In the first half, Serbia went down by as much as 20 points. The FIBA World Cup silver medalists could never escape the intense pressure the Boomers applied in the first half. Desperate to come back, Nikola Jokić and head coach Svetislav Pešić seemed to have a difference in opinion. During a timeout, the two were seen bickering aggressively while the assistants tried to resolve the dispute.

During the timeout, Pesic was furious with Serbia for letting Patty Mills heat up without forcing him to the foul line. His powerful speech articulated his feelings about the same. “How many free throws has he (Mills) taken? He’s scoring 20 points, and you don’t foul him once, yet we want to win. How do you expect to do that? Make a foul, make five fouls,” he said.

It might prove something Brian Windhorst said about the Serbian national team not devising their strategy around the Joker, but preferring a “system” because of Pesic’s ‘old school’ mindset.

“Jokic plays a bigger role for the Nuggets than he does for Serbia, which I think is crazy. Like he’s only playing 27 minutes a game and their coach is like old school… And he wants to like run a system. The Serbian way is to run a system. And they run their system even though like it’s better off with Jokic having the ball like 98% of the time. They run their system because that’s the Serbian way,” Windhorst said on ESPN.

Generally, Jokić remains stone-faced when the Denver Nuggets are trailing. The Joker is the man containing everyone else’s emotions as the center point of the team’s system. A part of it’s drawn to the fact that he is the primary ball handler. Hence, Jokic has the freedom to weave his play when playing for the Nuggets.

But with Serbia, he can’t afford to replicate his impact since Pesic prioritizes playing with a cohesive ball-moving system, rather than pivoting off of Jokic. It has led to the Joker having to be passive, unable to go on full throttle. But does Pesic’s way affect Serbia? That can’t be said with certainty.

It was only last year that the veteran coach, without the star center, steered Serbia to a silver medal finish at the FIBA World Cup. That’s simply the nature of FIBA basketball. There can’t be heavy reliance on one player due to the depleted spacing and fast pace. It benefits when the ball keeps moving, and the defense is made to unsettle.

Serbia struggles in the minutes without Nikola Jokić

The problem doesn’t lie in the way Serbia plays. In fact, their system is effective under the regulations and capable of producing results. However, the conundrum is their failure to stay level-headed without their linchpin. The first game against Team USA made it evident.

In the 26-point loss, Nikola Jokić recorded a +/- of 0. That means with him on the floor, the Serbians could match up against the star-laden USA contingent. Sadly when he was off the floor, the momentum of the game completely shifted. Kevin Durant began picking apart the defense, making all of his shots in the first half.

Against South Sudan, which Serbia won by a comfortable 11-point margin, the Joker logged in a +10 differential. The theme has remained consistent in all of Serbia’s recent games. Hence, the best thing Serbia can do, now that a medal finish is on the line, is to keep Nikola Jokić on the floor.

Even if he doesn’t have the ball, the interior defense is forced to crash with him in the paint. Additionally, he is a genius post-playmaker, allowing him to access the entire floor. No matter the team, the key still seems to be in the hands of Nikola Jokić.