Serbia NT 2009

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Ivkovic Looks Ahead To Busy Blues Summer



Serbia coach Dusan Ivkovic was on hand to watch Partizan Belgrade clinch their 10th Cup title in club history in Nis at the weekend with an 80-65 win over Red Star.



Ivkovic watched many of his national team players that helped the country qualify for this year's EuroBasket in Poland, men that he will be counting on to excel when Serbia take on Spain, Slovenia and Great Britain in group play in Warsaw.



The veteran coach has a busy summer coming up and will be focusing on three national squads.



"Together with the FIBA European Championship (EuroBasket) in Poland, we'll have the Universiade 2009 in our capital, but we've also decided to send one national team to the Mediterranean Games," he said.



"It was a bit of a problem for us, since competitions in Belgrade and Pescara (Italy) will be held at the same time, but we'll have our teams at both places.



"It is important for us to see every single player with true potential, so at the Mediterranean Games we'll be able to see many under-20 players and several born in 1990, while at the Universiade we will be evaluating performances and talent of players born from 1985 to 1991.



"Those players who'll have quite a serious preparation period will be joined by several seniors who are already candidates for our national team and EuroBasket."



Serbia finished top of their EuroBasket qualifying group ahead of Bulgaria, Italy, Finland and Hungary to fuel hopes of a resurgence with the national team.



The Blues haven't reached the podium since 2002, when they won the FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis.



"Up to this moment, we've done big things regarding planning and forming our own concept of work, not just for our senior team, but as well for other men's selections of Serbia," he said.



"At the start of May, we'll have a final list of chosen players, but not sooner as we are not interested just in results.



"We are focusing on creating and developing great basketball players.



"Therefore, we have to monitor all available players, whether they are playing in Serbia, in other European countries or they are studying in USA."



Yugoslavia once produced the best players in Europe, many of who played for the biggest clubs on the continent or travelled to North America to play in the NBA.



"At the moment, we do not have a real 'series' of players that are among the highest class, like we used to have," Ivkovic said.



"In fact, at foreign clubs, our only player with a key role is Igor Rakocevic (Tau Ceramica, Spain)."



Still, Ivkovic is aware that the primary job for both himself and the country's basketball bosses is to qualify for the 2010 FIBA World Championship with good performances and results in Poland this year.



"I have to repeat the words of our great basketball player, now the presidential candidate for the Serbian Olympic Committee Vlade Divac, that our main goal was and still is to qualify for the World Championship in Turkey," Ivkovic said.



"That's quite of a task since our team has to be fully prepared for the very first game in Poland.



"We have to play smart, and to achieve good results at the same time.



"That won't be easy at all, as we have a tough schedule: Spain, Slovenia and Great Britain.



"Our chance is to be as well prepared as possible. That said we've already planned every single detail until our trip to Warsaw on September 5.



"The only unknown is whether or not we'll participate in the Borislav Stankovic Cup in China, which will be held during first the first weekend of August.



"The final decision on that issue will be made after we create our preliminary list of candidates for the national team of Serbia."

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