By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
MILAN, Italy – There couldn’t have been a better start to his new adventure in Milan for Nenad Dimitrijevic, who is just collecting MVP awards at this point.
After dominating the VTB League as Regular Season MVP last year, he approached the newest season by immediately being named Italian SuperCup MVP. He was crucial in giving Milan the first trophy in the competition after four missing campaigns. And now he’s eager for more.
Sitting down with Eurohoops during last week’s EuroLeague Media Day, the North Macedonian leader couldn’t hold his excitement. “I’m very excited to be here. The team is doing great, and I’ve been waiting to be here in the EuroLeague for a long time. I’m very excited and happy”, he opened the conversation.
After this season’s first official win against Virtus Bologna, Ettore Messina said he dreams of recreating once again a Chacho Rodriguez-Malcolm Delaney kind of duo between Nenad Dimitrijevic and Leandro Bolmaro, with two backcourt partners who could combine athleticism and ball distribution.
But how does Neno see himself? “I see myself more as a playmaker, creating for everybody and making life easier for my teammates. But I also see myself as a scorer, a guy who can put up a lot of points. That’s one of the strengths of my game: I can be able to play both positions a little bit. When we need to create, I can create; when we need to get a bucket, I can get a bucket”, he openly expressed.
“I think that’s one of the things I’ve tried to improve and be consistent during my career: being able to play both ways, not just being the point guard who passes the ball, but the guy who can score, pass the ball and create. That’s one of my biggest strengths”, the explosive combo also added.
Something he needs to boost is surely his defensive impact, but he has found a specialist in Ettore Messina to improve what he could do on his half of the court. “Being a defensive player isn’t one of my biggest strengths, but I think I’m a good team defender. I know where to help and where not”, he said.
While he doesn’t have offensive problems, he has a huge upside on defense, and the long-time experienced head coach will help. “I read spaces. I think I’m doing a good job of doing that. I’m trying with his guidance to see in which particular situations I can improve. That’s also one of the goals for the season: prove I can be a solid, not great, but solid defender”, Neno added.
Learning from iconic role models like Milos Teodosic
But let’s shift back to the beginnings, in Skopje. The path was drawn back then, considering in which kind of family Nenad Dimitrijevic has grown up. “Since I was a baby, my dream was to play basketball. Basically I grew up in a basketball family: my dad is a coach, my mom played, my younger sister was playing until last year, and my uncles were involved too in the sport”, he said.
“We also have a very successful basketball club back home. Since my early days, being a professional basketball player at the highest level was the goal”, the talented point guard shared too. Everything turned a shortcut when he was 14, moving to Badalona to shape his playing type and grow.
“I was kind of surprised at first because I was coming from Macedonia, Balkans, ex-Yugoslavia and I used to play pick-and-roll basketball since I was 6-7 years old. That was my game, I learned that from a very young age. Also when I was 11 we played zone back home. Everything was done for us to win. When I arrived in Spain, it was no pick-and-roll, only 1-on-1, spacing, running”, he commented.
“Basically, it added something to my game, to be creative, to play without the ball, to run more, to be a better 1-on-1 player. They play freely and read off each other. This is one of the most important things for a young player”, he said as well, remembering another great guard made in Badalona. “Ricky [Rubio] is an idol for sure in Badalona, you hear his name coming up. But I was in my own path”, he admitted.
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In order to know where to improve as a guard, you need to pick up here and there from other iconic backcourt players. The list of Neno’s idols contains some pretty good ones. “I watch basketball 24/7, I’m addicted to it. [Milos] Teodosic has been my favorite player since always, I always watch him a lot. [Vassilis] Spanoulis too”, he first said when thinking about role modeling point guards.
When the Serbian icon was in the EuroCup with Virtus Bologna, he faced him as Joventut Badalona’s player. And he must have thought about his love at first sight, the moment when he fell captured by Milos Teodosic’s uniqueness. “It wasn’t a EuroLeague game. It was the World Cup 2010 when he scored the buzzer-beater from ten meters to win against Spain”, he recalled.
He not only faced role models but also played alongside them. “[One of them is] Nikos Zizis, who played with me in Badalona. He is one of my favorite teammates of all time. I learned so much from him. Basically, I watch all the great point guards. Of course, I watch also Ricky [Rubio]: in Badalona, we practiced a lot his iconic layup from the dribble going for the second ring”, Neno added.
In Badalona, he shared the court with another upcoming EuroLeague player, Arturs Zagars. The 2023 FIBA World Cup Latvian sensation will start off the bench in Sarunas Jasikevicius’ Fenerbahce. “I’m so happy for him because he has had a difficult path to be here. He had a lot of injuries, especially when I was with me in Badalona. He couldn’t take his game up, because of injuries”, he said.
The bond between the two talented playmakers will remain strong. “That’s my boy, that’s my guy. We had a very close relationship when we were in Badalona. I’m very excited to watch him now as a EuroLeague player. He deserves to be here, he’s very talented”, Nenad Dimitrijevic shared.
Loving basketball again from Valencia to Kazan
After two EuroCup seasons in Joventut Badalona growing more and more, everybody was waiting for Nenad Dimitrijevic to make the next step upward. And he was too, signing for Valencia for the 2021-22 EuroLeague season. However, the team didn’t make it to the highest level in Europe.
“When I signed, the team was supposed to play in the EuroLeague. I was expecting to be in the EuroLeague with Valencia my first year, but circumstances happened and I ended up playing in the EuroCup”, he recalled. But it made sense to continue in the same basketball system. “This was the most obvious choice because when you grow up in Spain from a young kid, the path is made”, he said.
“Maybe you go from Badalona to Valencia, then Baskonia, and if you are successful there you go to the powerhouses like Real Madrid or Barcelona. That was my idea. God works in mysterious ways, and my path went through Russia and I’m very grateful for it. It worked up amazingly”, Neno commented.
