SRB - Micic looking to contribute, learn from leaders

LJUBLJANA (EuroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - It's been quite a summer for Vasilje Micic. After first winning the silver medal at the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship, the point guard is now just one victory from having helped the Serbian senior national team qualify for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup and two from playing for the EuroBasket 2013 title.

"I'm so glad to be here with the senior national team. The players are so good (Nenad) Krstic is one of the best centers in Europe," he said.

"For me, it's a big thing to be here. I want to give everything from myself to get good results."

Micic was a member of the All-Tournament Team at the U19 Worlds in Prague. But the Czech Republic was a long time ago now for the 19-year-old who is serving as a back-up to main point guard Stefan Markovic.

"I just want to help Markovic. It's my first year in the senior national team and I want to go step by step and sometime I would like to be the first point guard in the senior national team," said Micic, who is averaging 3.1 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 12 minutes per game.

His teammates recognise the talent from the Kraljevo native.

"He's a very talented player and very good, but he needs to work on his game. He's still young so it's normal for him to make mistakes. He will have his time,” said Serbian guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, himself just 21 years old but also like Micic a U19 World Championship silver medalist from 2011.

Serbian coach Dusan Ivkovic believes Micic is well on his way to becoming a high-level player.

"He's a very, very talented guy. He was in the top five from the U19 World Championship and he has a great future ahead of him," he said.

"My feeling is right that this guy understands the game beyond the juniors and this basketball is a very big difference."

Micic may have played last summer in the EuroBasket qualifiers but he was rehabbing from a major knee injury that cost him much of the 2011-12 season with Mega Vizura.

He displayed his skills at the 2011 U18 European Championship where he helped Serbia to the bronze medal and was named to the All-Tournament Team - as a 17-year-old.

That performance earned him a spot in the 2011 EuroBasket U18 All-Star Game, where he played alongside fellow 2013 EuroBasket young stars such as Dario Saric, Sergey Karasev and Przemyslaw Karnowski.

"When I played that (All-Star) game I didn't expect I would play at this European Championship because I had a big injury. I recovered so good and the results from last season is this European Championship," said Micic.

The young playmaker is part of yet another generation of talent from Serbia. Three-quarters of Serbia's team in Slovenia are making their EuroBasket debut. And Micic and his other young teammates are taking example from their few veteran leaders.

"We are trying to improve our game. We have so many first timers. It's not so good for this team. We don't have so much experience, but we try to follow our best players like (Nemanja) Bjelica and Krstic," he said.

Micic's days of playing youth basketball appear to be long behind him already. The next step is winning medals at the senior level. Serbia hope that begins this summer in Slovenia.

For full and in-depth coverage of EuroBasket 2013, go to the official website http://www.eurobasket2013.org.

FIBA