The coach of Partizan congratulated the team on an important victory and sent several messages to the players.
Partizan “took out” a victory against Cedevit Olimpija in a dramatic match, and the black and white coach Željko Obradović said that fatigue was the only reason why his team was looking for a game for a long time. However, when he found it in the defense, the people of Ljubljana no longer “saw” the basket of the Serbian team, so in the last eight and a half minutes they were forced to shoot three-pointers (0/10), while they scored only one basket from the game. With such a solid game, the leader of the ABA League consolidated the first place.
“Fatigue is the only reason, there is no other. Those who follow the Euroleague for a little longer will see that when all the teams play with less than 48 hours difference, we played 44 hours ago against Olympiakos. That is the main reason. We had four days to preparation for Olympiakos, and a day and a half for this one. It will be the same for Barcelona, and for Real we will still have two days of difference.” said Obradović after the match.
“Since December 16, we have played 31 games and have a record of 26-5. You can look at it, it is a very interesting statistic and I can only thank the players, but it is not enough. We have to move on, we already know everything, and the best thing is that everything depends on us. However, when you play against Barcelona, Real and Monaco, who are ahead of us, you know that you have a hell of a job waiting for you to win another victory and make it to the Top 8,” added Partizan’s coach.
Commenting on the game, he praised the fighting spirit of his team and pointed out what he did not like. “We knew it would be difficult, we should have played with different energy, unfortunately we didn’t start well, but luckily Olimpija didn’t come off at any moment by a big margin. Anyway, we managed to win, congratulations to the players, thanks to the audience for came, of course – for us an extremely important victory in the ABA league. I don’t like that the players who were conditionally fresh tonight were not at the level at which they will help the team more, but that’s the story and the analysis that we will do tomorrow. Everyone they have to be ready to give their best in two or three minutes. And that’s it.”
“Without any doubt, all the players are needed, that’s why I’m talking all about it. Who will have freshness? Monsieur (“mister”, in French) Lesor. He probably will. But if someone had told me that Alen Smailagić, our only player in the ‘five’ position tonight, to play only 13 minutes, I would say it’s impossible. I tried to put Janis and Zeko, but that’s the way it is. I expect all of them to be there with their heads and what the late pro has been doing for a long time learned – that fatigue comes only from the head. Only from there, nowhere else. The body does not exist there”.
Obradović also had an interesting introduction at the conference – with a clear allusion to his close friend and famous actor, Bogdan Diklić. “I will put the keys in my pocket, since our famous retired drama artist reprimanded me for hearing my keys last time,” said Obradović at the beginning of his address.
(WORLD)