Tough Olympic debut for Serbia, says Maljkovic

BELGRADE (Rio 2016 Olympic Games) - As Serbia found out they will open their Rio Olympics Group B campaign against Spain, the team's head coach Marina Maljkovic has admitted they couldn't have a more challenging Olympic debut.

Following the 2016 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament (WOQT), Spain and China joined the Serbs in a group that also includes Olympics champions USA, Canada, and Senegal.

And Maljkovic may have reasons to describe it a challenging Olympic debut.

Before being crowned the champions of EuroBasket Women 2015, Serbia were no match for Spain, losing their Group F encounter 91-80.

Our goal in Rio is to succeed in the Group Phase, and we’ll be extremely happy if we can achieve it. - Maljkovic

Now that the Spaniards have reached the Rio Games through the WOQT - where they won all three of their games and played convincing and dominant basketball - Maljkovic knows what to expect.

"Spain are now stronger with Sancho Lyttle who didn't play at EuroBasket Women 2015. It's a tough group as we are going face these two teams the US and Spain," she noted.

But the play-caller seems to like the challenge.

"The US don't need an introduction as they are above the average teams. That's what the Olympic tournament is all about. It’s the finest of world basketball and there are no easy opponents," she warned.

Serbia played against the USA at the 2014 FIBA Women's World Championship and although they looked competitive, they fell short 94-74.

"In the past, we faced strong opponents to start the European Championship as well as the FIBA World Championship, and we managed to advance from the Group Phase," Maljkovic said. "Our goal in Rio is to succeed in the Group Phase, and we’ll be extremely happy if we can achieve it."

Then, Maljkovic - who recently joined Turkish side Galatasaray after spending the past two seasons with Union Lyon Basket in France - provided some insight on Canada, Senegal, and China.

"China have kept the same players and coaching staff from previous tournaments," she noted. "Canada will be a tough opponent we know them well because 70 percent of the team play in France. They are an aggressive team, and the same applies to Senegal."

Last month, Serbia played two warm-up games against Japan and the France and the two defeats suggested Maljkovic's team still has some room for improvement.

They lost to the two-time defending champions of Asia, 87-62, before going down 80-51 against Les Bleues.

FIBA