Responding to Dillon Brooks' "early nape", Serbia defeated Canada to enter the final of the FIBA World Cup 2023
After locking down Luka Doncic and his teammates defeating Slovenia to reach the semi-finals, Dillon Brooks declared he was the best perimeter defense player in the world, including the NBA or FIBA arena.
But when he reached the semi-finals, the Canadian defender's "crowning early" statement backfired. He himself got his third personal foul in the second half and had to make friends with the bench. Meanwhile, Canada lost to Serbia with a difference of 9 points and missed the final match.
The Serbian team will play the second FIBA World Cup final in the last three editions after defeating Canada convincingly in the semi-finals taking place on the afternoon of September 8, Vietnam time.
The European representative completely controlled the area near the basket in both attack and defense. Five different Serbian players scored over 10 points, led by Atlanta Hawks shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic with 23 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
Canada only scored 15 points in the first half and failed to reach the 40-point mark after the first two innings. Serbia took a 52-39 lead at halftime and for the rest of the game they never lost their advantage.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who leads the Canadian team in scoring, rebounds and assists throughout this FIBA World Cup, was "hungry for points" in the first 15 minutes of the match, the result of the annoying defense on the Serbian side.
All game, Shai scored 15 points, 9 assists and 2 rebounds, not as good as the 25-point-per-game average he scored for Canada since the start of the tournament.
RJ Barrett (23 points) and Dillon Brooks (16 points) are the two leading points on the Canadian side of this semi-final.
On the Serbian side, they not only have the excellence of Bogdan Bogdanovic, but many other individuals also play well and effectively. Guard Ognjen Dobric and center Nikola Milutinov stood out with each scoring 16 points.
Serbia is the team with the highest success rate in the tournament (55% FG). Today they continue to show this strength with 62% FG, drowning Canada's final hopes.
This result sends the Serbian team back to the FIBA World Cup final with the goal of getting their hands on the gold medal. Their opponent is the winner of the remaining semi-final match between Germany and the United States.
Serbia reached the World Cup final in 2014 but lost heavily to the US team with a difference of nearly 40 points. At the most recent WC in 2019, despite Nikola Jokic, the European team had to stop in the quarterfinals.
As for the Canadian team, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his teammates still have the right to be proud of being in the top 4 strongest teams in the World Cup and top 2 American countries, winning tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The third place match of the FIBA World Cup 2023 will take place tomorrow night, Saturday (September 9) between Canada and the losing team in the semi-final between Germany and the US.
