The proud basketball nation of Serbia has been on a downward trend since 2002, when the country won a world title as Yugoslavia.
Vlade Divac retired while Peja Stojakovic has chosen to focus on his NBA career and not play for the national team. Failures at the Athens Olympics and EuroBasket 2005 in Serbia & Montenegro soured the atmosphere further.
The signs of recovery are there, however, with three young stars committing themselves to the cause in recent weeks. The latest was on Wednesday when Sasha Pavlovic of the Cavaliers said he was ready to play for the national team again.