Serbian NT 2015

[vuxsa2]

Let's face it, Teodosic's, Bjelica's, Raduljica's and to some extent Markovic's impact is irreplaceable in this NT. If any of those 3(4) players is out, our chances dramatically drop. Now, Gagi and Nedovic are able to compensate Bogdan's lack of impact should there be any. IMO if Bogdan proves to be unfit, taking Dangubic would hardly help, especially in tough games. Dangubic is not on that level yet. Bottom line is that we have to have faith in Djordjevic's decision. He has that much credit.

 

[Black@dder2]

I agree with you that Dangubic has no place on the 12 roster, but for different reasons. You're reasoning is very flawed, you are quoting a bad season on Dangubic's part and on the other hand you are OK with Milosavljevic being in 12 roster. He had THE WORST season of all people called up to national team (I am talking all 18 players, not 12)! He played like shit, coming of injury all that stands, but he still played like shit. If that is the key in deciding who plays for NT, the form and current shape then Dangubic should be way ahead of Milosavljevic in the NT. Still that is not the case.

I personally thinks he doesn't belong there this year, rather he should be in when he will play significant minutes. I am big opponent of taking young talented players to let them rot on the bench and play them 2-3 minutes per game. The real value to youngsters is the preparation period and competing with others in the process, they will get little development and experience in doing shit on the bench. During our golden years, the young guys on the bench NEVER took over (Except maybe Rebraca), but rather some new youngsters showed up and took over. Therefore I think it's better for him to not go until he can show he is good and competitive enough to take 15+ minutes per game in the squad. I use the same reasoning why Milutinov should not be here, he will get nothing out of it. Stimac should've been that garbage minute 3mn per game center since he has low ambition in ever going ahead of that and does his role. Milutinov should be there when he gets ahead of Raduljica in 2-3 years and gets 20 minutes per game. Talents need time on court to contribute.

If you ask me I would've left both Stimac and Milutinov at home, and since we are carrying an injured Bogdan, take both Milosavljevic and Dangubic so we can have a full rotation at 2-3 spots for the earlier stages of the tournament until Bogdan heals, if he heals at all. Dangubic would've been a lot of help with on the ball defense and cutting to the basket from the wing and that is not bad for a role player at this point.

Dangubić needs to prove himself in Red Star for the start, and than he could expect spot in the team. The 8th or 9th player in rotation in Red Star can't expect to be in the final roster in strong NT like Serbia. I agree that Milosavljević had a bad season also, but he has more usable qualities, and I think that is the reason why Đorđević chose him. We all remember how he played before injury, and he surely has some credit for that, unlike Dangubić. He also seems fully recovered now, and i'm sure he will be able to fulfill every task Đorđević has for him. I don't expect him to play some big minutes, or some important offensive role, he will be used mostly in defence, and to rest Bogdanović/Nedović.

Now about Milutinov and Štimac, i think that what you said, about both of them being left out from the team, would be suicide, because Erceg is defensively no match for any decent center. I would understand that move if we have had Bobi in the team, but even with Raduljica, Kuzmić and Milutinov we are very thin on C, and when you look at last year's team, when we had four centers, it was pretty much obvious that at least three centers are going this year. Milutinov, unlike Štimac, had very good season in Partizan (Olympiacos wouldn't bring him if it wasn't the case) and he is generally better scorer, rebounder and rim protector, the only thing why I thought Štimac had chances was because he was in the team last year.

I also had some doubts in Đorđević's decisions, the mayor one being not calling Jelovac even on preliminary roster. I still don't know the reason, because he would be just what we lack, a great PF/C combo, and he had a great season in Spain. But Đorđević proved himself last year, with seriously damaged roster, and we should all support him and the team, because we have solid chances to fight for the medals.

 

[vuxsa2]

And do you remember how many centers were actually used (played when it really mattered) last year? 2 - Raduljica and Krstic, and Krstic with limited game time and with underperforming big time (to his own standards). Stimac and especially KAtic barely played last year (just to mention Simonovic also). I'm saying this only to show that players like Milutinov, Stimac and Dangubic are only in roster to be held in reserve if some more important player gets injured. Talk about why Djordjevic took SF benchwarmer instead of C benchwarmer is just pointless.

