PIESTANY (FIBA U18 European Championship 2017) - For Serbia and their standout big man Marko Pecarski, the real competition at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2017 is just about to begin.

The 2000-born center has so far been the player to watch in the Slovak town of Piestany, having led his country to the top-of-the-table finish in Group B ahead of the likes of Spain, Italy and Ukraine after a combination of favorable results on the last day of the Group Phase.

"I think this year we can do a lot of big things. We can fight for the medals and we’ll give our best to achieve that."Marko PecarskiMarko Pecarski

Serbia turned out to be the biggest beneficiaries of Italy's hard-fought victory over Spain, swooping up the top spot in a three-way tie between the teams with 2-1 records after taking care of business in the second half against Ukraine with a 72-63 victory.

"You could see it was a very tough and intense game. They beat us physically in the first half and we didn’t respond well to that. After the halftime break, we got tougher and realized we can't win if we don't fight and put much more effort on the court and that meant everything. We gave our best in the second half and that decided the result," the 17-year-old prospect told FIBA.basketball.

After a close loss to Spain on the opening-day of the Group Phase, Serbia got their campaign back on track with hard-fought victories against Italy and then Ukraine to book a Round of 16 date with Germany, the fourth-placed team in Group A.

"It is going to be the crucial point of the competition. It would have been tough no matter which opponent we would have got, but we just need to prepare the best we can. I think we can still play much better than we showed in the Group Phase, although we are playing very well at the moment too," the player looked ahead to Wednesday's match-up.

Already an elite contributor in spite of being a year younger in the competition, Pecarski ranks among the best players in scoring and rebounding at the FIBA U18 European Championship, averaging 16.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.

"I think I can still improve and show something more. I think these three days in the tournament have been very good, but I can play even better. For us, this is just the beginning and I’m sure big things will come," he said.

Having also played with the 1999-generation at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2015 in Kaunas, Pecarski sees this year's tournament in Slovak Republic as an opportunity to show that the 8th-place finish in Lithuania was merely a piece of some bad fortune.

"Two years ago this generation had a very bad tournament in Lithuania and people have started to doubt us. It’s only natural because of that result but I think this year we can do a lot of big things. We can fight for the medals and we’ll give our best to achieve that," the big man spoke of bouncing back.

Having moved to Germany in early February, leaving Mega Leks to join Bayern Munich, Pecarski says that time away from home and from his parents has already helped him mature both on and off the court.

"I left home and had a totally different lifestyle in Germany that has helped me grow as a player and also as a person. That meant a lot to me, to change the scenery, to learn more about basketball and about life," one of Bayern's top prospects explained.

Pecarski has now the ball in his hands to put those lessons of life into practice at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2017, with the familiar Germany team standing in between them and a ticket to Bratislava, where the Quarter-Finals will be played.

FIBA