By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
When Sasa Obradovic came back to AS Monaco’s bench in December 2021, the red-and-white team was on a five-game losing streak in its first-ever Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season after winning the EuroCup earlier in the year. At the end of that season, they were in the EuroLeague Playoffs.
That should already largely prove how big the Serbian head coach’s impact was for the Monegasque side after coaching there first in the 2019-20 season, but the next year he put the bar even higher, bringing this team to the EuroLeague Final Four, where they lost against Olympiacos.
Heading into his third consecutive EuroLeague season with one of the strongest teams in the whole competition, the 54-year-old talked exclusively to Eurohoops, touching on several topics between his current adventure and the way he sees basketball.
New dynamics in the “more demanding” EuroLeague
Having had several experiences in the EuroLeague, Sasa Obradovic knows how difficult it is to handle such a demanding competition, despite receiving praise from outside. “I think nobody should pay attention to expectations and put us in the best possible situation, maybe favorites in some moments. I believe is more important to think from game to game, and put our goals step by step. It’s gonna be much more demanding and I expect even much better competition than in the previous years. It will be much harder to achieve wins than it was last year”, the Serbian head coach opened.
This, however, has been a significant summer transfer-wise for AS Monaco, bringing in Kemba Walker, Terry Tarpey, Petr Cornelie, and Mam Jaiteh. “We kept our core, but as usual, you never know even with the same guys, just with a couple of new faces you might disturb the chemistry. We expect to see what Kemba Walker can do, we still don’t know it”, he said about the former Boston Celtics guard – who talked to Eurohoops here -, not expected to play in the EuroLeague opener against Valencia.
“We don’t have the right picture to judge the situation at the moment, still with the guys who came back from national team duties. We’re gonna get better, and I’m working with a great group of people. I have full support, as long as we keep our stuff together we can compete with big teams like in the previous years”, he went on adding about his team.
While the Monegasque side improved with new faces, a lot of other EuroLeague powerhouse boosted their rosters in the past few months. “Everybody is talking about how Partizan and Crvena Zvezda made their roster improvements, or Panathinaikos as well, being much stronger and better. But we also have to consider Fenerbahce and Efes as always threats, Bayern Munich could be inserted as well. Zalgiris Kaunas managed to keep together last year’s surprising team”, he added.
Moreover, the Serbian head coach also touched on the introduction of the new Play-In format, where the spots from 7th to 10th will fight for the last two positions in the EuroLeague Playoffs. “The extended spots to give an extra opportunity to these teams to enter the playoffs make us expect an amazing EuroLeague season. Who’s more consistent and ready to play not just in a period of time, will have more chances to get higher”, Sasa Obradovic commented.
Finding a similar situation to what he got in 2021, having to coach a team he hadn’t built, the Serbian commented on Luca Banchi, the new head coach of Virtus Bologna. “Sometimes changing coaches could be productive, in my case it was very productive. From my first day here, when I arrived we were not even close to the playoffs and then we almost got to the Final Four. For coaches, the most important thing is to have good material, and Virtus is definitely a good team with great players to work with. Luca [Banchi] can expose his coaching skills. We saw it in the World Cup, being named Best Coach of the competition. There are a lot of things which can give them a lot of confidence to believe they’re gonna be better than the previous years”, he first said about the Latvian national team’s head coach.
“This is a very good team, it’s not so and so. It’s a contender. Sometimes you can get the best players, and sometimes you can’t. Since I’ve been in this situation several times, I can say it’s even better for the head coach. Of course, if you don’t have quality this could be problematic, but this team has a lot of potential. They’re a real physical team, and they have a full roster option, as they showed in the Italian Supercup”, he also added about Virtus Bologna some days before their losing EuroLeague opener against Zalgiris Kaunas.
Touching on Serbia and Germany at the World Cup
Ending his professional career on the court with RheinEnergie Köln, he started being a head coach right after his retirement on the same German team. Coaching there until 2008 and then experiencing Germany once again with ALBA Berlin from 2012 to 2016 brought him very close to the basketball culture in the country that won the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
“Now we’ve reached probably the peak of this process. They brought quality, motivating the kids to come and play, getting better and better. There are guys from this national team who I was coaching actually: I was the first head coach of Mo Wagner in the senior team, or Niels Giffey as well. I know pretty well these guys and I feel like I’m part of this. The team wanted to play together, you see [Dennis] Schroder as the main leader of a group with full potential to stay longer competitive with the others”, he first said mentioning his experiences.
Sasa Obradovic went on to praise the German national team for its success, mentioning Pablo Laso’s newest team in Bavaria to potentially raise the bar even more for the whole movement. “There are a lot of factors involved, but Germany completely deserves to be in the position where they are now, and even before the World Cup I put them among the favorites. I believe this is gonna stay for a while. With this good roster, Bayern Munich will have an impact on the new generation. It’s gonna be a bright future for German basketball”, the 54-year-old head coach followed.