 

[Nothing to lose2]

When was the last time any ex-yu coach brought squad where he had less than 3 C's? Its some kind of unwritten rule so I'd not bust my mind too much about it.

Also, your roster looks stronger on paper than one from last year, you replaced those players with quality additions which doesn't need much time to click and everybody is familiar with their roles, you had impressive campaign in those prep. games, players look hungry and ready for upcoming tournament yet it doesn't prevent you from having doubts in your coach and his decisions which brought you silver medal.Although, there was more than enough people which thrashed Djordjevic during group stage on WC and called for his head, now those same people became his biggest fans.You either have his back or not, its that simple.

 

[CoachZ2]

We have to be realistic when talking about WC 2014. It's a very clear fact that we overachieved at that championship. We just go hot at the right time and ran over teams which were similar quality to ours (if someone thinks we are 20pts better than Greece or Brazil they are fucking insane, not to talk about France). The system last year forced by Djordjevic was a big change for the NT but with a roster who is not cut to play that kind of basketball. The shooting streak we had last year in the knockouts might never happen again in our lifetime, it's just a very wrong way to think that's our realistic quality.

We have a more athletic roster now (just by including Kuzmic and Milutinov we have better movement by big men, and Raduljica is in better shape). So we should be running the system much better in the second year of play, but also you have to be realistic that we will not shoot 57% average from the field in 3 key knockout games (Greece, Brazil and France). That is just ridiculous hot hand, rather than crazy good coaching or pure quality. I am always very realistic and really don't care about club rivalries in the national team, but Djordjevic so far has beside a lot of success last year also shown a side which players despise and sooner or later will cause problems in the NT.

He is a conflicting personality, he has alienated players already and also had 2 major fights with players (Velickovic and Micov). It's not whether he was right or not, but rather what is the appropriate behavior for a coach. He says the only excuse he can see for people and respects are injuries and yet he keeps bringing along players injured into the prep phase. One year a players is deemed shit and not fit for the system, then after his monster season he is suddenly irreplaceable and focus of our preparation (Marjanovic, he was crying about it after the Spurt took him away). He keeps preaching, respect the system go through the process, yet after the cuts he calls up player who was not even in First 18 (Stefan Pot). The list of multiple-personality disorder type of things grows by day. Some people just have trouble to separate Djordjevic the Player from Djordjevic the Coach. He has made a strong impact on the team in terms of chemistry, unity, effort and restoring the pride of playing for the NT. In terms of pure coaching Xs and Os, he is still extremely inexperienced and not elite level. So if you think that it was him who brought that silver with his coaching, you are dreaming.

 

[Black@dder2]

We have to be realistic when talking about WC 2014. It's a very clear fact that we overachieved at that championship. We just go hot at the right time and ran over teams which were similar quality to ours (if someone thinks we are 20pts better than Greece or Brazil they are fucking insane, not to talk about France). The system last year forced by Djordjevic was a big change for the NT but with a roster who is not cut to play that kind of basketball. The shooting streak we had last year in the knockouts might never happen again in our lifetime, it's just a very wrong way to think that's our realistic quality.

We have a more athletic roster now (just by including Kuzmic and Milutinov we have better movement by big men, and Raduljica is in better shape). So we should be running the system much better in the second year of play, but also you have to be realistic that we will not shoot 57% average from the field in 3 key knockout games (Greece, Brazil and France). That is just ridiculous hot hand, rather than crazy good coaching or pure quality. I am always very realistic and really don't care about club rivalries in the national team, but Djordjevic so far has beside a lot of success last year also shown a side which players despise and sooner or later will cause problems in the NT.

