Serbian coach Djordjevic knows what it takes to make a transition from "names" to "legends"

BELGRADE (Serbia) - The Trophy Tour had Serbia on its schedule in mid-June. But the land of basketball wants to show it to an even bigger crowd, if they win it all in China in September.

"I believe that's the goal for all of us," Sasha Djordjevic said. "We have an extremely hard and demanding championship in front of us. A lot of national teams have grown, starting with Greece and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the most dominant player in the NBA, absolutely. France and Lithuania will be dangerous for every opponent, and those are the countries that should be an example for everyone because of the way they work. Russia and Turkey will be ready to seize the opportunity as well."

That doesn't mean he forgot about the other teams, saying he enjoys watching Spain's Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka in the NBA Finals.

"OUR TEAM IS THE BEST EXAMPLE THAT 'NAMES' DO NOT PLAY. WE WON MEDALS EVEN WHEN WE WERE MISSING SOME BIG NAMES."- Aleksandar Djordjevic

"Also, I want to congratulate coach Sergio Scariolo with all my heart, for his success (with the Raptors). Spain is a team that, regardless of Navarro's retirement and Pau Gasol's injury, has a continuity, quality and results," Serbian national team coach emphasized.

He had nice words about Australia, "they will be there with nine or ten NBA players," and repeated a similar kind of sentence for Canada. As for USA, the title holders, the team with the chance to become the first ever team to win back-to-back-to-back FIBA Basketball World Cups, Djordjevic knows where the biggest threat is.

"With Gregg Popovich at the helm, and his coaching staff, (USA) have shown how serious their approach is to this competition."

But, with a lot of respect for all the other teams, Djordjevic is focused on his own. Serbia will field one of their all-time strongest squads, with global stars such as Nikola Jokic, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Milos Teodosic and Boban Marjanovic all on the same page.

"I believe in what we are doing, in the quality our players have," Djordjevic said. "But we cannot make that mistake, approach this summer with the idea that we are the ones who will play the Final and win it all. Especially with eight tough games in 15 days."

The big names usually mean the coach has to do a lot of coaching off the court, to balance out the strong personalities on board. That does not trouble Djordjevic.

Can the Djordjevic-coached Serbia bring the trophy back to Belgrade in September?

"Our team is the best example that 'names' do not play. We won medals even when we were missing some big names. The names that are completely ready will win, and that's how 'names' become legends!"

Djordjevic and his crew will play the First Round in Foshan, opening the whole FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 schedule with an early tip-off game against Angola on August 31. Serbia will take on the Philippines two days later, and the first Group Stage ends with an all-European derby between Serbia and Italy on September 4.

Top two teams will advance to the Second Round.

FIBA