By Semih Tuna / stuna@eurohoops.net
Since arriving at Beşiktaş, Dusan Alimpijevic has led one of the most dramatic transformations in Turkish basketball. In this exclusive interview, the Serbian coach reflects on how he and his staff reshaped the club’s culture on and off the court. From a team that narrowly avoided relegation to a playoff contender in both the Turkish League and EuroCup, Beşiktaş is once again knocking on the door of European elite basketball.
Throughout the conversation, Alimpijevic speaks candidly about Beşiktaş’s EuroLeague ambitions, the realities of competing on a smaller budget, and how the club has managed to punch above its weight. He also dives into the challenges of preparing his team for high-stakes games, shares thoughts on the Turkish Cup Final against Fenerbahçe, and explains why consistency—not just trophies—should define a team’s success.
The interview also touches on broader topics shaping the European basketball landscape. Alimpijevic offers sharp insight into the saturation of the EuroLeague coaching pool, the increasing pressure on players, the NBA’s potential expansion into Europe, and the battle to retain young talent. He even shares a light-hearted story about Nikola Jokic and their unique connection through their shared management.
Full of strong opinions, heartfelt moments, and behind-the-scenes perspective, this 37-minute interview is a must-watch for anyone following European basketball.
Q: How do you think the season is going?
So far, everything is going great—I mean, good. As I said before in some of the interviews since we came—when I say “we,” I’m talking about us as a coaching staff—since we came to Beşiktaş, our first idea was to move some bars to another level in terms of discipline, system, basketball organization on the court, and way of thinking. That is basically what we want to build during my time as head coach. So straight after, with the three semi-finals, I think we showed that we are very serious in that direction. And this year, we also moved a little bit higher in two competitions compared to last year: one final in the Turkish Cup, and in the Turkish League, we are sharing the second position in the standings with Efes. I mean, currently, we are in second position. Only the EuroCup was the competition where we could have gone further. However, I think it wasn’t realistic to think we were going to win the EuroCup, especially when we compared our budget with other teams’ budgets. On the other hand, I have to say that we are all satisfied playing in the playoffs one more time and being among the best teams in Europe in both groups. I think being consistently good is the most important thing for us as a club.
Q: I would like to take a look at the Turkish Cup final. Fenerbahçe set the tone at the beginning of the game. If you had the chance to play it again, what would you change?
Look, to be honest, not too much. For me, the main idea was just to avoid repeating last year, when they surprised us with their level of contact. So we were working on that, we were talking a lot about that, and we went through all these tiny details that could help us react better to their toughness and physicality. I think we did a good job in that regard—we didn’t let them beat us easily. To be honest, because Fenerbahçe right now is nothing more than Efes, I just don’t want anybody to think that something big has changed because of our two games. Anyway, Fener is really on another planet in terms of budget, organization, and desire… Look, it’s very simple: when one guy gets injured, they replace him with a player of equal or better quality in terms of both offensive and defensive talent. Fenerbahçe is a team that is playing some of the best basketball in the entire EuroLeague right now. To be honest, we put up a lot of fight in the final, but look, there are great players on the other side. They literally punished every mistake we made. I’m not sure if we repeated that game; maybe they would miss some of those shots. However, I wouldn’t go too differently from how we played. It’s just, you know, a different way of playing against Fenerbahçe compared to anybody else right now.
Q: I want to talk about the Cedevita game in the EuroCup. You had control of the game and were the better team at the start. At one point, you got the lead by 13. What happened after that?
Look, that’s why EuroCup is a very interesting competition. In the eighth-finals, you have only one game, you have only one chance. I think that for the first time we felt on our skin what it’s like to be in a game where we are not the underdogs. Other people had, let’s say, a much more relaxing time. They enjoyed the game a little bit more than us, especially in the second half when the game became close. So, in the second half, I didn’t see my guys playing what we agreed upon.
On the other hand, in the first half, we played almost very good, perfect basketball, and we stuck to the plan. I believe that we didn’t lose the game in the second half; we lost the game at the end of the first half. Because instead of going from 13 to 17 or 20, we lost that chance and went from 11 or 12, something like that, down to seven. So I believe that was the crucial moment. Before that moment, Cedevita was ready to give up on that game. I mean, at least it looked like that to me. We are guilty for this, but at the same time, they played good basketball in that moment—and that was the only thing.
