Svetislav Pesic, head coach of Serbia, shared his thoughts after the lose over Finland in the Round of 16 at EuroBasket 2025.
“We couldn’t find a solution on the deffensive glass. We lost the game against Finland because they scored 92 points despite modest shooting percentages. They had 20 offensive rebounds, and we couldn’t counter that, which gave them confidence. Most of their threes came right after those rebounds. Even when we had a chance to take control and win, they kept grabbing offensive boards. Congratulations to Finland — they played an excellent game, and we didn’t respond in any way, especially not with energy.” said Svetislav Pesic.
What did you say to your players after the game?
“Nothing, what could I say? The game is over. We won’t talk about it until tomorrow. We didn’t win games just on atmosphere — if you think we won medals because of atmosphere, that’s not true. Games are won through quality, preparation, and knowledge, always. Nothing happened differently than it does in any other game. We can talk, look for excuses, but the reality is that in a game like this, in a tournament like this, you have to be physically better prepared. We weren’t at that level — that was missing. Several players were playing injured tonight, a virus hit our team — a sickness — and Nikola Jovic had issues and hadn’t trained at all except this morning.
This isn’t an excuse, and we’re not looking for reasons, but you need to be in better physical shape so the opposing team can feel it. You can’t say the players didn’t give everything they could in that moment. You can always do better, but it didn’t happen. Finland built confidence, everyone obviously looks at us as the favorite, which gave them extra motivation and all the things that can lead to a situation like this. They would shoot, and if they hit it was fine, if not, they were playing against the favorite. They stripped the ball from us, made threes — these are familiar scenarios — but of course, if Serbia loses to Finland, everyone asks how that could happen. Well, it happens, and that’s the reality.”
WE HAVE THE FIRST MAJOR UPSET!
Serbia is OUT of the tournament! ❌🇷🇸
Read more 👇 https://t.co/CrGFTsDFhn pic.twitter.com/9CYhmpQeHu
— Basketball Sphere (@BSphere_) September 6, 2025
Poor defense and lack of aggression
“Yes, we could and should have been more aggressive, both physically one-on-one and as a team. We had some good defensive moments in earlier games that boosted our confidence, but you saw how tough it was tonight. We broke down, we have to admit it. The players gave everything they had in that moment. You never lose a game for just one reason. What I can say after this game, what was visible on the court, speaks for itself. In the second quarter, we found balance — they shot just 1-of-10 from three, only got two offensive rebounds, and we won that quarter 24–16. That was, in a way, the key. After that, we couldn’t replicate it, and that led to the loss — that’s it.”
What’s next?
“We had a huge opportunity in front of us, the European Championship. Nobody is thinking about what comes after EuroBasket, and that’s not important right now. Everything was focused on preparing as best as we could, going into the tournament, and achieving the best possible result. What will happen? Of course, both wins and losses must be analyzed smartly and consciously, to learn from them and find solutions. Nobody likes to lose — we especially don’t, and it’s hard on our fans too.
Expectations were very high, whether realistic or not is not the question. High goals are sometimes set with reasoning, sometimes without. We tried to achieve a good result, but we ran into a team that played very good, cohesive basketball. No one here ever thought about underestimating an opponent. We didn’t underestimate anyone. We prepared very well, but sometimes even good preparation doesn’t bring results. The focus was absolute, without underestimation — the focus was entirely on this game. We didn’t take advantage of our chance, and that’s how it happened.”
EuroBasket 2025 – Rosters of all national teams
EuroBasket 2025, starting on August 27, will be the central topic of discussion in the coming period, alongside basketball transfers in Europe and worldwide.
National team gatherings across the Old Continent have already begun, and coaches have announced extended player lists, with only 12 players from each team set to secure their plane tickets for EuroBasket 2025.
EuroBasket 2025 will be hosted by four countries – Cyprus, Poland, Finland, and Latvia.
The final phase of the competition, meaning all national team matches after the group stage, will be played in Latvia, specifically in Riga, with the final scheduled for September 14.
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