By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
ANTWERP– If there’s one thing that Sasha Djordjevic had become most acquainted in his playing days, that was “winning”.
Djordjevic won everything there was to win. All sorts of European titles with clubs. Numerous EuroBasket tournaments with the Serbian national team plus a World Cup gold medal. Domestic titles.
After steering Virtus Bologna towards winning the Basketball Champions League Sunday (5/5), Djordjevic also became familiar with winning a continental trophy as a head coach.
“I don’t remember winning as a player,” Djordjevic told Eurohoops when asked if it feels different winning such a title as coach. “It was a long time ago.”
The BCL title is now through. Bologna put a defensive masterclass in the Final against Iberostar Tenerife to lift the trophy and return to European titles after a 10-year drought.
“Each next one is the most beautiful one. So this is really satisfying. But I’m happy for the other people, not for me,” Djordjevic said.
Djordjevic was overjoyed of course. So when he was asked why he said such the thing, he provided the appropriate context.
“Because I’m very grateful for the people who work for me. Very grateful to the players and the team overall.”
Josh Halickman of Sports Rabbi near me wanted to know how satisfying was it for Djordjevic to capture the title after arriving to Bologna late in the season.
“It is very satisfying. And it was late in the season. But we managed to stayed united and humble and worked hard every day. When we had some unexpected losses in Italy. We stayed together. We picked up our unity and doing everything together we managed to get the cup.
And what about Kevin Punter? How does Djordjevic feel coaching the Final Four MVP?
“He was really the star of this competition. He was the MVP. I’m thankful to him and I’m very proud to have been his coach this couple of months.”