it was just strange to me. At that point it did seem to have an impact, but the way you defended there`s just no way Brazil could have won with or without the free throws. What do you make of your chances against France?
Raduljica was fouled – that’s his two free throws. Afrer that call, the Brazilians complained to the refs and then the two technical fouls were called – that’s the next four free throws, and a possession. Serbia scored afterwards as well. Just to clear that up.
I don’t think you can easily dismiss Serbian basketball team in really any case and with pretty much any rooster considering its basketball tradition and glorious past. They have heart and an ‘obligation’ to play well (this is often a setback) because of their former successes.
Raduljica shot 2 uncontested free throws (nobody around him) and that`s why I was confused, but I realized they were uncontested because a techincal followed so an offensive rebound wouldn`t have mattered. still, it was strange they got possession afterwards as well (maybe I don`t remember correctly but Branko agreed they got possession too).
I agree with your second point.
We scored 6 points regarding technical fault plus 1 point by Raduljica from free throws because of fault made on him. Raduljica scored 1 point from free throws, then Teodosić 4 points from free throws because of technical fault and then ball for Serbia- Teodosić scores 2 points from close range.
You can watch whole game (Serbian commentators):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VNtiJ3LhtQ
thx mate, indeed that was what happened. well, it wasn`t all that important, just found the situation a little bit peculiar. good luck today with France – i`ll support you, but don`t score too much :).
It has been a long time since we took some medal in basketball… This may be the moment… Even this is great success after all this years :)… Thanks ;)…
Game against France was WOW! Great game by both teams. Maybe the best game in this World Cup