By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Marko Guduric had been a star with the Serbian national team youth teams, leading the U20 squad to the European Championship title in 2015, while earning MVP honors in the process.
Two years later, he’s ready to make his debut with the senior Serbian outfit, fully grasping what it means to represent a country that always aims to climb at the higher spot of the podium.
“When you wear the Serbian national team jersey responsibility is always high,” Guduric told Eurohoops. “Expectations are high. We know that. We are not afraid of that. We are going to Istanbul to compete in every game as hard as we can. And we’ll see how it goes.”
There has been no shortage of misfortunes during the preparation of the Serbian national team that is going to suffer the absences of Milos Teodosic, Nikola Jokic, Stefan Markovic, Marko Simonovic and Miroslav Raduljica in the EuroBasket. In the meantime, Nemanja Nedovic is doubtful and there is even a small possibility that Nikola Kalinic might not be ready in time for the tournament.
The 22-year-old player of Fenerbahce doesn’t want to make excuses out of all these problems, believing that if those present on the floors in Istanbul will do their job as they should, then the desired results will arrive.
“We had some problems and a lot of injuries. Some setbacks. But that’s it. We are here. Whoever is here has to play hard and we have to perform as a team in every game and only good things can happen.”
Transitioning from the system of Crvena Zvezda, where he was often given a certain flexibility and freedom on offense, to the entirely different structure of the Serbian national team might be challenging, but Guduric trusts in his adaptability skills.
“It’s different playing for your club and then for your national team. We have to adjust to every possible situation. I feel absolutely ready for this. I think we did a good job in the preparation. Coach (Sasa Djordjevic) does a good job. Now everybody has to give everything in the tournament. It’s that simple.”
Serbia is competing in Group D of the EuroBasket that is hosted in Istanbul. Turkey. While many Fenerbahce fans have already seen Guduric during the matches of their team vs Crvena Zvezda, this time they will examine his game from a completely different viewpoint.
“It’s a little bit weird. I’m definitely looking forward playing to play in Turkey. We will also face the Turkish team in the Group. The atmosphere in the games is going to be great. I have a lot of future teammates there and it’s going to be interesting.”
Next season Guduric will join former Crvena Zvezda player Nikola Kalinic in the 2017 EuroLeague champions where he’s arriving to replace another member of the Serbian national team: Bogdan Bogdanovic. As one can easily understand, playing in Fenerbahce has been quite the topic between the three during the training camp.
“We have been talking about with that with Bogdan (Bogdanovic) and (Nikola) Kalinic, during the entire preparation. Bogdan always tells me to be ready because it’s going to be hard. That’s the first thing he told me actually. As for me, I know to which team I’m going and I’ll be ready.”
Even though he’s no longer a Crvena Zvezda player, Guduric keeps up with the how his former club fares and feels quite optimistic that despite some struggles earlier in offseason, they will trace their path towards successes once more.
“They (Crvena Zvezda) have a very young coach and they brought some good players. They will need some time in the beginning but that’s why they started their preparation earlier than any other EuroLeague team.”
“Red Star is going to be ready for all the challenges. They always find a way. Last year they didn’t give us any chance for example but we had 16 wins in EuroLeague. They work hard and hard work pays off.”