Aleksandar Džikić cried after reaching the final of the FIBA Champions League.
Aleksandar Džikić is going for the cup in the FIBA Champions League. In the semifinals of the final four in Malaga with Hapoel Jerusalem, he defeated Tenerife, the current champion of this competition (69:68). In the thriller finish, Caden Carrington hit for the lead, and Bruno Fittipaldo had a three-pointer in the last second to win, he missed.
The Serbian expert had an outpouring of emotions after the match, he cried at one point, because death of his mother Milka, but he didn’t want to talk about it too much. “I didn’t cry because we are in the final, that’s not why I cried. Everything else is my private matter, I’m sorry I won’t share it with you, I don’t do it. I was not happy at all when it became publicthat’s it,” said Džikić.
He was asked an additional question about a fan’s banner that read “Milka, rest in peace. Coach, we love you”. “I didn’t really see it.”
At the insistence of journalists about the tragic situation and her death, he was also asked if it was true that he postponed the funeral until Monday to be with the team at the final tournament and that the players cried when he told them that.I don’t know about the players, I was moved by their reaction, so to speak, the rest of the question is correct. My brother and I made that decision.”
Hapoel Jerusalem fans send their condolences to Coach Dzikic following his mother Milka passed away ❤️pic.twitter.com/ZSbLnnidvg
— Cesare Milanti (@cesaremilanti)May 12, 2023
When Fitipaldo missed, Džikić also had an emotional moment with his colleague from the bench of the Spanish club, Ćus Vidoret, they hugged and talked for a while. “I hugged him, because when you play against them you have to respect them, I wish we had played against them more times. They are good, they make you be even better, when you try something, they have an answer, then you answer, then they they have an answer to that. In the end we won, Fitipaldo is a great shooter, he missed. With all due respect, they are a pick and roll machine, and we controlled that as much as we could. I laugh when people ask how old Marcelinho Huertas is, he is living proof that age is just a number. If he looks like he’s 40 years old on the court, he plays great basketball, we tried various things on him, in the end it worked to some extent, and despite that he made an open shot for a teammate. If he had scored, we would have been the team that resisted, but we didn’t. We won. It’s emotional for me for many, many reasons.”
Once again, he offered a series of praises at the expense of his rivals. “Even if Fitipaldo had scored, we would have been satisfied, you don’t understand how big this is for us, we played against such a team until the last second. Maybe there are people who don’t appreciate them enough, but they are a super serious team. We’ve had some tough rivals this season, Tenerife being without a doubt one of them. The players, the coach, the style of basketball, they are very good.”
He also commented on the move of Carrington, who, 20 seconds before the end, started to penetrate and scored for the victory. “He will be punished for it. I’m trying to make a joke. We are lucky to have him in the team, and I will explain why. He didn’t start the season, he played mostly when we had problems with injuries, he would have started for any other coach, except for me, but he accepted it willingly. He understands everything, he understands what he has to sacrifice for us to win. Sometimes what is good for you is not good for the team and vice versa. He understood that what is not good for him is good for the team. He is a point guard who knows how to play defense, I am very happy to have picked him up this summer. Ask people from the Israeli media, they were not happy, maybe they are more satisfied now.”
Towards the end of the press conference, one of the journalists read a message he received from one of Džikić’s students who praised his human qualities. “I’m not happy too many times in my life, maybe I’m not happy, but I’m proud. I try to help people, I didn’t help everyone, but really nice words, I have no other comment. There are probably more students who have let you know, let’s not swear now“, concluded Džikić with a smile.
See description
Dzikic cried after the victory and passage to the final! Moved his mother’s funeral to be with the team!
