Neno Dimitrijevic wrote history in Vienna: the first triple-double in Macedonian basketball

Nenad Dimitrijevic returned to the national team after a two-year absence and immediately did something nobody before him had managed. Against Austria in Vienna, in a convincing 91:59 win, the new signing of Greek side Aris finished with 15 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists - the first triple-double in the history of the Macedonian national team.

The captain had come close before. In February 2024 against Poland he recorded 32 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and against Estonia 25 points with the same eight and eight. Before him the closest was Ethan Happ with 18 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four blocks against Estonia. The record for points in a single game still belongs to Petar Naumoski - an astonishing 49 against Poland in 1997, with an efficiency index of 45. Nearly three decades later, that number still stands at the top. It says something about how rarely players like this are born here.

Berrocal after 91:59: "We held the opponent to 59 points, that is an excellent defensive performance"

Head coach Jose Maria Berrocal did not want to talk about individual numbers, but about the defence. "The team spirit showed best precisely in defence. We held the opponent to just 59 points, which is an excellent defensive performance against a shooting team. We won every quarter," the Spanish coach said after the first game of the second round of pre-qualifiers for EuroBasket 2029.

Berrocal was honest about the circumstances: the FIBA window fell in mid-summer, some players are not in competitive shape, and preparation was very short. "There were plenty of question marks before the game about how we would look on the court," he admitted. He singled out Moses Wright under the basket - "players of his calibre are here to make a difference". A win in mid-summer with shortened preparation is not a trophy, but it is a different sentence from the one Macedonian basketball has been hearing in recent years.

Jokic with 13 rebounds as Iceland collapsed: Serbia a step from Qatar

Nikola Jokic did not have to spend any energy. In Serbia's 102:73 win over Iceland in the European qualifiers for the 2027 World Cup, the three-time NBA MVP finished with six points, 13 rebounds, six assists and three steals in 23 minutes, with an efficiency index of 21. "We did not start with enough energy, but the second quarter and the whole second half were at the level they need to be," he told Mozzart Sport.

Serbia are 5-2 in Group J and firmly in the top three, the only places leading to the World Cup in Qatar. Next comes a match against Italy on 31 August, then two duels with Lithuania in the November and February windows. When the best centre on the planet can play for six points and the team wins by 29, that is the definition of depth - the work the Macedonian national team is doing with a generation still coming together.

Nurkic with 25 points and 14 rebounds: Bosnia knocked over Italy 78:76

The Balkans delivered the second result from the same group as well. Jusuf Nurkic carried Bosnia and Herzegovina to a 78:76 win over Italy - 25 points, 14 rebounds, 11 of 15 two-point shots, six offensive rebounds and the highest index of the game, 28. The Utah Jazz centre signed a new two-year deal worth 22 million dollars this summer, and got help from Boston's Luka Garza with 10 points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes.

Bosnia are now 3-4 in Group J, Italy dropped to 5-2. Lithuania are next on 31 August. Two NBA centres from the Balkans in the same group, both deciding games on their own - that is the picture of basketball in the region today.

Durant on European dominance: "They learned from us"

Kevin Durant refused to accept that foreigners took over the NBA by themselves. "Basketball is played all over the world. That is the goal too. The time came for foreigners to be the best in the league. They have been coming since the 80s," he says, then poses his own question: "The real question is - who influenced them?"

To him, the answer is clear. "Jokic, Porzingis, Shai - they all wore Iverson jerseys and imitated his crossovers. They try to play like us and they succeeded at it in their own way." Durant also points out that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went through the American system - high school and college. "That is natural evolution. My generation learned from those before us." The theory holds up to a point, but it also explains why the last MVP awards have not been ending up in America - imitation, it seems, eventually surpasses the original.