Petrusev on Serbia debut: ''I'm always going to remember it''

TBILISI (Georgia) - Filip Petrusev is no stranger to success on the international stage. But not even a back-to-back winner of the FIBA U18 European Championship could have expected his debut with the Serbian senior national team to go so … dare we say … easily.

The 20-year-old played as if he was making his 101st appearance for Srbija  instead of his first as he poured in 27 points in Serbia's 92-66 win over Georgia to secure passage to the FIBA EuroBasket 2022.

"I was just happy to be out there and it ended up being a really good game for me so I'm always going to remember it," said the big man. "It's my first game so everything was special."

 
And Petrusev did a bit of everything as he hit 10-of-15 shots - including 2-of-3 from long range - and also picked up 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block in the game.

"I did not expect it to be this … I don't want to say easy … but it ended up being easy for me. I had a really good game and felt comfortable out there."

This is not the first time that Petrusev has been comfortable with his country's name on his chest. He helped Serbia to the title at the FIBA U18 European Championship in 2017 and 2018 and he was named to the All-Star Five in the latter tournament.

 
The Belgrade native went from Partizan to Baskonia in Spain and then headed to the United States for high school basketball. He ended up playing at Montverde Academy in Florida and won the 2018 U.S. High School Nationals title. Petrusev then spent two seasons at Gonzaga before coming back to Europe to make his professional debut this season with Mega Belgrade.

"I really like his game. He's playing excellent in the domestic championship. We didn't know how he would react and deal with the pressure. And he showed that he can handle pressure very well. He played great and was one of the best players today," said Serbia's head coach Dejan Milojevic.

Petrusev said the coaching staff's faith in him played a major role in his success, adding: "They trusted me. They knew it was my first time. They just wanted to encourage me and make sure I feel comfortable because if I'm comfortable and just out there then I will do my best."

Petrusev's performance was not lost on his teammates either.

"I'm really happy about the young guys who showed up here and showed great character," said Danilo Andjusic, referring to the other debutants Marko Lukovic, Luka Asceric and Marko Radovanovic as well.

And Miroslav Raduljica added: "We had some guys who were in the senior team for the first time. Congratulations to them and what they showed tonight."

Petrusev will remember his performance for the rest of his life - and probably ponder from time to time how easy it seemed to be.

FIBA