Americans not main favorites for gold: Legend expects Dream Team's solid defense and motivation

Svetislav Pesic, a former Yugoslavia head coach who won the gold medal with this team in the world championships played in Indianapolis, is convinced that Americans are not a strong favorite to win gold in the the upcoming world  basketball championship to be held in China.

In about twenty days, a new basketball world championship begins, which will run until September 15, and ahead of it, the United States is left without numerous stars, who canceled their participation for a variety of reasons.

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Despite head coach Greg Popovich being one of the best basketball coaches in the world for a long time, at least on paper, the Dream Team is not as strong as it was in previous years.

"America is one of the favorites at the World Championship in China, but it's obvious that it's not the main favorite. It's hard to say whether their important players canceling is an advantage for other teams that are candidates for the medal. The Americans, led by Popovich from the bench, will have a good team, which will have a strong defense. And we should expect a motivated team," Pesic told Serbia's sports daily Sportski Zurnal.

He claims that Serbia has not had a squuad of such quality for a long time, especially since our national team in previous years managed to win medals in the biggest competitions even with weaker players.

Pesic also included Greece and Spain as favorites for the gold medal.

(Telegraph.rs)