By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Despite the rumors about him even resigning, especially when he chose not to return to Belgrade with the rest of the team, but to go to his family in Munich after the premature Eurobasket exit, Serbia’s coach Svetislav Pesic continues to plan for the future and prefers to consider everything that happened a building block.
As he said, in an interview published by the Serbian federation: “The lost continuity has been established. Experience, knowledge, and quality are necessary for top sports results, not only at the representative level. We showed character and steadfastness and took absolute responsibility. We are not looking for any excuses or justifications. I am proud and it was great for me to have participated together with my players in this process”.
Speaking about the competition itself, Pesic talked about a tournament in which you have to always play your best game, or else you are in trouble like Serbia was: “This year’s European Championship, which is being held after five years, has caused an overall huge interest. The general assessment of the public is that thanks to the participation of a large number of top players, and not only from the NBA, this is the strongest European Championship so far in terms of quality. We are witnessing the equalization of quality, that ‘small’ basketball countries are progressing, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the favorites to win, and there were no surprises. The tournament system of the competition is harsh and it was enough for us to have a little more than 10 ‘bad’ minutes so that all the invested effort remains without a reward in the form of the placement that all of us, players, members of the professional staff and people from the federation expected. It is a huge disappointment for us and we are all still very sad”.
Pesic expects that this new version of the Serbian national team will thrive: “I will always emphasize the atmosphere, camaraderie, and togetherness that the players built between themselves both during the preparation and especially during the competition. I emphasize this despite the fact that we faced injuries and illnesses, and some players did not even travel to the European Championship. The tournament missed Bjelica, Avramovic, and Bogdanovic who had to undergo surgery… Milutinov and Marinkovic did not play in several games due to illness, and Nedovic prematurely ended his participation in the EP due to injury”.
So when Serbia can present its full roster, according to Pesic, they have everything: “We have it all, in Lucic, Kalinic, Nedovic, as well as in Bjelica and Bogdanovic, who for known reasons were not present. The core of the national team is made up of players of the generation born in 1994 and 1995 who passed all the levels of national team selections – Jokic, Micic, Milutinov, Guduric, Jaramaz, Davidovac, Ristic, Dobric, Avramovic, then Marinkovic and some of the candidates from the roster of qualification windows. Also, there is a galaxy of new young players arriving who should ensure continuity – Simanic, Petrushev, Pokusevski, Koprivica, Smailagic, Trifunovic, Jovic, Djurisic…”
Pesic expects that all those names will be available regularly, even if he knows that this might not be the case: “Whether they will regularly respond to the actions of the national team in the future will not only depend on them but above all on their clubs. The priorities in their professional careers are changing, many will envy how they will be treated and understood. The players should get a sense of respect because there is no question about their affiliation, responsibility, and desire to play for their national team. It is necessary to continue to ensure top-quality conditions, such as our national team members have in their clubs or as they exist in the countries of our rivals in all competitions”.
And o n a personal level, Pesic is already thinking about the November windows and doesn’t care about criticism: “I agreed and accepted the invitation (ed.note: to return to the national team) as a challenge to help not only the national team succeed but the overall improvement of the reputation of our basketball in Europe and the world. It’s not the first time I’ve been criticized and insulted. This happened before, during Eurobasket 2001 in Istanbul, and then in the Indianapolis World Cup of 2002. Here and now, nothing new happened, while we were winning in Prague, and after that in Berlin.”
And 73 years old Pesic, who won both the Eurobasket 2001 and the FIBA World Cup 2002 with the Serbian national team, will not change his methods: “To be clear, I will never give up my principles, methods of selection of players and my associates. I will analyze and I will always be ready to accept different opinions and suggestions, but I will remain loyal to people whose goal is only basketball”.