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Serbia not dwelling on ‘favorites’ tag, ready for FIBA World Cup challenge

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/afp/08/30/20190829-serbia.jpg"/><figcaption>Serbia players pose with their silver medals after the FIBA Eurobasket 2017 final against Slovenia in Istanbul in September 2017. Ozan Kose, AFP/file</figcaption></figure></div>FOSHAN, China—Serbia enters the 2019 FIBA World Cup as one of the heavy favorites to win the whole tournament, with a lineup that features 4 NBA players including All-Star center Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.The Serbians have won 11 straight games in FIBA competition, with their last loss coming on February 21 to Estonia, 71-70. Since then, they have been virtually unstoppable, and are touted as a lock to make it out of Group D.For head coach Sasha Djordjevic, however, all the rankings, expectations, and predictions surrounding his team are nothing but noise.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/31/19/fiba-world-cup-italy-looks-to-slow-down-gilas-pilipinas">FIBA World Cup: Italy looks to slow down Gilas Pilipinas</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/30/19/time-to-prove-them-wrong-billy-crawford-cheers-for-gilas-at-fiba-world-cup">‘Time to prove them wrong’: Billy Crawford cheers for Gilas at FIBA World Cup</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/30/19/fiba-world-cup-gilas-hopes-coaches-scouting-will-pay-off-against-italy">FIBA World Cup: Gilas hopes coaches&#x27; scouting will pay off against Italy</a></li></ul>&quot;Rankings, expectations, prognostics, it&#x27;s not us. We do our job, we focus on our responsibilities. We don&#x27;t care about that,&quot; Djordjevic said Friday, after being told that his team was No. 1 in the <a href="http://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2019/news/fiba-basketball-world-cup-power-rankings-volume-3">FIBA World Cup Power Rankings</a> ahead of the tournament.Rather than dwell on the expectations, Djordjevic made it clear that his team is focused on the task at hand — a task that starts on Saturday when his squad takes on Angola.&quot;(We are) being humbled and being aware that we have certain names in our team, but until the competition starts and the game starts, it&#x27;s just something in the air,&quot; the coach said.&quot;We&#x27;re not running away from it, we want to go to the end, try to give our best, and that&#x27;s the only goal. I believe we have a squad who&#x27;s ready.&quot;Djordjevic, who steered Serbia to a silver medal in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, is counting on his team&#x27;s chemistry and experience to see them through in the World Cup.&quot;This is the fifth or maybe sixth year that we&#x27;re together with practically the same staff, and group of players is always the same, you know,&quot; he said. &quot;We know what&#x27;s our job. We know what&#x27;s our job, we know what&#x27;s our goal.&quot;Moreover, Djordjevic believes that his team&#x27;s pride will further fuel them in their campaign, along with the support that they have received from their fans.&quot;We are competitors, we want to represent our country, we are a proud people. That pride is a lot, it gives us a lot once we step on the floor. And that&#x27;s how we&#x27;re gonna play. We&#x27;re gonna give our best, try to do our best, try to win every each second and each game that we have,&quot; he said.Serbia opens its campaign against Angola on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., with Djordjevic and his players expecting a &quot;tough game.&quot; &quot;We know that the first game is always tough,&quot; said Serbia forward Vladimir Lucic. &quot;We watched some games of Angola and saw that they were a physical team, good defenders.&quot;&quot;We know that it&#x27;s gonna be a tough game for us tomorrow.&quot;<div>For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com">ABS-CBN Sports website</a>.</div>

Serbia's lineup features 4 NBA players including All-Star center Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.

Serbia's lineup features 4 NBA players including All-Star center Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.

Serbia not dwelling on ‘favorites’ tag, ready for FIBA World Cup challenge

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Serbia not dwelling on ‘favorites’ tag, ready for FIBA World Cup challenge

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 30, 2019 08:33 PM PHT

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Updated August 31, 2019 03:16 AM PHT

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2019 FIBA World Cup

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