LILLE (France) - Nikola Jokic and Bogdan Bogdanovic are Serbia's two biggest stars. And it was those two playing the pick-and-roll together that helped Serbia book a ticket to the Olympics Quarter-Finals and have the dream of a gold medal still alive.
The three-time NBA MVP Jokic is known throughout the world for his outstanding passing ability - in addition to his all-around deadly game.
Bogdanovic meanwhile makes his living mainly with his outside shooting. But he showed in the do-or-die game against South Sudan that can do a fair bit of passing as well.
Jokic collected 22 points, 13 rebounds and 4 assists while Bogdanovic tallied 30 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks in Serbia's 96-85 victory.
The South Sudan defense was doing a good job collapsing on Jokic around the paint in the early going and Serbia head coach Svetislav Pesic elected to run the game through his two superstars higher up to get Jokic more spacing.
And it worked as the Serbs were getting good looks. The used that option intensively.
Serbia even ran the "Gortat screen" with Bogdanovic driving and Jokic screening the defender under the basket that was trying to come up and help on the dash to the basket.
The second-placed finishers from the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 already were set up with a strong offense. This added wrinkle could be a secret weapon for times when opposing defenses try to bottle up Jokic.
If Bogdanovic and Jokic are this effective passing the ball. The rest of the field should watch out.
FIBA