By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Zeljko Obradovic, the winningest coach in the history of European basketball, was asked to say something about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia that has also affected European hoops and EuroLeague in particular.
“I don’t want to make any statement, this is not the first war in our life. I’m 62 years old, I remember a lot of things in my life but I don’t remember people talking so much when my country was bombed in 1999,” Obradovic said after the EuroCup defeat of his Partizan Belgrade to Lietkabelis. He was referring to the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia. “I didn’t see people reacting and talking [so much]. Also, in Iraq, in Syria and in Afghanistan. Now people are talking about what is happening in Ukraine and of course they have the right to do that. Of course, as a person, I’m against any kind of war, it’s terrible when just one man dies in any war.”
Obradovic’s Partizan suffered a tough loss to Lietkabelis Tuesday, just a few days following a major win over archrival Crvena Zvezda for ABA League.
“We have no excuse for this performance,” Obradovic said. We played a big derby vs. Zvezda two days ago and we won but it’s not an excuse. It’s the worst possible excuse you can make. On our team, only two players played a game [vs. Lietkabelis]: Kevin Punter, who’s always ready to help the team, and Rade Zagorac. The others were a disaster.”