SRB – Serbia ready to take aim at Olympics

BELGRADE (EuroBasket 2011) – Serbia coach Dusan Ivkovic has included 19 players on his preliminary list for the EuroBasket in Lithuania and set Olympic qualification as a goal for his youngsters.

Reaching the Final is a must for a Serbia team looking at the EuroBasket as their springboard to the London Games.

"The time has come for us to fulfill our plan we set out three years ago,” Ivkovic said.

“Our main goal was, and still is, qualification for the London Olympics 2012. That's our plan in Lithuania, too."

Acutely aware that it will be tough to reach the Final and qualify for the Olympics, Serbia’s coach has every reason to believe his team has as good a chance as any national side.

They captured silver at the EuroBasket in Poland two years ago and last summer finished fourth at the FIBA World Championship.

"Once again we'll have the youngest but at the same time, most compact squad,” he said.

“Still, we'll have a tough task in Lithuania, as all teams will come with their best players, with all those NBA players who have missed EuroBasket 2009 in Poland.

“I believe in the players I've called. I know they will work hard and that they will be ready for competition in Lithuania."

Serbia will gather on July 4 and have their training camp in Rottenburg, Germany.

Ivkovic's preliminary squad will play at three tournaments before the EuroBasket. They will play in Slovenia, participating in the "Cup of Six Nations" from August 6-9 with Bosnia and Herzegovina and F.Y.R. of Macedonia, who are also in Group B, while Montenegro, Croatia and Slovenia will be in Group A.

Serbia will then participate in the Efes Pilsen World Cup X in Izmir from August 11-13 with Germany, Ukraine and Turkey, while in a warm-up tournament in London from August 16-21, Serbia will play against Croatia, China, Great Britain, Australia and France.

At EuroBasket 2011, Serbia will play in Group B with Italy, Latvia, Israel, Germany and France.

Serbia preliminary squad for EuroBasket 2011: Milos Teodosic, Stefan Markovic, Milenko Tepic, Aleksandar Rasic, Uros Tripkovic, Dragan Milosavljevic, Ivan Paunic, Marko Keselj, Nemanja Bjelica, Marko Cakarevic, Milan Macvan, Dusko Savanovic, Novica Velickovic, Milovan Rakovic, Ivan Radenovic, Nenad Krstic, Kosta Perovic, Miroslav Raduljica and Boban Marjanovic.

FIBA