FanPost

Phoenix Suns draftee Bogdan Bogdanovic on Mundobasket - first two days

This is just a mini review of Bogdan's first two plays on Mundobasket. Yesterday Serbia played against Egypt and this was probably the second most uneven game, just behind the USA-SUOMI. Bogdan made only 3 points in light exercise game, he played 21 minutes and also achieved 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Its nothing realy to analyze here, because Serbians just passed the ball down low where Raduljica (free agent now, if I'm correct) finished. But today's game against France was different story.

France is without Parker but still quite formidable force: Diaw, Pietrus, Batum, Gobert ... Bogdan and Serbia started well, Bogdan made 8 pts in the first quarter and for the moment beat even unstoppable Raduljica, who finished with 21 pts in the end. In my opinion, early lead, which stretched through first half, also brought problems for Serbian players in their mental focus, because they become a bit sleepy or less motivated. The opposite was true with French players, they smelled blood and dramatic finish was eminent. At the end Bogdan had the last shot for win, but Diaw probably made a foul against him and the referees didn't call it. I guess the Serbian media will have a lot to say about this. At the other end France scored 1 second before end.

In the second half Bogdan made only 4 pts, 12 for the whole match and become second scorer for the team, only behind Raduljica. This is achievement, nevertheless, there is a lot of power on Serbian bench. He also got 3 rebounds and 1 assist. His crucial moments were two open shots on perimeter in last quarter, which he missed. I would not read too much here, I would just say that, today is hard to win if you are playing with less motivation, maybe even with little underestimation. This is probably also nothing new for Serbian team - just for the record and readers not quite familiar with EU basket.