If you compare our game against Cedevita with our (Turkish Cup) game against Efes, of course, everybody will say this loss is a big surprise. But this is EuroCup. And okay, after that, we went up against Bahçeşehir, and before that, we had a positive record against them. But we know how semi-finals and finals are going to look in terms of budgets and the teams who are ready to go from EuroCup to EuroLeague.
Q: Do you think your success in the EuroCup knockout rounds has made Beşiktaş a more serious contender than usual? Obviously, every team steps onto the court to win, but you have a proven track record in these stages.
I mean, I already talked about this with people and staff in the club. It’s a totally different approach against us this year compared to a year before. A year before, we took over Beşiktaş after the team barely stayed in the Turkish League. There was a fight against relegation until the last round. And I saw that, for example, Beşiktaş wasn’t such an interesting name or a big challenge for others. They treated us like they didn’t respect us.
So we did many things in our first year. Of course, first of all, we had a great team. We had great support from our management and president. We had a really good atmosphere in our club. On the other hand, we have to say that after coming from a very low place, then for the next season, expectations are not that high. So what we did in the first season—I’m not sure if it’s good or bad. Of course, it’s good for all of our fans and us, especially in terms of success. Playing in three semi-finals is something that now everybody knows. They all know that Beşiktaş came back on track in just one year, to a place the club really belongs.
Actually, in my opinion, as an organization—with the fan base, infrastructure, people inside our club, management, media guys, equipment guys, medical staff—they absolutely deserve it. So this year, it’s much tougher for us to prepare for games and to play against other teams. As I said, now I can feel that almost every team is ready against us, like 101%. I truly believe that a couple of teams we played against had one of their best games of the season against us. For sure, this is just my opinion, because we are observing all these things. So yeah, it’s much tougher this season in terms of preparation. And now you can see that some teams, playing against us with less pressure, are having better games.
Q: Since you joined Beşiktaş, you’ve worked with three different managements. How has that affected you and your team?
I said this before—the main thing is that our president, Mr. Özkan (Arseven), who was already involved with the women’s basketball team, also took over the men’s basketball team, and that made things much easier for all of us. Really, from the beginning, we’ve had an amazing relationship with President Özkan. And to be honest, as the basketball branch, we didn’t feel these big changes at the top of the organization in upper-level management.
Mr. Özkan was there from the first day—first with the women’s team, then with us, and then he stayed again with the men’s team. So that made things much easier for us. Of course, in some moments, there were gaps when you couldn’t talk about certain things until the new management fully settled in. But we were lucky to have one person for a longer time than maybe the other branches in Beşiktaş, and that made things much easier for us.
I have to say that my communication with President Özkan has been, from the very first second, the best possible. Because I need just, you know, a couple of seconds or minutes to agree on some very important things for our branch.
Q: You dream of playing in the EuroLeague with Beşiktaş. Besides winning the EuroCup, do you think this is a realistic goal shortly?
There are a lot of question marks about my EuroLeague goal. If we look at the history of Beşiktaş, they were already in the EuroLeague for one season. If you’re looking at the fan base, and also the city and the country—İstanbul and Türkiye—I don’t see a reason why there shouldn’t be three teams from İstanbul in the EuroLeague. Absolutely, as a country and as a city, you deserve it—through investments, infrastructure, and many other things like the passion people have for sports in general, but especially for basketball, football, and volleyball.
I’ve seen a lot of positive things in your country related to that. And also, as a club, how big we are, with all these branches together—I absolutely believe we deserve it. But of course, at the end of the day, what the EuroLeague really wants is big-budget teams. More importantly than just one year of a big budget, they want consistent big budgets with a vision, with stability, with consistency in the future. That’s what they are really asking for.
Now you can see Hapoel, who showed up with an absolutely unbelievable budget. That’s interesting for EuroLeague, right? Also, Dubai showed up, and they’ll also be very interesting. I expect them in the EuroLeague by next year, 100%. This is my opinion. They will offer what EuroLeague likes—they’ll offer good organization, development, and a big budget.
So for Beşiktaş Basketball, if we want something bigger, then of course we need to agree on what the price is for that. I’ve had these situations in my life—when you show up with a much smaller budget than others to semi-finals or even finals. Then you can see who really has the advantage in those games. So it’s no longer just about your preparation or your energy level—it’s about some other things.
Q: You have a contract with an option for next season. Have you had any discussions with the club about your future?
