Before Nikola Jokic returns to the United States and tries to win a second championship with the Nuggets, he’ll look to lead Serbia to its first EuroBasket championship since the dissolution of Yugoslavia.

Serbia enters the tournament, which starts Wednesday, second in the FIBA world rankings behind only the U.S. Germany, France and Spain round out the top five.

The Serbians also have Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, Heat forward Nikola Jovic and Wizards big man Tristan Vukcevic on the roster. Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Slovenia’s Luka Doncic, Germany’s Franz Wagner, Finland’s Lauri Markkanen, Latvia’s Kristaps Porzingis and Turkey’s Alperen Sengun are among the other NBA stars expected to play. Lithuanian big man Jonas Valanciunas is Denver’s other representative in the tournament.

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The 24 teams are divided into four groups, and teams will play the other five teams once in the group stage. Serbia is joined by Latvia, Czech Republic, Turkey, Estonia and Portugal in Group A.

The top four teams in each group advance to the knockout stage, where it’s win or go home. Games will be played in Cyprus, Finland, Poland and Latvia. Fans interested in watching in the United States must subscribe to FIBA’s subscription service, Courtside 1891.

To prepare for the tournament, The Denver Gazette exchanged messages with Miroslav Cuk, host of DNVR’s “Serbian Corner” podcast.

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The Denver Gazette: What’s the expectation for Serbia at this year’s EuroBasket?

Miroslav Cuk: It depends on who you ask. The fans are only interested in the gold medal, and I can’t blame them since this is probably the strongest team assembled since 2002 when the “small” Yugoslavia won the last gold medal in Indianapolis at the FIBA World Cup.

If you ask Coach Svetislav Pešić, the only goal is for them to play better with each game that comes to them, so that they can be as best prepared as possible for the win-or-go-home games. There will be four of them if they get to the gold medal game.

DG: How would you describe Pesic’s coaching style and what type of basketball does the team play?

MC: Coach Pešić is the absolute legend of FIBA basketball. Back in 1987, he was coaching Yugoslavia’s Under-19 team, led by Toni Kukoč, Vlade Divac, Dino Rađja, and Aleksandar Đorđević that won the gold medal over Team USA with Gary Payton and Larry Johnson, coached by Larry Brown. In 1993, he won the gold medal at the EuroBasket with Germany, which is to this day the biggest upset in EuroBasket history. Yes, Yugoslavia wasn’t playing, but Croatia with Kukoč and Rađja, and Lithuania with Arvydas Sabonis and Sarunas Marciulionis were looking at their backs. That was before Dirk Nowitzki came, and they didn’t even have their sole NBA player, Detlef Shrempf.

In 2001 and 2002, coach Pešić won back-to-back EuroBasket and FIBA World Cup tournaments with Yugoslavia and cemented his name among the most successful national team coaches in history of the game. His coaching style is high-tempo play, where he uses a lot of guys to maintain pressure on the other team, especially on defense. His defensive philosophy is to pack the paint and force the other team to beat them from the outside.

The FIBA three-point line is closer than the NBA one, so this principle is often very smart, as the players have one or two fewer steps to contest the shots well. On offense, coach Pešić wants egalitarian basketball, and since he has several very high basketball IQ guys on the team like Jokić, Stefan Jović and Bogdanović. Also, every other player has been brought in his “a-passed-ball-is-quicker-than-any-player” system. They can score a lot of points on everybody. He also plays Nikola Jokić at the three, even though he is a big in the NBA. Nobody can stop him under the rim, because he is way bigger than any opponent.

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DG: Do you see differences in the way Jokic plays with the national team compared to the Nuggets?

MC: In the preparation period, Nikola Jokić was more of a screener than what we see on the Nuggets. It is because a lot of guys can initiate the read-and-react type of basketball. I am sure that when the games get tougher, he will slide into more of a similar role to what he plays in Denver.

DG: Who are some of the team’s other key players who aren’t in the NBA and what do they bring to the team?

MC: Stefan Jović is our best true point guard of the last 20 years. Miloš Teodosić was great, but he was always more of a shoot-first guy, even though he had amazing passing in his bag. Aleksa Avramović is our high-motor guy, and that is an understatement. If you want one guy to guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander one-on-one, he is your guy. Nikola Milutinov is the best backup center at any tournament, just a very skilled low-post guy who can pass well but also has very soft touch around the rim.

DG: Who is Serbia’s biggest threat in the group stage and why?

MC: In the group stage it will be the host Latvia with their giant snipers Porzingis and Davis Bertans. They are a team that can get hot from the outside in every game, and Kristaps is actually unstoppable on this level when he has the ultimate green light. They had a last-second shot to beat soon-to-be world champions Germany two years ago in Manilla. The other team is Turkey, but I don’t think they are going to be a big threat.

DG: Who are the other teams contending for the championship and why?

MC: Germany has the quality and the continuity, but they do have a new coach. So, there are always questions there. France always has the most athletic talent of the tournament, and for years have been underachieving compared to that talent. They did get a lucky break with the draw last year and won the silver medal because of that last year.

Greece is worth a mention. They have a very good American point guard, Tyler Dorsey, the three Antetokounmpo brothers and several very good Euroleague players. I never underestimate Spain. Yes, they are way younger than in some previous years, but they have a great tournament coach in Sergio Scariolo, and a system that works. Don’t be surprised if they medal even though they are not among the top 10 favorites right now.

Finally, there’s Italy, a team that has beaten Serbia so many times in recent years, even though they are not as good versus the other good teams. I did not forget Slovenia, I just don’t think they are good. Lithuania will be good as always, but they also have a new coach, national team legend Rimas Kurtinaitis, so we need to see how good they will be. I don’t believe in Finland, even though Lauri Markkanen will probably average 40 for them. I am prepared to be wrong on them, though.

Editors note: questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.

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Serbia’s EuroBasket schedule

Group stage

Serbia vs. Estonia, 12:15 p.m. Wednesday

Serbia vs. Portugal, 12:15 p.m. Friday

Serbia vs. Latvia, 9 a.m. Saturday

Serbia vs. Czech Republic, 12:15 p.m. Monday

Serbia vs. Turkey, 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3

Knockout stage

Round of 16 games, Sept. 6/7

Quarterfinals, Sept. 9/10

Semifinals, Sept. 12

Championship and third-place game, Sept. 14.