By Murat Kose/ info@eurohoops.net
Zeljko Obradovic talked to Fenerbahce TV for the upcoming season and what he had to say, as always is more than interesting.
According to the Serbian coach, there’s real progress made. For the first time Euroleague will be a “real league” with 16 teams which will face each twice other during the regular season and Obradovic believes that this is a real game changer: “The new look of Euroleague is, I think, a very nice step forward and who knows, maybe Euroleague will be able to compete with NBA in the future. In our team, there are some players who had been offered good contracts from the NBA but they opted to stay here. That means we also have some nice things going down here.
More importantly, we need to talk about what to do for the future of European basketball
. One of the very first things to talk about should be young players. Up until now, they are contracted to short term deals. They would be staying in Europe for a longer time if those contracts are extended to 4-5 years. We will see how good they may become, but for the sake of European basketball, we need to start with young players”.
As for Fenerbahce, which was last season’s finalist, things are already on the right track: “We have same team from last year. This is a huge advantage. Everyone knows each other’s style. But now at the begining of season, this isn’t so important. We have a tough process in front of us. Due to the format change on Euroleague, we will play three matches in a week sometimes. We have a long way.
With the format changes, our fans can watch all Euroleague teams at our gym. Every team will play each other
. So we have to be ready for the season’s start. Sometimes we will play four matches in eight days during the season. So every team member must realize this. Our preparation time us different than last year. I’ve talked for this situation with my players”.
Things are changing
Obradovic also believes that there’s a change in the balance of the power in Euroleague, with Turkey being the center of this change: “There have been some quite big changes in Euroleague over the last years. Especially the last season, teams like Panathinaikos, Olympiakos, Maccabi, Barcelona and Real Madrid all of which have remarkable histories missed the Final Four. This year, they have also become stronger. In Turkey, Anadolu Efes and Darüşşafaka Doğuş have changed their coaches and their roster. Everyone knows how good of a coach David Blatt is. Galatasaray Odeabank have also gotten stronger. Like the last three past seasons, competition in Turkey will be harsh and this is really good for Turkish basketball in general”.
And Fenerbahce is on the front line of this change with the fans embracing Obradovic and his players. Still, Zoc wants more! “Euroleague games will be hard on the road but also at home games. Our goal is the same. We’re here for our fans. We thanks a lot who bought season tickets until today. We are nothing without them. Nearly seven thousand season tickets sold. I appreciate that but it’s not enough. I
have a dream of ten thousand season tickets being sold since I came here
. I hope we’ll do that. Our fans really love and trust us. We always have to keep that in our minds and never forget what happened last year. Fans are only reason for our club and team’s success. Their support is more important than anything for us.”