Serbia's Nemanja Bjelica (Photo : Reuters)
Serbia and Czech Republic meet each other in the quarterfinals of the 2015 EuroBasket on Wednesday after both teams pulled off impressive victories in the tournament's Round-of-16 competitions on September 13 at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille, France.
Serbia pummeled a hard-fighting Finland five, 94-81, in their knockout game last Sunday. Backup center Miroslav Raduljica led the team's high-octane offensive attack with 27 points and four rebounds, as per TalkBasket.
The depth of head coach Aleksandar Djordjevic's team was apparent in the game as the Serbians' bench badly outscored the Finnish side, 62-24.
Minnesota Timberwolves' Nemanja Bjelica scored 19 points and hauled down 14 huge boards to underscore Serbia's dominance in the paint as well.
Meanwhile, the Czechs stunned 2013 EuroBasket fourth placers Croatia, 80-59, to enter the quarterfinals of the tournament for the first time in the nation's history, as reported by Be In Sports.
Czech Republic placed 13th during the last edition of the EuroBasket and was not expected to go deep in this year's competitions.
Head coach Ronen Ginzburg's men was led in the game by starting big man Jan Vesely with 20 points and 13 rebounds while starting point guard Tomás Satoransky contributed 10 points, five rebounds, and 11 assists in effectively orchestrating the team's offense.
The Czechs will have a hard time containing the skilled frontcourt of the Serbians, who are expected to rely again on Bjelica. However, Djordjevic must be wary of Czech Republic's running attack anchored on spitfire Satoransky.
In a clash of playing styles, the depth of Serbia will again prevail as they move on to the semifinals.
Prediction: Serbia wins, 88-78
Serbia starting five: Ognjen Kuzmic (C), Nemanja Bjelica (PF), Nikola Kalinic (SF), Stefan Markovic (SG), Milos Teodosic (PG)
Czech Republic starting five: Jan Vesely (C), Petr Benda (PF), Pavel Pumprla (SF), Blake Schilb (SG), Tomás Satoransky (PG)
