Everyone in Belgrade wants New Jersey Nets center Nenad Krstic to play at the FIBA World Championship in Japan - including Serbian president Boris Tadic.

With national team boss Dragan Sakota freshening up the squad and choosing to move forward without NBA veterans Marko Jaric, Vladimir Radmanovic and Zeljko Rebraca, and with Peja Stojakovic unavailable and Dejan Bodiroga no longer playing for the country, Krstic may not travel to the Far East.

		Marko Jaric will not suit up with the national team this summer.

But President Tadic has encouraged Krstic to play for the two-time defending champions.

"He knows a lot about NBA basketball," Krstic told the New York Post.

"I saw him in a restaurant and he shook my hand and said, 'I want to see you tomorrow.' He didn't ask me [to play]. He just talked to me and he said, 'It's going to be a good thing if you're going to play.'

"Right now, I don't know if I'm going to play or not for the national team.

"If not, then I'll use the whole summer to work out."

Sakota and President Tadic will not be the only ones disappointed if Krstic doesn't travel to Japan.

"Every day someone called: 'You need to play,'" Krstic said.

"I can't explain it. You can't walk on the street. You walk on the street and people come up, 'Hey, I heard you're not playing for the national team.' Soon, I'll decide."

Krstic, 22, averaged 13.5 points and 6.4 rebounds in the NBA this campaign.

He played in 80 regular-season games and then 11 more in the playoffs.