I didn’t. I think it’s early, because it’s March and we’re still going with the season. I also believe that the club is not in a rush because the club has a contract with a buyout option for one more year—and this option is only for the EuroLeague. So I believe that it’s too early for the club to talk with me. We have a good relationship, everything is going well, and I don’t see that they are in a rush about that.
Q: Now, let’s move on to some general questions. This is your fifth year in Turkey. Do you see Turkey as your second home?
Absolutely, I enjoy it here a lot. Türkiye gave me a lot. I have a lot of good friends—friends who will stay in my life forever. To be honest, we continue our relationship not just during my time here in Türkiye. We are also hanging out in Serbia. They come and visit me in Serbia during the summer, and for sure, they will stay my friends even after I leave this country.
Also, my second child was born in Bursa. So, in the passport of my child, it will forever say Bursa, Nilüfer, Türkiye. This is something we don’t want to erase, and we couldn’t even if we wanted to. We proudly carry that as something very meaningful to us.
My first child has spent all five years of their life in Türkiye and speaks great Turkish. They enjoy their time here. I’ve met a lot of good people. For example, from time to time, my family just gets in the car and drives back to Bursa—they still have a lot of friends there. A lot of families we are close with. So, for sure, even when we leave, we will look to come back at some point.
Q: There seems to be congestion in the EuroLeague coaching pool. We keep seeing the same names, even though there are many successful young coaches. Why do you think the same names keep getting opportunities while the younger generation struggles to break in?
I mean, first of all, we have to respect everything they did. You call them “old generation coaches,” but for me, they are “more experienced coaches,” because really, all of us in the young generation—if I can include myself in that—became what we are now because of them.
So we have to respect them, because they gave us a lot of lessons, a lot of great games to learn from. They opened their doors many times for us to watch practices, and we are still together in clinics. I still use every day to talk with them, to learn something new—and I will learn as long as I’m alive. So we can’t forget what they gave us, and we have to be patient and wait for the change of generations.
The main thing is that all of them are still here because they are still investing in their knowledge—even at their age, after all their titles, championships, and everything. They are still changing and adjusting to the new needs of basketball. This is amazing, and we, as young generation coaches, should learn from that. As long as we are in this job, in this business, we must keep working on ourselves.
So, once this change comes naturally, I believe basketball will pick only the best from what we have. Also, some clubs in EuroLeague, EuroCup, and Basketball Champions League are always more comfortable with coaches who’ve been working for many years—who have already proven themselves. It’s a big risk to bring in a new name and give him a championship-level team. It’s always like, “But he didn’t win this or that.” Okay, yeah, but you have to give those names a chance with a team that can fight for a championship. So, there’s still a struggle to give someone new that opportunity.
Q: Which teams do you enjoy watching the most in the domestic league, excluding EuroLeague teams?
To be honest, this year I enjoy watching Büyükçekmece a lot, and we will play against them this weekend. They play very good basketball—I like the style they play. They share the ball, they have very sharp guards, but also toughness at the five position. I believe their coach is doing an amazing job, as he has for years. I really respect him a lot.
Also, Petkim always knows what they want. Petkim’s coach always attacks what he wants to attack. He defends very well. He puts all your strengths under control. So I like watching them.
Of course, because of their rosters, Fenerbahçe and Efes are the most exciting teams to watch. But as I said, for me, it’s very interesting to see how Büyükçekmece is torturing all these big names and big budgets. They’re killing the bigs.
Q: Karşıyaka is going through a tough time, and after the last game, you made an emotional statement that was widely praised. Does this emotional side of you come from being a coach who enjoys building a bond with the fans?
Absolutely. All 40 minutes that I was on the court—to be honest—I couldn’t give 100% of my focus on the game, maybe for the first time, because I was so emotional with everything I saw. I saw something that really gave me belief in true and right things. The connection between the fans and the players was amazing. It’s about the fans and their dedication to the club.
Their club is going through very bad times, very tough times. And at the same time, the fans are behind them—not only during good times. Now the club is in bad times, and the fans keep supporting them. They’re trying to help them stay in the first division. Maybe they need one or two wins for that. For me, that was amazing.
Every time I went to Karşıyaka, we had our fight—which I liked. I like this about Türkiye because the fans are very passionate. I enjoy that a lot. I don’t like fans without energy or passion. So this is something I really respect.
When the game finished, I really wanted to give that honor and respect to the people who are helping their team in that way. So after the game, I gave a speech from the bottom of my heart. I said what I felt for the fans. One more time, congratulations to them, and I wish them all the best.
