By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
Τhere seems to be only smoke and no fire in the case of Dario Saric and his relationship with Anadolu Efes, despite the quotes of his father Predrang who spoke even about the possibility of his son leaving the team because he was not used in TBL’s premier. After all, it’s well documented to everyone who followed the story of the Croatian wonder-kid the last few years that Predrang Saric never hesitates to speak his mind out and he is more than sensitive when he has to defend his son.
However, what he said about the possibility of Dario Saric fleeing Anadolu Efes, if he doesn’t get more minutes of action, doesn’t reflect the current position of Dario himself, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. Since the first moment he started working with coach Dusan Ivkovic, the coaching stuff of Anadolu Efes has analyzed to him the plan for his development and his role in the team. Dario himself acknowledges that he will need time in order to adapt himself to Ivkovic’s demands.
And after all missing a TBL game isn’t such a big deal. On the contrary to Euroleague, where there’s no limit, in every TBL game Anadolu Efes has the right to use six from the seven non Turkish players of its roster and a constant rotation of the “foreigners” is expected. It’s not the first time that a player’s father has talked against Duda’s methods. When Greek forward Antonis Fotsis was playing for Dinamo Moscow, his father – and also a former player like Predrag Saric – Vaggelis Fotsis has voiced his complains. Ivkovic asked him to stay quiet, that happened and in the end Fotsis was among the leaders of the team which won the Eurocup, then called ULEB cup.
Dario Saric will be a part of the team’s rotation in the Euroleague premier of the season against Unics Kazan. His minutes are expected to increase as he gets used to Ivkovic’s system and there’s no way he can leave mid-season for the NBA. After all his contract has a buy out that can be used only after the end of next season.
What happened seems to be one more odd episode in the long Saric saga, which had many twists and turns leading to last season’s NBA draft. The player changed agents from Croatian Robert Jablan, who wanted him to continue his career in the NBA, to Serbian Misko Raznatovic and ended up in Efes. That’s why we expect more bumps along the road of his career, like the latest outbreak of his father. Still, he is a unique player…