BELGRADE (FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018) - Serbia coach Slobodan Klipa  made just three changes from his team at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2017 for the group that will compete for a title at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018. 

Vladan Music, David Petrusev and Aleksej Pokusevski have been added to the team while Stefan Agoc, Marko Andric and Novak Miskovic were out from the U16 side that finished third last summer to get Serbia back to the U17 World Cup for the first time since finishing third in 2014.

"The U17 World Cup is a kind of reward for this generation that last year won the bronze medal in Podgorica. We have ambitions going to Argentina. We want to show ourselves in the best possible light, and the goal we set is a spot in the Semi-Finals," Klipa said.

Serbia have already played some warm-up games, losing twice to Turkey and beating Montenegro twice.

All of the leaders from the U16 team are back, including top scorer Djordje Pazin and Stevan Karapandzic, who was second in scoring, first in assists and fourth in rebounds. But the new additions give Klipa's team some more weapons. 

Pokusevski is playing with European powerhouse Olympiacos Piraeus while Petrusev is the younger brother of Filip Petrusev, a member of Serbia's title winning team at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2017. Petrusev will be playing next season at Montverde Academy in Florida, just like his older brother did until this season.

Serbia have been drawn into Group B with China, Mali and United States.

"There will be no easy games in the championship. The Americans are traditionally the biggest favorites, but everyone can equally play and fight for victory ," Klipa said.

FIBA