A lot of people expected him to make it to the EuroLeague once Russia invaded Ukraine and the Russian teams were excluded from the competition, making room for Valencia. But a lot of factors made Nenad Dimitrijevic aware of the fact he needed to be where he would have been wanted.
“The first year in Valencia was complicated. Maybe people don’t know. It was a year full of injuries, I even had a bad sickness that kept me out for two months off the court. I lost 6 kg. The team didn’t have a successful season. Then, they decided to change the coach. Going home everything was good, I had three more years in my contract. I should have been the point guard of the future”, he remembered.
A phone call changed his career. “Everything was fine, and then I received an unexpected phone call from the new coach, Alex Mumbru. He told me I wasn’t part of his plans. Then, with my agent Misko [Raznatovic] we were waiting to see what was the best decision, and the best decision was to go and play, not just be a part of a team. Play 30 minutes, and be a leader. Be the scorer, be the real me”, he revealed.
“It was missing what I love. Because in Spain, with a 12-player rotation, and limited minutes, some games you play, and some games you don’t. I felt I didn’t reach my full potential. Going to Russia with coach [Velimir] Perasovic, I knew deep down it was going to be great for my career. And it ended up being because he let me play, he let me be the real me. He just cared about winning, that was the most important for me”, Neno said. Two years in Russia shaped him as a new leader.
Ending his first season winning the VTB League and the second campaign being named MVP of the Regular Season are huge accomplishments. “It was fun. I really enjoyed it. We only played VTB League, so there were fewer games. But I also had my baby born, and I had a lot of time at home which was great for me. It was good, life was good”, he talked about his time in Russia with UNICS Kazan.
Most importantly, he added some games to his list of iconic performances. The best one happened against CSKA Moscow, where he registered his new career high. “Last year I had a 40-point game against CSKA Moscow, it was the last game of the regular season. Whoever won that game would have finished 1st. It was important for sure, it was the first time in history actually that UNICS would have finished 1st in the VTB Regular Season”, he remembered about the occasion.
“It was a big game for us. Marcos Knight and Dima Kulagin, key players for us, were out. They were the other two ball-handlers, guys who could go. I knew if we wanted to win, I had to get busy. Even during the warm-ups, I felt something like “Today is going to be dangerous”. It ended up being, and we won the game”, Nenad Dimitrijevic shared about his scoring-killer instinct.
“It was a great league, with a lot of talented players. The Top-4 teams [CSKA Moscow, Zenit Saint Petersburg, UNICS Kazan, and Lokomotiv Kuban] were of an amazing level, to be honest. They deserve to be in the EuroLeague for the quality of the talent we had and they had. It was very fortunate to win the VTB first and then to be named Regular Season MVP. It’s something I’m proud of”, he expressed too.
When talking about players who could be in the EuroLeague right now, he listed some names. “The first that comes to my mind is Jalen Reynolds. He played with me. Unbelievable talent, physique, everything. Thomas Heurtel was there, like [Amath] M’Baye in CSKA: he’s a EuroLeague-level player for me. And now Aleksa [Avramovic] is there, so it’s a league full of talent for sure”, Neno commented.
Dreaming of EuroBasket and facing Partizan
EuroLeague is coming right next for Nenad Dimitrijevic, but he has been a fan of European basketball forever. When asked about his favorite EuroLeague memory, a Serbian powerhouse comes to his mind. “I immediately remember is Game 4 of the 2010 EuroLeague Playoffs between Partizan and Maccabi. Partizan was leading 2-1: if they win, they go to the Final Four”, he said.
“I went to that game in Belgrade: I get goosebumps just talking about it. It was the most unbelievable game ever in my life”, he looked back at a young basketball memory. Milan will square off against Partizan Belgrade in Serbia on November 15, and he has already marked the calendar. “Belgrade is gonna be crazy and I can’t wait”, the North Macedonian leader said.
Another game he’s looking forward to will be played on Gameday 2, hosting Paris Basketball on October 11 in Unipol Forum. On that occasion, he will face TJ Shorts II, who got the North Macedonian passport last year, and will play alongside him in national-team action.
“He won everything, first in the BCL, and last year in the EuroCup. Now I think he has the chance to prove [his talent] in the EuroLeague, he deserves this chance because in the last two or three years he has been playing at an amazing level. I’m excited to see him in the EuroLeague”, he commented.
While they haven’t shared the court together, they could be a dangerous duo in the backcourt for the red-and-yellow Balkan country. “Talking about the national team, we didn’t play with each other. He carried the team to important victories, so I’m glad to have him”, Nenad Dimitrijevic commented.
Talking about North Macedonia, he was 13 when the country achieved a historical 4th place at EuroBasket 2011. That’s also one of his fondest memories. “I watched it at home with family and friends, we were screaming like crazy. Especially the Quarter-Finals win against Lithuania with the three-pointer by Vlado Ilievski. It’s a great memory for our country and our basketball. After that, the sport in North Macedonia went up”, Neno commented about that historic achievement.
Last February, in the first window of the 2025 EuroBasket Qualifiers, Nenad Dimitrijevic dominated the scene by putting up 28.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game for his country, contributing to the huge victory against Poland. But he only cares about his country’s success.
“I want to play EuroBasket with my country, for sure: that’s one of my biggest goals. Now we’re in the EuroBasket Qualifiers, we have two important games in November [against Lithuania], and two important games in February [against Estonia and Poland]. I hope we can make it happen because that’s a big goal of mine: being able to represent my country in EuroBasket and to again try to bring the level of North Macedonian basketball a little bit higher”, he finally shared about his country.
PHOTO CREDIT: EA7 Emporio Armani Milan