By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Here’s what Zeljko Obradovic said in an interview for CCMA.cat:
His job:
“It’s everything. When I wake up in the morning I’m looking to go to the gym and see my staff, my players. I know that there might be a day when I won’t have that desire. And I’m prepared for that.
His goal for a 10th EuroLeague title:
I’ve been in this kind of situation before. I know what it means to win the EuroLeague and I know how much the other teams will want to beat us in both EuroLeague and Turkish League. Summer gives you an opportunity to find out what kind of a squad you’ll have in the next season. We must analyze what took place in the previous season in order to become better and prepare for the new season. Without a doubt, Fenerbahce, as a club and a team, will have the same targets: Fighting for all titles. It’s easy to think and remember these last two months. Counting from the series vs Panathinaikos until the end of the season. But it’s better to remember everything that happened throughout the whole season. There have been injuries of some players. Basically we played only seven games at full strength. In these 30 regular season EuroLeague games we usually had at least one person missing. Same thing happened in Turkish League.
The next season:
There has been a great progress from all players in our roster. I’m saying this because we also have some young players who I hope they will play much more in the season. We should have a balance during the season. This experience teaches us and will help us ahead of the new season. Last season we had some luck in key moments when we had all our players available.
Importance of winning the EuroLeague:
Winning the first EuroLeague for a Turkish team was something impressive. It was impressive for many reasons but perhaps most because it was the first EuroLeague title in the history of Turkish basketball.
I will keep the images I watched after the Final Four. Images from all Turkish cities. Especially what was happening while we were playing.
They were young Turkish people watching the game in big screens in different Turkish cities. What I want to say is that this will enable youth to began getting involved with basketball. This makes us more happy, especially for this.
Winning the Turkish League:
Two days after we won the Final Four we had the Turkish playoffs. I knew from my experience that they will be very difficult. What pleasantly surprised me was that my players had an incredible will in those games. And perhaps that is why we swept all series.
Noone expected that we could do something similar. The players had a grand desire. Perhaps they wanted to finish the league quickly and go to vacations.
What this EuroLeague title means for him:
Every trophy is special. Every time you work to go as far as you can. This Fenerbahce team was basically created four years ago in order to achieve something in EuroLeague. It’s easy to talk about success now since we won the EuroLeague. But these last three years we always managed to play in a Final Four. We are the only team that has been in three Final Fours, played in two Finals and won one title. No other team has done that these last three years. So one can say that Fenerbahce is now an important power in Europe. What everyone wants of course is to continue on that course.
The conflict between FIBA and EuroLeague on next season’s calendar:
The basic thing is thinking about the players. Because there are a lot of games. They don’t have many days available for rest. It’s much more difficult than it was back in the day. We played 76 official games this season. 12 preparation games and there were players that played even more games because they had obligations with their national teams. In the new season with the new calendar, there is a thought from FIBA to have these windows and stop all other obligations by teams. I believe this is not good for anyone. It’s a question that we must make to the players.
EuroLeague doesn’t want to pause its schedule. And we must follow their plan and continue playing as we always did in EuroLeague. Some must think of this: Why an NBA player shouldn’t have the obligation to play in the national team and a EuroLeague player should? Again, it’s the players’ decisions. They are paid by the clubs. For example if a player leaves for 10 days and gets injured, hopefully not seriously, what happens? We don’t want such thing to happen. Who will pay the money for his contract? It’s a serious question. And what is this about pausing the schedule, the players leaving and coming back. It makes no sense. As I’ve said before, EuroLeague has a certain stance on the matter. Many people that are involved with EuroLeague basketball must sit down and discuss about it and the players should realize that they have to form a union. So they can be the ones making the decisions for themselves. It’s very important. I’ll always defend my players. I believe that the decisions will be theirs in any way. We in Fenerbahce know clearly what we must do. The stance of the club will be the same. We won’t leave the players to play in the national teams.
The people call them “traitors”. But why an NBA player isn’t a traitor and a EuroLeague player is? It’s very simple, not difficult to understand. As I’ve said nobody thinks about the players. Their health and what is good for basketball. Everyone wants to take advantage of the situation. Players should above all.
Many years ago I’ve left behind coaching and being involved with the national team.It’s very difficult and practically impossible. I’m talking about EuroLeague.
Dogus Group becoming the major sponsor of Fenerbahce:
It’s a very good thing. The Dogus Group president is a big Fenerbahce fan, a great person and I know how he feels about Fenerbahce. The economical aspect is between him and Fenerbahce president. They are the ones who are involved in that matter. We will have a budget that will give us a chance to be at the same level with the top teams in Europe. Spain, Greece, Macccabi, Milano. This is what we want. For Fenerbahce to be among the elite teams in Europe. We are working on that logic. We are happy that we have a gentleman like Dogus president with us. It’s like we are one big family.
The new EuroLeague format:
I hope that 2017/2018 Euroleague to be like the previous season. Because the interest is greater with the new format. More people are becoming engaged with basketball. And much more than before. The general interest for the sport is increased as well. I believe that we playing in a great competition. Congratulations to everyone who created this Euroleague. With each passing year we’ll have a better competition. And that’s why we need strong teams and the best teams to stay here. Not only in my team but in other teams as well. In all EuroLeague teams.