Preview: Traditional basketball powers Serbia and Italy clash with Olympic ticket on line

BELGRADE (Serbia) - Following the script of the majority of pre-tournament predictions, two European teams - Serbia and Italy - will play in the Final of Belgrade's Olympic qualifier. In this clash, which gets underway on Sunday at  20:30 CET, the winners will go to Tokyo for the upcoming Olympic Games

Way to the Final

On its way to the Final on their home court, Serbia has gone three-for-three in their games. To reach the Final, the Serbians found resistance in the Group Phase from the Dominican Republic last night through the first two quarters of the game,  but head coach Igor Kokoskov and the players found a way to better exploit opportunities in the second half to win, 94-76.

At the same time, this showed a far better display from the reigning Olympic silver medalists as they had spent far more energy -  and nerves of their fans - in their game of the tournament against a persistent Philippines squad where they turned that game in their favor only in the final minutes to win,  83-76.

Serbia kicked their country's Olympic hopes up a notch in the Semi-Final against Puerto Rico where the "Eagles" showed their best game so far in the tournament. Scoring in the three-digit points - a relative rarity in the 40 minute international game, Serbia won, 102-84, to secure a place in the Final.

Unlike the home team, Italy played only one game in Group B against Puerto Rico. The "Azzurri" put on a great second-half performance to win, 90-83. 

The Italians took on the Dominican Republic on the other side of the Semi-Final bracket. And they showed they were ready, giving an excellent performance en route to a dominant 79-59 win.

Key players

Vasilije Micic, Serbia

He played in two games in the tournament - in victories against the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. He averaged 18.5 points, 6.5 assists in 27 minutes on the court.

"The Italians came with a very good team. I think they have seven outstanding players, and they know how to play," Micic noted before the Final. "They play with two tall players who expand the field a lot and they will probably try in a duel with our team. I think we have enough quality to compete with them in that game. The most important thing is to prepare well and play minute by minute, until the end."

Simone Fonthechio, Italy

Like Micic, Simone Fontecchio appeared on the floor in Belgrade twice where he averaged 19.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest.

 
"We did a great job until now, but today we have to be focused on our game plan and try to do our best. We know that Serbia is a super team," Fontecchio conceded. "They can count on their fans, and they play at home, but we have a big dream to realize. We are ready to try everything to beat them."

Serbia is fighting for its fourth participation in the Olympic Games, and the chance to defend the silver medal won at the Rio 2016 Olympics and add to a medal collection that also includes another silver from the 1996 edition of the Games. 

Italy, meanwhile, looks to make its 13th appearance - though it'd be their first since 2004 - where they won the silver medal in Athens.

Previous contests

Serbia and Italy have a history of duels. And while the history goes back to the times of Yugoslavia, the official tally of head-to-head meetings currently stands at seven.

Serbia has not lost to Italy in an official game since its independence in 2006. In that period within the FIBA ​​competition, six have come in the EuroBasket (four in the main tournaments and two in the qualifications in 2008) while the last duel between these two teams came at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China.

Serbia won that last one, 92-77, in a Group Phase game in Foshan, China. Serbian shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 31 points in that matchup, while Danilo Gallinari scored 26 for the Italian side. This time,  neither of these two players will be in the Final in Belgrade because they just finished  up playing together in the East Conference Final for the Atlanta Hawks.

A total of five players who played in that game will also play in the OQT Final.  For Serbia, they are Nemanja Bjelica, Vasilije Micic, and Boban Marjanovic, while the Italian side will call on this veteran experience from Nicolo Melli and Amedeo Tessitori.

Key match-up

Nemanja Bjelica vs Achille Polonara. Former Fenerbahce star against the future player of the well-known Istanbul team.

Bjelica, who played in two of the three games in Belgrade, averaged 25.9 minutes of playing time while posting a stat line of 15.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists and blocks per contest. Polonara, meanwhile, averaged 15.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. 

The X-factors

Don't sleep on two "three-and-D" players, Ognjen Dobric from Serbia and Italy's Stefan Tonut. A lot will depend on their energy on the field, primarily from their defense and shooting touch from beyond the arc. Expect these two to be directly involved in a  lot of high-intensity duels.

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