By Semih Tuna/ stuna@eurohoops.net
The runner-ups of the 2021-22 edition of 7DAYS EuroCup knocking on the door of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague is far from a secret. But eventually completing the step to the top-tier club continental competition of Europe is the goal confirmed by the play-caller of the Bursa outfit Dusan Alimpijevic.
Alimpijevic, 36, the reigning EuroCup Coach of the Year, talked to Eurohoops about the relationships leading to extending and refiguring his contract, players of the current roster, and the ongoing 2022-23 campaign, the design to keep growing the club.
In 2019, Bursaspor was promoted to the top-tier division of Turkey for the first time. The EuroCup debut following in 2020 was combined with the arrival of a young head coach in Alimpijevic. Plenty of huge steps, all very successful, early signs of a potential opportunity to compete in the EuroLeague.
“We have a right to dream. No one can take our dreams,” Alimpijevic highlights the recurring theme. Enjoy his interview with Eurohoops.
Q: You are one of the most popular coaches in Europe. Your contract had a buy-out clause this summer. Honestly, everyone thought that you were spending your last year in Bursa. This deal is surprising for me and everyone. Could you explain the process a little bit?
A: It was a surprise for a lot of people because they don’t know about my relationship with the people in the club. There is something very special here, and it is bigger than some usual relationships between the coach and management, sponsors, and everybody in the club: President, GM, board members, and of course sponsors. Yes, there were some offers, and I had some conversations. Because after this year, I had a buy-out option. But I had a one-plus year in Bursa. People from the club showed up and started to talk with me, trying to keep me for one or two more years without that buy-out option. It was pretty easy because as I said, there is a great relationship with the people with whom I understand what I want, a great relationship with the people with whom we grew up together within the last two years. Okay, just two years, we did an amazing job, something big. I can stay here for at least one more year, and do something more with these people and this club. We made the deal without a buy-out option this year and next year, and then again have that buy-out option. People talk about three years, but it is actually this year and next year. There is one more thing about all these things. I’m just 36 years old. If I’m good, the future is there. But if I’m not working well, it doesn’t matter if I’m in Bursa or Barcelona. If you are not doing well, then age doesn’t matter. I think that I have time and a future ahead of me if I’m good and if I work well.
Q: This is going to be a kind of personal question. Talented players can be found in Europe, but there has been a problem in finding talented young coaches in the last 10-15 years. Bursa took this road with you, Turk Telekom with Erdem Can, and Galatasaray with Andreas Pistiolis. And all these teams became one of the most important stories of the league and even Europe. How important is it in your view of basketball to get out of the same circle of names and give other coaches a chance?
A: I think it is very important because first of all, basketball evolved a lot in the last couple of years. We cannot talk about the same sport even three years ago and today. If you go back in time to 5-10 years ago, for sure it is a completely different sport. When you have a bad routine, repeating the same thing with the same names all the time… We have a lot of talented coaches that we didn’t even hear from. We don’t know about them. We don’t know their names. They didn’t have their part to get a chance. Can you imagine how many talented coaches we have in Turkey that will not have the opportunity to work at a high level? In Serbia, we are making the same mistake also. You need courage for these things, to give a chance to someone. One thing is very important: To understand what success is. It is not one year. You need more years and you need to repeat this. I am not saying that you have to be a champion for 3-4 years in a row. Every club defines what success is for its team. For example; We are a club that wants to have some young players, who want to beat big teams. We are a club that wants to develop first for our club’s organization. We are a club that wants to be stable in any sense. Even if you want to be successful in this way, then you have to repeat it from year to year. This is something that I wanted to mention. It is not about one year. Bursaspor right now, doing unbelievable things for three years in a row. Not even three, four maybe because we have this team that came from Division II. We are a young club, and what they did in just two years, for sure we have to agree that this is something special.
Q: Let me get back to this new contract. Does this contract mean big things for Bursaspor in the future? Do you have any EuroLeague expectations with Bursa in the short term?
A: For sure we are a mission club. We want to be big, if you want to be big, you have to think big. This is very simple. If you are not thinking about the EuroLeague even by the smallest option, then what are we doing here altogether? This is why I wanted to stay. Of course, we are thinking about that. Why not? We played in the final of the EuroCup last year, so why not? Of course, all of us know and understand how difficult it is to show up two times in the final of any competition, not just in the EuroCup, which is a very difficult competition. We have a right to dream. No one can take our dreams. I have a right to dream, my players have a right to dream, sponsors and all the management have a right to dream. So, why not?
Q: About last year’s final… Did you get disappointed that you didn’t get a EuroLeague ticket despite the EuroCup final, and Partizan, which you eliminated got it?
A: No. Why not? Because we wanted to prepare our club even better for the next few years, to make it more stable, to have a bigger budget, and to become more serious. I think this year, we are more ready than last year in terms of organization and everything.
Q: What are your thoughts on the basketball culture that started to emerge among Bursaspor fans? The arena is almost full at every game.
A: There is one very simple thing: They can feel that fire in our eyes, they can feel that desire to fight till the last moment. We are a team that never gives up even if we lose. We showed that we will fight until the last second. Even if we lose, we showed that we care about winning. The team wants to jump on the floor for every ball. We respect every person who bought a ticket and came to our game. Because you know, now, in these difficult times, it is not easy to just buy a ticket and come to the game.
