The former 2020 WCC Player of the Year has yet another crack at his former coach in the Paris Olympics.
A trip to the gold medal match at the Paris Olympics will be on the line tomorrow.
This will be the third time this summer that USA and Serbia will have played each other. The first time was at the USA Basketball Showcase and the Americans dominated the Serbians in Abu Dhabi, 105-79. The second time came in Olympic pool play in the opening game for Group C and USA took care of business once again, 110-84.
Filip Petrusev would want nothing more than upsetting his former collegiate coach, Mark Few. The 2020 West Coast Conference Player of the Year has been the sidekick to Nikola Jokic in the Serbian frontcourt this summer. In Serbia’s 24-point comeback win over Australia ( the biggest ever in Olympic history), the former Zag scored 9 points on 3-7 FG, 5 rebounds and 2 steals.
Team USA and Serbia will square off in the semifinals on Thursday, August 8th at 12 PM ET. It will follow France and Germany, which will tip-off at 8:30 AM ET. Both games can be watched on USA Network and Peacock.
Unfortunately for Andrew Nembhard and Kelly Olynyk, Canada’s trip in Paris is over. It was a strong start to the Olympics after going undefeated at 3-0 in Group A. The Canadians looked like the country to beat besides USA but they ended up falling to France in the quarterfinals, 82-73. Both Zags put up goose-eggs in the scoring category of the box score.
It was tough for the two to stand out on a roster filled with 10 NBA players. The worst part about losing in the Olympics is that your next opportunity comes four years later but Canada’s basketball future looks extremely bright.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho