Bench strength, the game-changer in Serbia-China contest
ISTANBUL (FIBA World Championship for Women) - Serbia's Marina Maljkovic and China's Tom Maher were in agreement over what was the determining factor in the former's 65-63 win in a pivotal Group D contest on Tuesday at the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women.
It all came down to how well the supporting cast reacted, both coaches said and warned that how they perform in this area will be a key to their continued success in the tournament.
The win means Serbia finish second in the Group and have a game against the third-place team of Group D - either Korea or Cuba - on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the defeat leaves China having to play against the second-place team from Group C - the losers of the Australia-Belarus game.
When Serbia star point guard Milica Dabovic picked up two fouls midway through the first quarter, Maljkovic called upon Tamara Radocaj to step up.
The Uni Gyor player jumped at the opportunity and played the role of the chief play-maker in style, leading the team with 19 points. That 14 of them came in the first half, which kept Serbia always ahead in the close contest added value to the 27-year-old's showing.
Maher too was faced with a similar predicament, towards the end of the game, when Gao Song fouled out.
"Unfortunately, the players we looked to raise the bar didn't react positively," said the Australian coach.
Maljkovic went a step further in saying that the phenomenon was nothing surprising.
"We have a set of five players who start the game, but that does not mean the other players are not important. Each of them are as important as the other and they all know this," she said.
When I call somebody to play, she knows exactly what is needed of her. - Maljkovic
"Sometimes we have Ana (Dabovic) and sometimes Milica. On other days we have even Jelena Milovanovic leading the way. Today it was Radocaj.
"I think the way we are playing as a team keeps me very positive for the remainder of the tournament."
Radocaj was in no doubt about what is needed of her and her team-mates.
"This is the character of the Serbian team. We play as a team and we work as a team. When somebody is not doing well, we know we have to step in," she said.
My job is to do what coach asks me to do. My job is to what the team needs done. - Radocaj
Almost half of Serbia's points, 29 of them, came from their bench. China had only 18.
"This was a winnable game for us. I wouldn't call us fancied when we began the game, but we did very well to be in the game for the entire duration. I think one mistake here and an error there made all the difference," Maher explained.
"They most important thing with this team is that with every game we are raising the bar. There are times when our players just freeze in tight situations. They know what needs to be done, but whether they do it or not decides the game. Unfortunately today we didn't have that luck."
China forward Lu Wen pointed to one particular area of concern.
"We were not moving as smoothly as we should in our offense," said the forward, whose 20 points constitute her second biggest scoring outing for the national team.
I think we made too many mistakes in our passing today. - Wen
"We also missed some easy lay-ups. We can't expect to win games with those mistakes."
Both Lu Wen and Maher expressed hope the mistakes will be reduced to a minimum when the team lines up for the Qualification to the Quarter-Finals game on Wednesday.
FIBA