Q: About the roster… What are the advantages of playing with a bigger rotation, after the short one last year?
A: First of all, we still don’t have the big rotation that we want. Because in the beginning, we had a way of thinking to start with four foreigners. With Darussafaka, I think we were the only club that started with four foreigners. For success for any club, one of the most important things is domestic players. Maybe they will not have the biggest roles but they are very important. Because domestic players can understand the language and the needs of that country. This is their club more than any other player. This is the culture I wanted from the beginning: To show everybody respect, maybe not big roles but for sure, everybody gets the roles that I think they deserve. Someone can say to me that “Coach, I wanted more”. We started with four foreigners, now it is time to think about one more player in the big rotation. The advantages are, for sure you need more players in the rotation. Let’s say that all the big and small things, however, you want to call them, are important to us.
Q: You started with four foreigners. After that, Sindarius Thornwell signed. He looked like he couldn’t adapt to what was being played on the court. What happened?
A: Nothing special. These things happen. Before I sign any player, I do my homework. I research and I think that I’m very serious about this aspect. I had some questions for him before he came. He answered everything. I explained my work and our system. Nothing special happened. He is a good person, and he is a good player but just didn’t work out. So, we decided to separate. That’s it.
Q: We will see a replacement after him as I understood, right?
A: Yes. For serious players, you need more players in rotation.
Q: Mentioning local players… I have two questions about two players. The first one is of course about Onuralp [Bitim]. He played incredibly last year as well, but this year he improved himself a lot as a scorer. For the first time in 17 years, a Turkish player may be the top scorer of the season. What has changed in him compared to last year? We have never seen a Turkish player who is the number one option for a team that is one of the EuroCup favorites.
A: First of all, we cannot talk about him unless we talk about the whole team. He is not Bursaspor, this is not a one-man team. First of all, I wanted to be clear about this. As a coach, I am successful as my players are successful. Without them, I don’t exist. I cannot be a good coach without good players. I cannot be a good, efficient coach if my players cannot catch anything from me or if they don’t want to respect that. These things are very connected. Now, it is easier to talk about the player. Yes, he is good but you know, players are helping him, players respect him. He deserved that respect. We have a good atmosphere, we have good things. He has confidence, talent, and everything that a good player needs to have. He has a good relationship with the coaching staff. He is very aggressive in basketball. I think that mentally, he is much more mature. Now, it is easier to talk with him and explain something to him. This is about respect. He respects the chance he got here in our club. Don’t forget our club, not just the coach. We cannot talk about the relationship between the coach and players without the relationship between the club and players. We also need to respect this. I think he finally understood what he is as a player. This is very important. All players have limits. But it is very important to show them as a coach what their limits are and what they have to do. Most of the time they limit themselves. I give him more and push him for more and more. Simple thing.
Q: I would also like to talk about Yigitcan [Saybir]. I know that he got a better offer from another club financially-wise. But he preferred to work with you. He has now become an important piece of the team. Are you satisfied with his performance? What do you think about his upside?
A: It is not easy when someone goes out of a system that they were in for seven years. I think he was around Efes for seven years. It was a very comfortable zone, not just for him, but for every player. He deserved as one of the most talented Turkish players to be at one of the best Turkish clubs. Efes and Fener, for sure are one of the best clubs in terms of organization, success, and money-wise. He deserved to be there. It is not easy for any player to go out from something very comfortable after seven years. I am satisfied because the time of adaptation for him wasn’t that long. He is aggressive, he has character for our team. He has everything that we need. This is his first year. For sure he cannot immediately catch some big minutes. But as you said, he is a very important piece of our puzzle. I am very happy with him as are all the other players. Of course, everybody has ups and downs. Our job is to limit these downs as much as we can.
Q: Last question. Based on what Bursaspor put on the court, what were the most satisfying and upsetting games in this season?
A: In this season, we have, let’s say a lot of good games but I have to say that one of our best games was against Karsiyaka that we lost by one point. I think we played very well and prepared very well in a tough atmosphere against a good coach and team. Also, I think we had a chance to win and deserved it. But you know, this is sports. We were bad in just one segment of our game, which was not an often situation. Because before that game, we were the team who was giving fewer offensive rebounds to every team against us. But against Karsiyaka, we gave them 24 offensive rebounds. I was kind of sad because we couldn’t fill one stupid segment. Again, we played very well with good desire and energy. Maybe that was the most upsetting game for me this season. A satisfying game is for sure the Efes game at home, in front of our fans. There was an amazing atmosphere inside. It was an amazing game for our players and even bigger for me. We won the game in which we have eight players in the rotation. With seven or eight players in the rotation, I don’t exactly remember, we won against the back-to-back champion of the EuroLeague. For sure that was the game I have to be most satisfied with. And also, that was the first win in the history of the club against Efes. Now, we don’t have any team that we didn’t beat. For example, we have a lot of wins against Fenerbahce, Karsiyaka, and all other clubs. But we didn’t have a win against Efes at that time. For sure this is the most satisfying game for me.