RIGA (Latvia) - Losing your team captain, your vocal leader and a giant of a persona on and off the court is a devastating blow. Even on a star-studded roster, such as Serbia's, the impact is clearly in the air.
Bogdan Bogdanovic suffered an injury in his second game with the national team at FIBA EuroBasket 2025. A veteran of all FIBA events, Bogdanovic left Latvia and started treatment immediately in the United States, leaving one crucial debate for all of us left in Riga.
Are Serbia still the main contender to lift the trophy on Sunday, September 14?
"Last night, it was emotional, we were sad to hear the news. But we know what to do. He's here with us, he's following us, we stay in touch with him, and we are playing for him and using this as our added motivation for the rest of the championship," Stefan Jovic was asked about the mood now that they are Bogi-less.
"We've been so close with him, he's been so close to us that we really know what we have to do. He said to us yesterday, 'you can play without anyone', and we have to play without him right now. He said he believes in us and that he'll be back for the Final," Nikola Jovic smiled when saying the last two words.
Obviously, Serbia's goals have not changed. But has their style changed without the sharpshooter?
The shortest possible answer is - yes. It was supposed to be just another day at the office as they cruised to an early 22-point lead against Czechia, but coach Svetislav Pesic did something that woke everybody up immediately in Arena Riga.
Some teams go small, some balance it out with stretch "fours" and "fives," and some go big. Serbia? They go XXXL, each of the Xs representing one Nikola.
"We have plenty of Nikolas on our team," Nikola Milutinov smiled and nodded.
He's listed at 213 cm (6ft 11 in), and coach Pesic paired him up with Nikola Jokic, just a couple of centimeters shorter.
"We tried out some new stuff, and the coach wanted to do it now, because this was our last sort-of-easier game. It was okay, something new for us, as we didn't play like that so far in a game, but our coach has it on his mind, there's always something as we move forward," Milutinov added.
While coach Pesic said after the game that this is nothing new, and that Serbia played with two bigs at the Olympics last summer, there is a slight difference to the approach. The third X, the third Nikola.
"It's a little bit different, but it's not something especially different. We tried it out in practice, so we kind of got used to it. We're tall. There are some teams that are playing with two bigs, and this gives us another sort of power in the painted area with the two of them there (Jokic and Milutinov), so it will be interesting. It's different. But it's not hard," Nikola Jovic explained the spacing difference.
He stands at 208 cm (6ft 9in), and when you're next to him it feels like he's even bigger, thanks to his seven-foot wingspan.
So the Jovic-Jokic-Milutinov lineup as an answer for no Bogdanovic? Yes. But also no.
Yes, because Czechia were so undersized, it made sense to push these three together on the court at the same time, and win the paint points 52-20.
No, because in reality, Serbia's basketball DNA is already there, no matter what the lineup looks like.
He said he believes in us and that he'll be back for the Final.
Let's travel back in time to FIBA EuroBasket 2022. Serbia played that event without Bogdan, and they had 62.4 field goals attempted per game, 35.7 of them coming from two-point range, 26.7 from beyond the arc, with 21.2 free throws every day.
They grabbed 34.7 rebounds, dished out 22.7 assists and turned the ball over 11.3 times.
Move over 2022, time to analyze the numbers from the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, with Bogdanovic, without Jokic. Serbia had 62.3 field goals attempted per game, 35.8 of them coming from two-point range, 26.5 from beyond the arc, with 22.5 free throws every day.
They grabbed 34.1 rebounds, dished out 23.6 assists and turned the ball over 11.8 times.
Event | 2PT FG | 3PT FG | FT | REB | AST | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FIBA EuroBasket 2022 | 21.2/35.7 | 10.8/26.7 | 17.2/21.2 | 34.7 | 22.7 | 11.3 |
FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 | 23.8/35.8 | 10.0/26.5 | 17.6/22.5 | 34.1 | 23.6 | 11.8 |
FIBA EuroBasket 2025 | 22.5/36.0 | 7.5/22.8 | 18.5/21.5 | 41.8 | 26.0 | 14.8 |
In 2025, the sample size is still too small, and the blowout games aren't helping the numbers either, but you already know what we're going to write here: Serbia attempt 36.0 two-pointers and 22.8 three-pointers, with 21.5 free throws per game.
In theory, everything changes without Bogdan Bogdanovic.
In reality, nothing changed. Serbia remain true to themselves, their identity and the numbers which have been pretty much the same since Svetislav Pesic took over in September 2021.
FIBA