JOKIC TAKES ON TEAM USA IN THE SEMIS!

Nikola Jokic from Serbia and the Denver Nuggets has been the MVP of the Olympic basketball tournament so far. Today he and Serbia are squaring off in one of the semi-finals with the super huge favourites, Team USA. In the other one the hosts, France, will do it’s best to avenge Germany, who beat them in the group stage.

TEAM FRANCE VS TEAM GERMANY

We predicted a dog fight in the quarter final between Canada and France And that is exactly what happened. France won that low scoring game thanks to their excellent defence.The underdogs got through with great contributions from players like Lessort, Yabusele, Cordonier and Fournier. France won the match 82-73 and Gobert and Wembanyama did not see too much of the floor. Germany defeated Greece led by the eminent Giannis, 76-63. Germany is the best coached team in the tournament. Every player knows their role and they are physical, they love to play hard and they are well organised. Coach Herbert deserves all the flowers he is getting. So Germany beat France in the group phase and are expected to win again. France must be more productive and effective on the around the rim. They must slow down Franz Wagner,he has been playing great so far at the olympics. France hit some big threes versus Canada and need to do it again tonite versus Germany. Lessort and Yabusele caused Canada a lot of problems. If they repeat that against Germany everything is possible for the hosts.

TEAM USA VS TEAM SERBIA

USA defeated Brazil 122-87 in the quarter finals. Brazil had a 13-4 run in the second quarter and that was about all the fun Brazil had in the game. Some say that this version of Team USA is better than the original dream team from Barcelona 1992. It’s hard to compare teams from different eras. USA did beat Serbia handedly in the non Jokic minutes when they played each other in the group phase. USA won 110-84. In the 31 minutes Jokic played the score was 81-81. In the nine minutes Jokic rested on the bench USA wion 29-3. Serbia defeated Australia in the quarterfinals after they completed the biggest ever comeback in the history of Olympic basketball. They were down by 24 points in the second quarter and went on to win it in overtime. Jokic was massive in the OT and Serbia won the game thanks to his clutch defence. Jokic had a block and a couple of steals in the last two minutes of the OT. Latest news from Team USA is that Embiid is questionable to play. He missed the practice session yesterday. For Serbia, the Miami Heat starlet, Nikola Jovic, is probable.

CAN TEAM SERBIA UPSET TEAM USA?

Is there any way Team Serbia can threaten Team USA tonite? Well, Serbia has been really ineffective from behind the arc. They need to hit 80% of their shots from downtown to be a threat. Nikola Jokic must probably play the best game of his life. His Jumpshot hasn’t been working since the magical play off run in 2023 when Denver won its first and only championship so far. Jokic shot 46% in the playoffs in 2023 from behind the arc. He is at 20% at the Olympics. So it is pretty much impossible for Team Serbia to beat Team USA. Sometimes the impossible happens. Will it happen in this match? No, it will not.