"I'm angry"- Serbian coach bluntly reviews setback against Team USA highlighting Nikola Jokic's performance
The Serbian men’s national basketball team, led by reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, suffered a heartbreaking defeat against Team USA on Thursday. The Serbs squandered a 17-point lead and fell short of their gold medal aspirations.
Following the loss, Serbian coach Svetislav Pesic expressed his frustration, particularly regarding the disparity in free throw attempts, and how Nikola Jokic was officiated.
Pesic, not the first coach in the Olympics to criticize officiating for free throw discrepancies, was particularly upset about the limited free throws Nikola Jokic was awarded during the game.
“You know that in Serbia, there is a saying that whoever loses has the right to be angry. I'm angry because we didn't get respect,” he said.
“I have to say that because the best player in the world shot four free throws in 37 minutes.”
The USA-Serbia game saw relatively few free throws overall. Team USA attempted 14 and made nine, while Serbia went 10-for-12. Nikola Jokic led all players with four free throw attempts, making three.
Other notable players with more than two free throw attempts included LeBron James (2-of-3), Devin Booker (1-of-3), Steph Curry (3-of-3) and Anthony Davis (2-of-4).
This frustration with officiating was echoed earlier by Luol Deng, president of the South Sudan Basketball Federation, after South Sudan's 11-point loss to Serbia ended their 2024 Paris Olympics run.
Deng criticized the free throw disparity, where Serbia had 31 attempts compared to South Sudan’s six. He suggested that the absence of African referees led to a European style of officiating, which disadvantaged his team.
"I don't know why there's no African referees in the Olympics," Deng said. “If these referees aren't familiar with our game or our style, then I don't know what the World Championship or Olympics is. Is it just a European basketball style and we're not allowed to be aggressive?”
South Sudan faced similar free throw discrepancies in their July 31 game against Team USA, where they made 11 of 12 free throws compared to Team USA's 16-for-20 in a 103-86 defeat. The closest they came to parity was on July 28 against Puerto Rico, where both teams made 14 free throws, though Puerto Rico had nine more attempts.
How Nikola Jokic fared against Team USA
Nikola Jokic finished the game with 17 points, 11 assists and five rebounds, shooting 7-for-17 from the field.
Bogdan Bogdanovic led Serbia in scoring with 20 points, adding four rebounds and three assists.
Despite their strong performances, Team USA overcame the 17-point deficit, thanks in large part to a 36-point outburst from Steph Curry.
The Americans surged in the final five minutes to secure the win and advance to the gold medal match. LeBron James also made history in the game by recording just the fourth triple-double in Olympic history, with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.