Serbia Olympic basketball schedule: Filip Petrusev will play key role in Paris

Nikola Jokic and former Gonzaga star Petrusev lead Serbia's push for its first Olympic gold medal

Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

After coming so close to qualifying for the 2021 Tokyo Games, Filip Petrusev is set to represent his home Serbia and make his Olympic debut with the senior national team at the Paris Games.

The former Gonzaga men’s basketball standout has established himself as a key player in the Serbs’ rotation throughout their exhibition tour, which was highlighted by double-digit victories over Victor Wembanyama-led France and most recently Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece. Petrusev finished with 15 points and eight rebounds in the 94-72 win over the Greeks, as he’ll figure to play a significant role in Paris after starting in all five exhibition games and averaging 13.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in those contests.

Serbia isn’t laden with NBA talent, though having a three-time MVP on the roster certainly makes up for that. With Nikola Jokic driving the ship the Serbs figure to be one of the biggest threats to Team USA and its quest for a fifth straight gold medal, though as last summer’s FIBA World Cup proved, they’ll need a collective group effort to bring home their first Olympic gold medal.

While Jokic took the summer off following the Denver Nuggets’ championship campaign, the Serbian national team led by Bogdan Bogdanovic won the silver medal at the FIBA World Cup after taking down a talented Canadian squad in the semifinals. Bogdanovic had 23 points to lead the way offensively, as the Serbians still dominated the paint and the boards to come out with a 95-86 win. Petrusev didn’t feature much in the contest, though he came to play in the final against Germany in a 10-point effort in which he shot 4-of-6 from the field in a 6-point defeat.

A much better result than the 2021 Olympic qualifiers, when Serbia botched home-court advantage in a 102-95 loss to Italy in the final round. Petrusev had a monster game with 22 points, five rebounds and three blocks in 24 minutes off the bench, though it wasn’t enough to claim a spot in the Tokyo Games.

Now with Jokic on board and a well-rounded roster surrounding him, Serbia enters group-stage play with the fourth-best odds at winning the gold medal (+1600) behind the U.S. (-500), Canada (+1100) and France (+1200). A second-place finish behind Team USA in Group C would put Serbia in the quarterfinals, which is seeded by a random draw — except the top two teams from group play are automatically placed on opposite sides of the bracket. Depending on how the first three games go, Serbia would have a tough path to the final if it had to play either France or Australia in the quarterfinals.

The Serbs got a boost this week when Nikola Jovic (ankle) was cleared to participate in the Olympics. The 6-foot-10 forward should have a big role after standing out at the World Cup last summer. Also worth noting is Serbia didn’t travel to Paris with Aleksej Pokusevski, the former Oklahoma City Thunder forward.

Here’s a look at the Serbian national team’s Olympic schedule and a breakdown of its opponents (all times in PST).

- 8:15 a.m., July 28 vs. USA (Pierre Mauroy Stadium)
- 8:15 a.m., July 31 vs. Puerto Rico (Pierre Mauroy Stadium)
- Noon, Aug. 3 vs. South Sudan (Pierre Mauroy Stadium

UNITED STATES

Petrusev makes his Olympic debut in a matchup against Team USA and his old college coach Mark Few. The exhibition match ended in a resounding 105-79 win for the Americans, as Petrusev had 11 points while being guarded by LeBron James for most of the game.

It was also perhaps the only game in which Jokic didn’t appear as his dominant self. The U.S. threw plenty of size at him with Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo and Joel Embiid at times. That tandem might be the only one in the 12-team field that has the ability to collectively contain Jokic.

Not to mention the disparity in depth between the two teams. Anthony Edwards and Adebayo combined to outscore Serbia’s entire bench (33-20) by themselves. It’s a problem any opponent of Team USA will face — there’s simply too much talent from top to bottom to handle.

PUERTO RICO

Jose Alvarado guided Puerto Rico to its first Olympics since 2004, when it became the first team to beat Team USA with NBA players on the roster, after the New Orleans Pelicans guard put on a show in a win over Lithuania in the qualifying tournament final.

Alvarado and NBA veteran Tremont Waters headline a guard-heavy roster that gave Canada a scare in its most recent exhibition matchup, though Puerto Rico’s lack of size doesn’t stack up well against Serbia. The Serbs controlled the glass and the paint in last summer’s matchup at the World Cup. Without much resistance facing Jokic, Serbia should take care of business as it has the past three head-to-head meetings with Puerto Rico.

SOUTH SUDAN

South Sudan turned heads in its 101-100 exhibition loss to the heavily favored Americans, as Carlik Jones and Wenyen Gabriel nearly pulled off a historic upset before Olympic competition even began.

Time will tell if South Sudan puts up a similar fight against Serbia, which came out with a 33-point victory the last time the two met in the World Cup preliminary stage last summer. Jovic went off for 25 points as the Serbs outscored South Sudan 48-20 in the paint without Petrusev, who did not play under coach’s decision.

If Serbia takes care of business against Puerto Rico and South Sudan, it can still finish second in Group C behind the U.S. With one slip-up, however, it’ll come down to tiebreakers to determine which third-place team from group play will move onto the knockout stage.