By Slobodan Sarenac
Exactly 20 years ago Aleksandar Djordjevic and Predrag Danilovic became leaders of the youngest team which won Euroleague’s title in the history of the competition. At 16th of April,1992, Djordjevic had a triple at the final seconds and he… smashed Juventud ‘s hopes for the title. Thanks to this three pointer, he helped BC Partizan make a huge step for further success.
Twenty years later, “black and white” from Belgrade still play an important role to Europe’s best club tournament.
Why? Because, year after year they prove money is not everything. They prove that even if you are not rich, you can still be successful. With a budget sometimes ten times smaller than their competition, they can fight as equals with everybody. How? With properly incorporated roster, which have a mix of youth and experience and a game based primarily on the front line. And of course, they don’t forget each year to discover at least a new talent, something is the trademark of BC Partizan’s machinery.
Two years ago, Partizan managed to qualify to Euroleague’s Final Four and it was Dusko Vujosevic’s – the coach who is responsible for Partizan’s long domination in ABA league and national championship and cup – biggest success on his CV.
If you hear somebody talking about Partizan, you will notice he/she uses too many times the word “system”, cause this is the easiest way to describe the recipe made by Vujošević, the one his successor, Vlada Jovanović, tries to follow for second season in a row. But, it is still very difficult to figure out that system.
You see, it’s not easy for Jovanović. Many people inevitably compare him with Vujosevic and some complain he doesn’t give enough opportunities to young players. This is the kind of accusations Zeljko Obradovic and Dusko Vujosevic had to deal with at the past and we all know what these two have succeed in basketball world.
Partizan is a place known for its players production and also a place where many return, at their greatest shape. It was not long ago Nikola Pekovic decided to use the lock out of the NBA to dress again for Partizan, before he returned to Minessota, where he is playing some of his best games yet. Miroslav Raduljica and Milan Mačvan followed a similar road. They left for Anadolu Efes and Maccabi Tel Aviv and returned at their best possible condition. We don’t need to waste more words on players production, because the fact Partizan is the largest players exporter to the NBA says it all.
However, this year was not an easy one. It’s fair to say this season’s roster is the weaker one of last years. Kecman and Bozic have already reached their zenith. Pekovic’s return to the NBA left a big hole, which was too difficult for any other player to cover it. Mačvan and Raduljica are doing their job, but obviously they cannot reach Pekovic’s level to any given night. Also, the failure of keeping Acie Law proved to be another big minus, till Dominic James signed with the team. Speaking about young players, it seems only Lucic justified his coach’s trust, while others had a lot of ups and downs in their game.
Beside all that, Partizan has already won the national Korac Cup and managed to play again an important role at Euroleague. We saw good Euroleague basketball games at Belgrade, in front of the amazing Serbian crowd. And now, we have to remind Partizan is holding the Euroleague’s record for capacity in one game, when 22.567 spectators came at Belgrade Arena to watch a game against Panathinaikos in 2009.
Obviously, things aren’t the same for ABA league leaders, who every year watched Partizan getting the crown and that’s why they invited again Maccabi Tel Aviv at their tournament. And now the Israeli team, one of the best in Europe, is the absolute ABA’s favorite and don’t forget this year’s Final Four will take place at Tel Aviv.
But you must not hurry to… delete Partizan, so easily.
In football, there is an old saying by Gary Lineker that it goes like this: “Football is a game that everyone plays, but in the end the Germans always win”. For many years, in Serbia we use its paraphrase (Basketball is a game everyone plays, but at the end Partizan always wins) and we will keep doing that.