The captain of the Serbian basketball team, Bogdan Bogdanović, said that big games, such as last night's against the USA in the semi-finals of the Olympic tournament, are decided by the details, that the team fought hard and that he is proud despite the defeat.
"We had the most experience with them in the preparation period, I think that in the end it helped us a lot. In the end, we were not allowed to let a couple of loose balls, their counter attacks, open shots. That was the deciding factor. In games like this, details always decide," he said. Bogdanović told reporters in Paris.
Serbian basketball players failed to qualify for the finals of the Olympic tournament, as they lost to the USA 91:95. The Serbian team was better and led almost the entire match, but the current champion played better in the end, took advantage of the opponent's mistakes and qualified for the final, where they will play against France.
"A tough defeat, it's the same when you lose by two, three, five or 20 points, in the end it's the same, the loser is the loser, and the winner moves on. We should be proud of the way we fought. We should look at all this positively We thought we would win them like this in the semi-finals.
"Of course it's difficult for me. We fought like lions, I'm proud of the way we approached, tactically and as a team. We had them, but when you play with them, you lose 10 points in two minutes," he added.
He was asked about the trial.
"It's not our business, that we fought until the end... It's up to them, to their soul, let them sleep as they want," said Bogdanović.
The Serbian team will play for the bronze medal against the current world champion, Germany, on Saturday at 11 am.
"It doesn't mean bronze, we need to show character. To recover from this defeat. At 11, that suits us," said Bogdanović.
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