Željko Obradović is asking for more – even when everyone thinks that Partizan is playing above expectations!
Partizan basketball players they defeated Alba 88:74 in the Euroleague and thus reached the sixth position in the Euroleague table and hold their fate in their hands until the end of the season! At the start of the media conference, the head of the black and white profession was very brief and specific:
“I want to congratulate the players on the victory in a very important match. We played well, especially in the third quarter“, emphasized Željko Obradović.
In that third quarter, Partizan scored 35 points and conceded only 9 points, and the journalists were interested in what happened in the locker room at halftime, so the “steamroller” was so engaged and played well in the second half.
“We always try to react in every game, to understand where we made mistakes and what we could change. I have young assistants who do a fantastic job. We have “live scouts” and we analyze live situations and try to react from that. We showed them three situations where we conceded three points very easily when we didn’t try to play defense. We started from there, that they must be closer to the players, that they must not allow any easy shots. Then that third quarter turned out the way it did. They reduced them to nine points and played very well in attack. That’s right, sometimes the energy from the defense turns into something very positive on offense like we slowed down in the fourth quarter. But whatever, I guess the satisfaction of leading by 20 points has had an effect. I think this is much more realistic than that first match when we conceded 100 points,” said the most trophy-winning European coach of all time.
However, as always, Željko Obradović had something to complain about his basketball players. After a fantastic third quarter, his team completely stopped in the fourth, and that must not happen. Journalists asked if Partizan players lacked a “killer instinct”, and this is how Obradović answered.
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Partizan stomped, and Željko talked about “KILLER INSTINCT”: They MUST understand it, it CAN’T be any other way!
“There were those moments and when we talk about the third quarter and 35 points, we had 11 in the last quarter. The flow of the ball in the last quarter was a disaster and that’s what you’re talking about, I absolutely agree. We have to get used to keep playing, especially since all players get a chance. It should certainly be emphasized what Aleksa did, he played an outstanding game. But each of them must understand that it takes enthusiasm and great desire. If we talk about the difference in height, the one who dominates with 220 against Smailagić and Lesor, of course has an advantage. But we have an advantage somewhere against him. You make a foul, you send him to penalties, then let him score,” he pointed out.
Partizan is now sixth in the Euroleague standings, and that is perhaps more than expected at the start of the season?
“Those are the questions for you, the fans, those of us inside are aware that this is a very difficult job and that conclusions are made at the end of the season. They sit down, look at the objective picture, look at how we did things in the transfer window, what kind of roster we had compared to other teams, and then we analyze nicely and say what is good and what is bad,” Obradović concluded.
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