MANILA (Philippines) - Most of the attention in Serbia's run to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Final has gone to star Bogdan Bogdanovic, big man Nikola Milutinov and young NBA talent Nikola Jovic. But the Europeans don't make their second title game in the last three editions without the unheralded trio of Aleksa Avramovic, Dejan Davidovac and Ognjen Dobric.

All three of them played big roles in Serbia's 95-86 victory over Canada and put them one victory away from their first World Cup title under the Srbija flag.

"With them stepping into the game and leading us to a double-digit lead, it was unbelievable. It made the game so much easier," Bogdanovic said about the trio of 28-year-old World Cup debutants. "They are really amazing basketball players. They know how to play team basketball and people can learn a lot from them."

Ognjen Dobric

Dobric finished the game with 16 points - his best tally in a FIBA World Cup game - to go with 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 block.

Dobric started the game with his bigger-name teammates and had an immediate impact, blocking RJ Barrett’s shot in the opening minute and also hitting a triple.

Dobric also was responsible for guarding Canada playmaker Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, hounding him for the first 7 minutes of the game with smothering defense and limiting the NBA star to 0 points in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Dobric hit another triple as Canada were within five points. Canada had trimmed the gap to seven in the third quarter and Dobric scored on a layup after a backdoor cut. Dobric continued to move without the ball and put in a layup on a cut thanks to an assist from Milutinov. And the guard later added a floater in the lane.

Avramovic has made a name for himself as a real two-way player and the 28-year-old showed that much of the game.

Barrett came barreling down in transition but Avramovic slyly snatched the ball and it led to two free throws. The point guard did make some mistakes, taking a questionable three-pointer and looking at the Serbia bench with an apologetic shrug. But he immediately forced a Canada turnover at the other end.

Aleksa Avramovic

After a couple miscues late in the third quarter, Avramovic opened the fourth stanza with a steal in the open court on Gilgeous-Alexander and converted a layup. Avramovic added another layup after slashing into the lane. 

"We did a complete job. We all knew what we had to do. I have to defend against the point guard, Bogdan has to score the points … we all had to do what the coach asked of us,” said Avramovic, who ended with 10 points, 2 assists and 2 steals in 16 minutes.

Coach Svetislav Pesic praised his two guards.

"The defense starts with our guards, and it's a chain effect for the rest of the team. Just one person messes up, and the whole chain falls apart. The taller guys have a lot of trust in our guards and their ball pressure, the rest of the team gives them a lot of trust. That's why they are playing with a lot of confidence. Dobric was already great on defense versus Lithuania, but it wasn't noticeable because of his offense. And look at him today, 13 points... No, wait, 16 points! In a World Cup Semi-Final!" he said.

Dejan Davidovac

Davidovac, for his part, collected 4 points, 5 rebound - 3 from the offensive glass - 1 assist and 1 steal in 21 minutes.

The small forward deflected a long pass on a Canada break away for a steal and then the next minute put back a miss from Avramovic. Davidovac also scored a putback after having his shot blocked in the final three minutes.

"We are a good team. We have some stars but we have our roles we have to follow that and play like that today," Davidovac said.

Serbia guard Marko Guduric went back to the work of Avramovic and Dobric and said their performance was amazing.

"I have never seen anything like this in my life, this amount of energy. It's incredible. I can only wish them to have good night's sleep today and tomorrow so they can keep this rhythm up in the Final. We're just trying to follow their lead, it all starts with them. I knew everything about Dobric and his game, we grew up together, and now I finally met Aleksa and realized what he can do." 

Discipline, energy, intelligence, sacrifice, altruism.

If Avramovic, Davidovac and Dobric play like that one more game, they will go from unheralded warriors to national heroes.

FIBA