Out of the game in an upset! Stopped in the quarterfinals again, where is Serbia losing?

The European Championship tour belonging to Serbia ended early. In the quarterfinals of 16 of the European Championship, Finland defeated Serbia 92-86 and advanced to the quarterfinals.

This game is definitely a surprise. You know, FIBA ​​has so far ranked in 5 combat power. Serbia has ranked first in the first four periods, and the latest period is also ranked third, which is completely popular in the championship. In comparison, Finland, which defeated them this time, is only ranked 11th among all 16 teams.

However, there seem to be signs of uproar, and there are three reasons:

1. Serbia encountered injury problems, Bogdan was reimbursed, and Aframovich fought with injury. They had lost to Turkey in the last game of the group stage. In the 2022 European Championship, Serbia, who lacked Bogdan, also fell in the top 16

2. Finland is not that weak. They have the peak Markkanin and the rising star Mulinin. Previously, they lost 3 wins and 2 losses in the group stage, and the two losses were 30 points defeats Germany (first in the strength list), and 3 points defeated Lithuania. In 202 In the European Championships in two years, they also reached the quarterfinals for the first time in the team's history. There is uncertainty in the final victory and loss of the European Championship knockout stage. Take this year's top 16 for example. Turkey, which was second in strength and won the group stage, fell behind by 5 points in the first half, and only won 6 points in the whole game. On the other hand, Germany, which was second in strength, also won the group stage, and averaged 30+ net wins per game, beat Portugal, which was second to last (for the first time in history), led by 52-51 at the end of the third quarter, and scored 33-7 in the fourth quarter before the victory was secured

and then back to this game, let's talk about Serbia first.

Jokic is still the best player in the game, shooting 9 of 13 shots, 1 of 2 three-pointers, 14 of 19 free throws, scoring 33 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 1 block. He scored 7 points in the team's 12 points in the last 5 minutes of the fourth quarter, including a desperate three-pointer.

In addition to Jokic, another NBA star in Serbia, Jovic, also performed well in this game, making 7 of 13 shots, 4 of 9 three-pointers, and 2 of 3 free throws, scoring 20 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

However, except for these two, none of Serbia scored in double digits, and the outside line was silent. The others made 6 of 25 shots, with a shooting percentage of only 24%. On the other side, Malkanen made 1 of 9 three-pointers, but the others made 14 of 33 shots, with a shooting percentage of 42%.

The three-pointer was inaccurate on one hand, and the rebound was in the other hand. Finland snatched 20 front-board rebounds in this game and snatched 12 times. So you will see that the comparison between the two sides' shots was 74-61. Finland took 13 more shots and finally turned into victory.

To put it bluntly, there are actually requirements for building a team around Jokic. First of all, an excellent defender is needed to share firepower and pass the ball to Jokic, and to stand up at critical moments. This character should have been Bogdan, but unfortunately he is reimbursed.

The result was that in the end, Jokic could not even touch the ball. Several defenders fell back and forth and forced many shots, but they did not catch up with the points (Gudulic was a war criminal in this game, with 1 of 9 shots in the game, and 0 of 4 shots in the last 4 minutes of the final quarter. Can the head coach endure it?).

In addition, an excellent number four position is also indispensable. In fact, the reason why the Nuggets have changed from an ordinary strong team to a top-level strong team is because of Gordon's arrival, which directly made up for Jokic's defensive shortcomings and also provided Jokic with an all-connect and an empty-cut threat.

And this Serbia does not have such a role. In the last five minutes of this game, the Finnish men's basketball team targeted Jokic, from 75-77 to 87-81. The team got 12 points and every point in a single against Jokic.

Let's talk about Finland, it's really not simple.

Markkanen is still the "Jordan", making 8 of 24 shots, 1 of 9 three-pointers, 12 of 13 free throws, scoring 29 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals, plus or negative values ​​+12, efficiency values ​​+26, the highest in the team.

But there is not only Jordan in Finland. Four players in the team scored in double digits in this game. Other players repeatedly provided outside support when Markanen missed three-pointers, among which Vartonin became the surprise.

In the previous five group matches, Valtonin averaged only 4.8 points per game, with a total of 8 three-pointers.

In this game, Valtonin scored 13 points, 3 of 7 three-pointers in total, and took a wave of overtaking in the last quarter, making layups, three-pointers, and tip-offs. In the end, he also scored a three-pointer that almost killed the game against Jokic. After defeating Serbia, the Finnish men's basketball team reached the quarterfinals for two consecutive years. Their next opponent will be the winners of France and Georgia, with France's more likely.

Even though Vinbanyama and Gobert did not play, the French men's basketball team is still the top five in this European Championship, with many NBA or former NBA players such as Abussele, Couliebali, and Rissache.

However, the reimbursement of French center Saar is a hidden danger - the advantage of the Finnish men's basketball team is that it has excellent body shape and strong impact, and also has a FIBA ​​killer Markanen. If there is another upset, we will not be surprised.

Finally, I returned to Serbia and told the truth.

Serbia is undoubtedly a basketball powerhouse. They have won second place many times in international competitions, including second in the 2016 Olympics, second in the 2014 and 2023 World Cups, second in the 2009 and 2017 European Championships, but they have never won the championship..

This year should have been the most chance, but unfortunately he encountered Bogdan and was injured. As the number one player in the world basketball world, Jokic may have to wait a little longer - after being eliminated from the top 16 in the 2022 European Championships, the Nuggets won the championship in 2023, and the 2025 European Championships were eliminated from the top 16 again. Next year?