SRB - Sakota keeping feet on the ground

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BELGRADE (FIBA World Championship) - Dragan Sakota insists rebuilding the Serbia & Montenegro national team will take "years" despite their excellent form ahead of the defence of their FIBA World Championship crown.

Sakota's completely revamped side won all three matches in their tournament in Bormio, including a 79-75 victory over champions Greece, a 75-70 success over hosts Italy and a 95-83 dismissal of Canada.

Darko Milicic averaged 17 points in first two games before being rested in the third, as were several other players did during first phase of training matches.

"Nothing has changed after our visit to Bormio," head coach Sakota said upon the squad's return to Belgrade.

"Everything is the same: we are still working very hard, all of our players created a good atmosphere but this is just the beginning.

"You can't create new team overnight, it is long-lasting process."

Sakota brushed off the significance of the tournament victory and the previous two friendly wins against Italy and Turkey.

"The results were good, no doubt, but they aren't important, really," he said.

"Of course, five victories raised our motivation, and showed we are working well. It was something like an injection of self-confidence for this very young team, which can't allow itself to stop after this kind of start.

"We have to our best in every single training session, in every single match. If we want to have really good national team, we can't say 'All right, we've got it already'.

"It is something that is built over years, and we are just at the start."

The Blues will stay in Belgrade until July 29, when they leave for Valencia for a tournament with Spain, China and Puerto Rico.

Despite being pleased with physical condition of his players, Sakota is still in the dark over the status of injured Partizan Belgrade center Kosta Perovic, who missed start of the side's preparation to receive treatment in the United States.

He also hinted he may axe players from his preliminary squad ahead of the official deadline.

"At the moment, everything is going smoothly, as we speak of the health of our players," Sakota said.

"But some of them will have to leave us, as the time for the first cut of the preliminary list of players is getting near.

"Maybe I'll make the first moves on that issue even before our trip to Spain - we'll see.

"With Perovic, we have 16 players in our squad, but the fact that he hasn't arrive from United States yet made our situation a bit complicated."

Leading Serbian newspapers reported on Tuesday that Perovic's team-mate Nikola Pekovic, who won European gold at the Under-20 Championship in Turkey this weekend, will be included in preliminary senior squad.

Serbia & Montenegro captured their first U20 European Championships title since 1998, beat the tournament hosts 64-58, with Pekovic averaging 11.6 points, six rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 22 minutes across eight successful games.

The FIBA World Championship tips off in Japan on August 19, with Serbia & Montenegro drawn in Group A alongside Olympic champions Argentina, France, Venezuela, Nigeria and Lebanon.

PA Sport