Q: My colleague at Eurohoops asked to Nigel, and let me ask this to you too. How do you see the thin line between the passion of European fans and their tendency to see athletes as machines, expecting winning as an obligation?
It’s very difficult to explain to fans what professional sport has become now in 2025—or what it became a year before, or what it will be even more in the future. There’s definitely a need for more games. That’s for sure. What I don’t like about the new schedule and the way competitions are run now—EuroCup, EuroLeague… Okay, let’s take the Basketball Champions League as an example. Champions League gave, at the beginning, a little more time to celebrate a win. To enjoy it a little more. If you lose, to suffer. To be sad. Because at the end of the day, everything should start from emotion.
These competitions are pushing us to put emotions aside and become almost like robots. So when we win, I like to be happy—at least for one day or night. We’re in this business for that passion. To celebrate with our families, with our friends. To celebrate and give something big to our fans. When we lose, also to be sad, and to know how to be sad. To suffer, because maybe that way we can give something more, and talk about what we can change.
Now, these competitions push you—and professional athletes—to say, “Okay, one game is done, bam bam bam.” Let’s go home, and we won’t talk about this game. We won’t be sad, we won’t be happy. The next game is in two days. They give you a chance to be better in the next one if you were bad in the previous one.
Also, fans are paying expensive tickets. Fans are watching you as idols. And now, with more games, fans spend even more money on tickets, so they expect you to win every game. But actually, players are not robots. We are pushing them to be robots, but they are also human beings—like all of us here in this room.
They have the right to make mistakes. They have the right to have a bad day. Who doesn’t have a bad day? You have a bad day, he has a bad day, I have a bad day. It’s a normal thing. And all together with our fans, we need to make those bad days as few as possible. That’s absolutely true.
Q: Are EuroLeague or EuroCup leagues for players ? How would you compare it to when you started as an assistant coach 16 years ago?
This is the direction things are going. That way of doing things from the States is coming very fast. Not 100%, but absolutely, it’s much more of a players’ league in the U.S. Here in Europe, it’s still a coach’s game—but it’s moving in that direction, where we have to give everything to the players.
I support the idea that we need to find a solution somewhere in the middle. Because if, as coaches, we lose everything we represent, then no one will understand that in Europe the same way they do in the States. It’s a totally different mentality.
Here in Europe—okay, let’s just talk about your country—your country likes strong coaches. They like strong authorities. Of course, they also like great individuals. So, even if we only observe Türkiye, we don’t need to go beyond that—if you lose everything as a coach, if you don’t have discipline, if you don’t have influence—I think your fans and your country won’t like that kind of coach.
On the other hand, if you are a strong coach but not a big name, then no one will respect what you’re doing because they also want to see good basketball. At the end of the day, nobody comes to the stadium or gym to watch coaches, presidents, or general managers. They come because of the players. So I believe we should find a balance—don’t lose yourself as a coach and what you represent, but at the same time, give players the freedom to show their talent and individual skills.
Q: There is talk of the NBA establishing a league in Europe, and the number of teams may increase. Yes, there will be more financial opportunities, but if the player pool doesn’t expand, a player you pay 1 million today will cost 3 million tomorrow. The talent pool is not growing. This year, you sent Samet to the NCAA, where he is earning far more than he would have here. Players are also moving to Asia for more money and fewer games. Do you have a solution for this?
Look, in Europe, first of all, everybody needs to sit together and talk about this. Because for our business—and I say business because it’s not just about sport, not just about players and coaches—we have a lot of employees in every club. A lot of families depend on our jobs and this business.
I think it’s very silly and funny to talk in March about what will happen in the future with the NBA, or for example, Japan, or what will happen in the Middle East—or how many teams will be in the EuroLeague. That’s not serious. But there are strong indicators of where basketball is heading.
I believe all these teams from the Middle East will be very good for us, either by showing up in Europe or creating their league. If the NBA comes, we first have to see what’s realistic. From what we’ve heard, they are approaching football clubs, different names, and cities. So first, they will need to build their gyms. Is it realistic for them to show up in 3 to 4 years? I don’t think so.
Also, if EuroLeague goes to 20 teams, what is the next step? Maybe 20 more, or another 20 very soon. That means exactly what you said—if all needs grow like this, how will we afford to pay players? Who will play in all these teams?
You already mentioned that we have a European problem because colleges are taking our young players for unbelievable money—money we’ve never seen in our lives. Japan is ready with a 3-year project, building infrastructure, gyms, and everything to bring more players there. I see EuroLeague is trying to implement a salary cap. On the other hand, Japan is building a massive project to bring players in 2–3 years.
