Serbia’s squad for the World Cup in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines has suffered another blow. In addition to the fundamental absences of Nikola Jokic, Vasilije Micic and Nikola Kalinic, the Balkan team will lose one of the NBA players who was on Svetislav Pesic‘s pre-list, Aleksej Pokusevski.
The recovery time for his hand injury prevents him from playing, creating another problem for the inside game of one of the powers of the global championship.
According to the Serbian portal ‘Sportski Zurnal’, the Thunder’s Aleksej Pokusevski will not be medically cleared to play. In the first days of May, the Belgrade power forward suffered a shoulder injury. He played 34 games with the Oklahoma franchise in which he averaged 6.1 points with an interesting shooting percentage (43.4% from the field and 36.5% from three-point range).
But there will be no green light. “His participation depends on his shoulder injury. He is being treated by a specialist in Athens and his availability will depend on his recovery. We hope to have him,” Pesic said.
With the absence of Pokusevski, Serbia has three NBA players left in the squad. On the one hand, Nikola Jovic who, despite not getting enough minutes with NBA finalists Miami Heat, will be a solution for the weak point guard position. The big name will be Bodgan Bogdanovic, always competent in FIBA format. And the latest arrival in the best league in the world, Filip Petrusev.
