By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Partizan Belgrade head coach Aleksandar Dzikic discussed the current status of his team after last night’s defeat by AEK for the FIBA Champions League. Among other things, the Serbian coach talked about the recent defeats that his team suffered and addressed what might be the problem with Partizan’s declining level in recent years.
When asked about some consecutive losses of his team, he said: “That’s a projection of our quality. It’s who we are. We lost from Buducnost Cedevita and Crvena Zvezda. Believe me… they are better teams than we are. We lost from Besiktas the best team in this Group and AEK. Every other defeat was… planned, if you can say it. We were very close with Buducnost and Cedevita. Against Besiktas and Red Star we were not close. Even tonight with AEK we had our chances, despite a 10-point defeat.”
“That’s who we are. It’s not the same team as in the past. We don’t have the same level of talent. Simple as that,” Dzikic added with no small amount of honesty.
“I’m responsible from January. So far fans know what they can expect. I am a straight forward guy, I don’t tell stories. We got to believe in our future. If we don’t then who will? It will not happen overnight. We were on top for so long, in both ABA and Serbian Leagues. Other teams caught up and now have a high level. Our problem is that we can’t have the best Serbian players anymore. They are in some other teams. We have what we have and we’re going to keep on working. It’s a part of process to be honest. Some fans are patient and understand it. Some guys aren’t patient. If someone wants to understand what is going on he will.”