By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Here’s what Vanja Marinkovic said in an interview for the official EuroCup website:
On handling responsibilities despite the young of his age:
“I am only 20, but this is my fourth season at the club and I feel I have to take more responsibility. I see that my teammates and my coaches trust me and I am trying to do my best in order to fulfill their trust”
On numbers:
“I am performing as good as my team. Statistics sometimes show less than reality. I really think I can do much, much better at every stage of the game”
On playing and practicing with big names of Serbian basketball:
“I was privileged to practice and play with big players like Bogdan Bogdanovic, Sasha Pavlovic, Milenko Tepic, Milan Macvan and Dragan Milosavljevic. Try to score at the practice against Dragan when you are 16 or 17. It is not easy, trust me. As I said, it is a great privilege to be on the same team with those players. Every practice with them is a new lesson.”
On his achievements with the Serbian national team youth teams:
“Every game for a national team means the world to me, especially when you win a medal. It would have been better if we had won a trophy, but it definitely is a great thing for every young player”
On making his EuroCup debut while 17 years old:
“I was privileged to have such opportunity to play at a high level. It meant a lot to me for my development,” said Marinkovic, who collected his ongoing personal high 19 points that season in a game against CSU Asesoft Ploiesti.
On Partizan Belgrade:
“I think I will be objective if I say that for many people, Partizan is a synonym for Serbian and Yugoslavian basketball. I think it is very important for all to have a strong Partizan”