Beating his home country in the final, Germany left Serbia once again with another silver medal. “We were commenting on this with Donatas [Motiejunas]”, he said about players who didn’t join the Serbian national team for the big appointment in the summer. “The question is: “Would they have made the same result?”. Without comparing anything or pointing out some names, you wouldn’t have this underdog mentality, this role division”, Sasa Obradovic commented.
“Sometimes you have to deal with different egos, but this wasn’t the case. Coach [Pesic] gave clear roles and people felt comfortable. Several players had amazing qualities, leadership-wise in [Bogdan] Bogdanovic and [Nikola] Milutinov among others. It was an amazing display of team basketball, which helped all of us who are working abroad to also present our country in the best possible way”, he added.
While touching on the growth of German basketball, Sasa Obradovic also spoke about how better the French league is becoming year by year. “This year will show how good the French league is, and how it has improved through the European competition. Even more foreign coaches are coming here, with different philosophies which are implemented. During my first mandate here there were more French coaches, but now every time you have to deal with a different approach. It’s getting harder and more difficult, especially for the teams that have so little time to prepare the game, just relying on talent and understanding the physical and mental fatigue that every game brings”, he said.
Talking about being the team to beat, he shared an interesting thought. “It’s not gonna be easy, especially for the team who are trying to be on a higher level every time. Those teams are the biggest target. When I play in the LNB, it’s senseless to scout the teams before: you have some information, but every time against you they’re overperforming. It’s more than obvious, and in the previous years, it was even more visible. What you think of a player and what you see from him when you play against him is completely different”, he admitted.
“My position is very likely for anybody, I understand this and I’m not paying attention to many teams. I’m more focused on how I can help my team and how I can get better. This is simple. As I said, it’s a lot of challenges, dealing with different mentalities and big egos: being in Monaco isn’t easy, here people think first about the spot, and then we did a great job in the past two years in making them come, to make them interested. This is very visible at each step”, the Serbian coach finally added about his squad.
Sasa Obradovic’s life is “an adventure”
Expressing his way of basketball on several occasions during the past few seasons, Sasa Obradovic would be glad to expand his love for the game even more and share a solution. “I agree that this can definitely raise the interest of basketball”, he first said about head coaches commentating games, just like Andrea Trinchieri is currently doing in Italy. “What I think can promote basketball, even more, is for some of the head coaches to comment before and after the game on the way they see the weak points, the way they see, scouting the game by giving direct comments”, he then added.
“It would be very hard for me because we have a lot of games: we have maybe the most games in Europe, and to be part of some shows is very hard to handle the concentration”, he first admitted. “But that would surely help. Especially with guys who don’t have a job. I think people would like to hear the way one head coach is preparing the game, what he would do, what he would attack, and how he would defend. It’s interesting and it gives a lot of knowledge to the people who want to be even more involved: the interest is growing and it’s evident it’s gonna be even bigger in the future. This can raise the popularity”, Obradovic commented.
Finally, the former Crvena Zvezda head coach shared his way of living the moment right now, expressing his wishes to experience something more in the future. “I’ve had a big career, both as a player and a coach. I’m not gonna die with this. I’ll remain a coach until I enjoy being a coach. But the thing I’d really like is to have even more experiences, going potentially everywhere”, Sasa Obradovic confessed.
The EuroLeague, at the end of the day, remains a remarkable opportunity. “Of course, I’ll get the maximum I can from this situation, being on the EuroLeague level for seven years. I really want to stay, because this is the best competition. You’re among the best coaches and players, so you want to be in this circle. On the other hand, my big wish is to feel other countries. My life is an adventure, when I step here is always a new experience. When I finish the season I never stop, I never relax”, he said.
“I was always traveling, and watching NBA teams. One idea is to be part of some organization there, seeing far away countries. Coaching a national team is also a possibility, but I think it’s very hard for any EuroLeague coaches to have this kind of experience, and usually, it doesn’t end up well: controlling the everyday job here and a lot of other things which are affecting the results of your national team is quite impossible”, he also expressed.
Touching on more on the national team topic, he’s all into it. “Of course. If someday it occurs, this is another thing you want to feel. Even with a different national team, I’m really open. We know basketball is the number one in Serbia, and you can never deny that, but I’m really open to different challenges. I’m enjoying my time here in Monaco, let’s see how long I’ll stay here”, Sasa Obradovic added.
“This is the job where people say you should always have one bag in your hand. Every week, every two weeks you are somewhere else. Living with this kind of life gives you a lot of pressure. But a lot of joy as well. I don’t have any regrets. I hurt myself a lot as a player, maybe even more mentally as a coach, but I really love every single day of my life”, the Serbian head coach finally stated.
PHOTO CREDIT: AS Monaco Basket