So, players will easily decide to go to China or Japan—or young players will leave for college. I already talked about this: what young player today will come to Beşiktaş to play for a coach who is yelling? Even if he’s a Fenerbahçe fan or a Galatasaray fan, or a Beşiktaş fan and dreams of playing there—he sees that in Europe he will have too many practices and less money. On the other side, in college, he gets the opposite. So how do we stop him?
We had this situation at the beginning of the season. All the smart and experienced people need to realize this and figure out how to protect Europe from these challenges. How do we stop all these young people from going abroad?
Very soon, we will become old, injured, and slow. We will keep seeing the same names all the time. And that’s exactly what basketball shouldn’t be in the future. Basketball is becoming more physical, faster, and what we play today is not even comparable to two years ago.
Believe me, Semih, it’s not even close to what it will be in 2027, 2028, or 2029. It will be faster and faster.
Q: I also want to ask this from the spectator’s perspective. Due to referees reviewing everything on the monitor, a 40-minute game now lasts 2.5 hours. Isn’t this a problem for the good of basketball?
Also, there are specific rules about what you can challenge, what is challengeable, and what you should review on the IRS. I believe we also need to set more clear criteria for that. But I have to say, it’s much cleaner now since we have the IRS system.
We should work together—not just on the education of coaches and referees, but also at the same time on educating the players. What should we challenge? What should we watch? And referees will be better if they don’t need to go to the IRS too many times. So everyone—coaches, players, referees—should be involved for the good of basketball.
Q: Who are your favorites for the EuroLeague Final Four? Who do you think will win the EuroCup?
I think justice will be served if Olympiakos wins the EuroLeague because they’ve been consistently in the Final Four. In terms of coach, talent, investment, and—at the end of the day—the basketball they play, they deserve it.
Also, Panathinaikos is no less in terms of investment and talent. We know their desire to become champions again. Coach Ataman also wants to repeat what he already did with Efes. I can see them in the Final Four. I can see Fenerbahçe there, too, because of the shape they’ve had, especially after the new year or somewhere around that time. I believe what they’re playing is absolutely Final Four-level basketball.
I believe the fourth team will be a surprise name, which could be any team. I will never count out Real Madrid from the Final Four—even though they’re currently just in the Play-In zone. Real Madrid is Real Madrid. I will never say that Partizan or Crvena Zvezda don’t have a chance to reach the Final Four. Paris plays very interesting basketball. Monaco is also there with some changes. So, for that fourth team, I think it will be a surprise.
I didn’t say anything special about Olympiakos, Panathinaikos, and Fenerbahçe because 99% of people already think that way. I just believe they deserve it the most—so that’s why I’m saying it.
As for the EuroCup, for me, Valencia has the biggest chance. From the first to the last moment, the way they’ve played is the closest to EuroLeague-level basketball.
Q: You share the same management agency as Jokic. Do you talk about the game? It might be hard for him to follow your matches, but since he’s a basketball fanatic, I can’t be sure. What has surprised you the most about Jokic?
I heard that he said in one of his interviews that he watches my basketball clinics—like eight months ago. Then I called him and said, “Listen, you gave me a really good commercial. Thank you for this. I owe you some drinks.”
Listen, all of us from Serbia who have contact with him in one way or another—first of all, none of us wants to disturb him because he plays so many games. It’s really another kind of life—the life they live. All the time, they’re in hotels or on planes. Most of the time, they don’t even know which time zone they’re in. They don’t know which hotel they’re in. They can’t spend much time with their families.
Can you imagine if we called him and started talking about basketball during the season? Most likely, they don’t even want to hear about basketball. They just want to spend their time with their families. He’s a great guy. He’s a family guy. He enjoys basketball in a totally different way. He understands basketball on a totally different level.
Also, during the summer it’s a different case. In his hometown, Sombor, from time to time, we have friends. The food is great there—they cook some amazing meals, especially in the riverside houses. So that’s another opportunity to talk about anything else other than basketball.
Q: Do you think he is the clear MVP?
For me, absolutely, he is the MVP. I don’t care who says what, but what he’s doing—and the kind of fire he’s creating—is absolutely amazing. No man in the history of the NBA has shown what he’s showing. So really—hats off for everything he’s doing. For me, it would be a surprise if he’s not the MVP.