Serbia fell to Finland 92-86 in the EuroBasket 2025 Round of 16, with coach Svetislav Pesic criticized for failing to make in-game adjustments, mismanaging rotations, and overplaying underperforming players.
Serbia is officially out of FIBA EuroBasket 2025, despite entering the tournament as heavy favorites. Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic scored 33 points and gave everything he had to lead Serbia past Finland in the Round of 16—but it wasn't enough.
Finland won 92-86 on Saturday night, eliminating Serbia from medal contention and leaving Jokic still without a EuroBasket medal. Experts in the U.S. pointed to additional problems for Serbia, beyond the absence of captain Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Eric Sedum from the DNVR Denver Nuggets Podcast didn't hold back in criticizing the Serbian coach, 76-year-old Svetislav Pesic, for failing to make adjustments during the crucial loss.
"I'm so out on coach Pesic," Sedum said. "This has to be the last time I ever see him coach Serbia. I really thought he was asleep at the wheel. I didn't see any adjustments."
Credit IMAGO/Eibner - Scanpix
"The Finnish squad was able to do the same thing the entire time," he continued. "They made no adjustments at all, either in the way that they were defending, in personnel, like he brought guys in the last minute of the game."
"I don't know what he was doing," the analyst added. "Bro, you have other guys. Like Marko Guduric is not getting it done. Where's [Vanja] Marinkovic? Look for something else. Why does [Aleksa] Avramovic only play 17 minutes when Stefan Jovic is out there just sucking wind?"
After the game, Pesic explained that Serbia's loss was due to a lack of physical conditioning, compounded by injuries, a lack of defensive aggressiveness, and a virus that had affected the team before the decisive match.
Pesic had originally planned to step down as Serbia's national team coach after the Paris Olympics, where Serbia finished third, but he returned to lead the squad for this tournament.
This Was The Biggest Upset Of The Century!
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