By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
With three games left in the 2023-24 EuroLeague Regular Season, a new series production came out. It’s called “EuroLeague Masterminds”, and its protagonists are Zeljko Obradovic, Ettore Messina, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Pablo Laso, and Ioannis Sfairopoulos.
The first head coach involved is the Serbian legend, who sat down to discuss his relationship with basketball. “I started to coach in 1991, and we’re now in 2023. It’s been a long time and basketball has changed a lot in this period”, he first said.
“What I like is for my team to use the qualities they have and to play smart. You need to adjust, you need to think about everything and basically, small details make the difference in my opinion”, he added. “It was a great opportunity to work with my professor Aleksandar Nikolic. He really cared about details. Probably because of him, I care a lot about details”, Zeljko Obradovic underlined.
While drawing one of his most used plays, he commented on practicing. “It’s very important how your players react in practice, first of all. Because practice is always very important. If you do well in practice, you will do well in the game. I hate practices when my team isn’t concentrated”, he said. “To be a basketball coach, you need to think a lot and watch your players”, the Serbian then added.
Finally, he stated about his love for the game. “Every day is an opportunity to learn something new and to be better. I believe it’s a big privilege if you’re doing something that you like in your life. And I like basketball. I’m very happy because of this, doing something I like so much”, the legendary head coach finally concluded.
Watch the first EuroLeague Masterminds episode
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
Read all the latest news from the basketball world