SRB - Nedovic is Serbia's future

OAKLAND (NBA/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Serbia’s impact on the basketball world is undeniable.

Up until 2002, Yugoslavia produced some of the best players in European basketball such as Vlade Divac, Predrag Stojakovic, Pedrag Danilovic and Dejan Bodiroga. The Balkan country has won many trophies over the last twenty years, including back-to-back World Championships in 1998 and 2002 and three Eurobasket titles in 1995,1997 and 2001.

However, since the retirement of their legendary players in the mid 2000’s, Serbia has been struggling, having only won a silver medal in the 2009 Eurobasket in Poland.

Finishing 7th in the continental tournament in Slovenia last summer, the Orlovi has started a reconstruction process in order to build a competitive team for the future.

Alongside former NBA player Nenad Krstic and Red Star Belgrade Rasko Katic, new national team coach Aleksandar Djordjevic can count on some young talents, such as Golden State Warriors rookie Nemanja Nedovic.

Selected 30th overall in the 2013 Draft, the point guard showed his potential in the last continental competition where he averaged 8.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

"It was my first major tournament with the senior national team and even if I had difficulties making shots during some games, I learned a lot during this competition," Nedovic told FIBA.com.

"It was amazing to play against some of the best European players, such as France's Tony Parker and Spain's Ricky Rubio. You need to play your best basketball when they are on the court."

Despite being eliminated by Spain in the Quarter-Finals, the youngster thinks that Serbia had a great tournament.

"I think that we did well considering the fact that we had the youngest roster in the competition. Every one of us did his best and we have a promising future", he said.

Nicknamed the "European Derrick Rose" by some experts, Nedovic is considered one of the best continental prospects at the point guard position since he started his professional career at Red Star Belgrade in 2009.

"I had the opportunity to play in one of the best basketball academies of the world. Spending those years at Red Star Belgrade helped me grow as both a basketball player and a man", Nedovic stated.

"After Red Star Belgrade, I had the opportunity to go to Lietuvos Rytas were I played against the best teams in the continent during the Euroleague. It was an intense year but I gained a lot of experience during my stint in Lithuania."

After just one year in the Baltic country, the Nova Varos native decided to cross the Atlantic and try to make it in the NBA.

"At the end of last season, I knew that I was ready to come to the United States and play in the best league of the world," he said.

"The experience is not going as well as I expected as I haven’t spent a lot of minutes on the court with Golden State. But I keep working hard and try to show great things in their Development League team, the Santa Cruz Warriors."

"There are a lot of great players in my position in the roster such as Stephen Curry, Jordan Crawford and Steve Blake so I have to be patient."

Regarding the season, the Serbian thinks that the Bay Area team is going to be a tough opponent in the playoffs.

"We have lot of talented players and the team wants to go far in the playoffs. We are afraid of nobody," he admitted.

After the NBA season, the talented point guard will have another intense summer while playing with his national team at the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain.

"Our group is though as we are going to play against great teams such as Spain, France and Brazil. We can’t promise anything to our fans but to go compete in order to keep learning, gain experience and grow as a team," he stated.

"We will likely have one of the youngest roster so we need to be patient."

The youngster is motivated to be part of the team.

"I still need to talk with the Warriors’ staff about it but I would like to play with the national team this summer," he confirmed.

FIBA