Zeljko Obradovic: I’m at Partizan and I promised the fans that I would be here for three years

Zeljko Obradovic gave a lengthy interview to Sport24. Here are some excerpts:

“Partizan fans have always been like this. Now it’s a special situation because we returned to the EuroLeague after 8 years, and that certainly matters a lot.”

“I don’t know. I have been a coach for more than 30 years. I try to do my job in the best possible way, with respect, both towards my players and anyone else, in any kind of organization. That’s how things are. I try to work very hard on the court because I believe it’s good for everyone. In the end, we all have the same goal in front of us.”

“This rivalry that exists is good for the sport. If everything is done within the sports framework and with fair play, it’s fine. We prepare these games in a very specific way, but we always talk about basketball.”

“Yes, it’s very competitive, and you can see that. No one is sure. It’s a tough competition for everyone. All the teams are trying to have a good roster, and all have goals.”

“Yes, Olympiacos plays very well, very, very well. All the teams have their ups and downs, even Olympiacos. They show everyone, though, that they have a very good team and play as a team, they really play as a team.”

“I am not the right person to talk about this. I don’t know. Everyone knows that I have a special relationship with Panathinaikos and that I always wish them the best, always.”

“This is not a question for me or Dimitris. It’s a question that everyone should discuss. I don’t know, you’re asking me something. Do you know what the format will be like next season or in two years? How can we discuss something like this? It’s not a matter for you and me. It’s a matter that concerns the people who work in the EuroLeague organization and decide on all these things.

Of course, they need the opinion of everyone who is important in our sport because we all want the competition to be even better than it is now, which is already a very good competition. We’re talking about how the competition is this year, very tough, with interesting games that are decided in the last minute. That means we have a very competitive competition. In the future, we want it to be the same. How it will be is a matter to be discussed by those who understand basketball and especially those who run these projects for the EuroLeague.”

“No, because now I’m at Partizan and I promised the fans that I would be here for three years. This is my second year, and I have nothing else on my mind, not Greece, not anything else. I never think like that. I don’t know how others think. If I’m here, my focus and everything else is on Partizan. There’s too much time to think about something like that. I have a game on Friday, a game on Sunday, Tuesday, and again on Friday and Monday. So how can I think about something like that?”.