Friday preview: Heavyweights Russia and Serbia fight for spot in Final 15  september  2017

FIBA
European basketball powerhouses Russia and Serbia hope to keep their title dreams alive when they clash in the second Semi-Final on Friday night.
Both teams have only lost once in the tournament but, tellingly, Russia inflicted Serbia's sole loss of the tournament in the Group Phase. That game was a tight affair with Russia pulling out a three-point victory, pointing to a thrilling contest looming in the Semi-Finals.

The winner will play unbeaten Slovenia in the Final on Sunday.

Russia v Serbia (20:30 CET/ 21:30 local time)

Tournament form — Russia: WWWLWWW — Serbia: WLWWWWW

Key match-up: Aleksei Shved v Bogdan Bogdanovic. The duo have been among the best players in the tournament leading their teams to within sight of a medal.

Shved doesn't quite enjoy as much support as his counterpart as evidenced against Greece in the Quarter-Finals when he was fatigued late after a spectacular third quarter to get his team back into the game.

Sometimes Russia's stagnant offense looks entirely predictable with Shved trying to do it all but he's usually good enough to get the job done.

Against Serbia, Shved might be well advised to try and get his teammates going early in a bid to conserve energy before taking over later in the game.

Bogdanovic may not quite be relied upon to the same degree, but he displayed his ability to step up in the clutch against Italy in the Quarter-Finals by scoring 14 of his 22 points in the fourth to ensure Serbia avoided a late meltdown.

Breakdown: Serbia are riding a five-game winning streak but their sole loss of the tournament was a three-point defeat to Russia in the Group Phase. So it is the Russians who probably have a slight psychological edge.

Russia's defense was excellent in that encounter smothering Serbia on the perimeter and their size was able to match it in the paint. Serbia's size and strength completely overwhelmed Italy but that advantage should be nullified against a similarly big and physical Russia.

Towering centers Timofey Mozgov and Boban Marjanovic slugged it out last start with the Russian's mobility causing the Serbian problems. Russia will need to rely on Mozgov offensively too, in an effort to support Shved, who was gassed late against Greece.

Shved had to be benched in the dying minutes and Russia was able to hang on but they undoubtedly need their star firing in crunch time if they are to knock off the 2016 Olympic medalists.

If the stars nullify each other, then it could come down to some of the supporting players. Nikita Kurbanov had a strong game against Serbia in the Group Phase but had limited impact against Greece. He looms as an X-factor, as does Serbian forward Vladimir Lucic who performed well in the Group Phase game and comes into the clash in-form.

With the teams similarly matched, it is set to be a memorable showdown between two giants of European basketball.
Source http://www.fiba.basketball/eurobasket/2017/news/heavyweig...