He is a conflicting personality, he has alienated players already and also had 2 major fights with players (Velickovic and Micov). It's not whether he was right or not, but rather what is the appropriate behavior for a coach. He says the only excuse he can see for people and respects are injuries and yet he keeps bringing along players injured into the prep phase. One year a players is deemed shit and not fit for the system, then after his monster season he is suddenly irreplaceable and focus of our preparation (Marjanovic, he was crying about it after the Spurt took him away). He keeps preaching, respect the system go through the process, yet after the cuts he calls up player who was not even in First 18 (Stefan Pot). The list of multiple-personality disorder type of things grows by day. Some people just have trouble to separate Djordjevic the Player from Djordjevic the Coach. He has made a strong impact on the team in terms of chemistry, unity, effort and restoring the pride of playing for the NT. In terms of pure coaching Xs and Os, he is still extremely inexperienced and not elite level. So if you think that it was him who brought that silver with his coaching, you are dreaming.

I agree we overachieved last year, and I know we had some crazy percentages in elimination games, but from whatever angle you look we are in top 4-5 teams, and there is no reason to underestimate our possibilities. Only France, and arguably Spain and Greece are stronger than us (if we are comparing rosters), and I don't see any other team having better chemistry than us, so why we shouldn't say that we are going to fight for medals? This year we are stronger on SG (Nedović) and PF (Erceg) positions, our only (relatively) weak position is center, but I believe they can fulfill their tasks in defence, other players will fill in offencively. That Stefan Pot thing isn't even worth mentioning, when all of us knew that he is just there to fill the spot, nor he nor any other player that might have been called instead would never made the final cut (that was similar situation like one with Mačvan, Đorđević probably didn't called Micić because he knew Micić wouldn't make it to final roster, so he called younger and inexperienced Pot).

We can argue if it was fair not to call Marjanović last year (I think it was a mistake), but it would only matter if we have had a disappointing tournament. Instead, we took silver, Đorđević's selection overachieved expectations, and consequently all these discussions are irellevant. And of course I don't think that Sale himself brought the medal, credit goes mostly to players, but also you shouldn't underestimate his cotribution.

 

[CoachZ2]

I agree we overachieved last year, and I know we had some crazy percentages in elimination games, but from whatever angle you look we are in top 4-5 teams, and there is no reason to underestimate our possibilities. Only France, and arguably Spain and Greece are stronger than us (if we are comparing rosters), and I don't see any other team having better chemistry than us, so why we shouldn't say that we are going to fight for medals? This year we are stronger on SG (Nedović) and PF (Erceg) positions, our only (relatively) weak position is center, but I believe they can fulfill their tasks in defence, other players will fill in offencively. That Stefan Pot thing isn't even worth mentioning, when all of us knew that he is just there to fill the spot, nor he nor any other player that might have been called instead would never made the final cut (that was similar situation like one with Mačvan, Đorđević probably didn't called Micić because he knew Micić wouldn't make it to final roster, so he called younger and inexperienced Pot).

We can argue if it was fair not to call Marjanović last year (I think it was a mistake), but it would only matter if we have had a disappointing tournament. Instead, we took silver, Đorđević's selection overachieved expectations, and consequently all these discussions are irellevant. And of course I don't think that Sale himself brought the medal, credit goes mostly to players, but also you shouldn't underestimate his cotribution.

Once again, the logic is so flawed. It's one thing for a coach to say I want these guys because I trust them, this is my team, my system bla bla. He doesn't do that, but he preaches competition for spots, preaches being far and loyal to the ones who try the hardest and most bla bla bla. His actions do exactly the opposite. That will cause a rift the first time we don't achieve a result, he is gone and players will explode. Just think about these examples:

- Bircevic was good enough to make final 12 last year, as a Radnicki player. Now in Estudiantes a year later he is not good enough even for top 18 player. He was on 24 list, didn't make it past the first cut!!! What happened suddenly? We got better at his position? We inserted Erceg there, and we are not talking 4 C like 2014 (Krstic, Raduljica, Katic and Stimac) but 3, so he had to at least have that spot in 12. Even if he doesn't make it to 12, he HAD TO BE in 18. What does that say to Bircevic? If I was him I wouldn't answer the call up next time. He sure didn't forget to play basketball in a year, he only got better.

- Lucic case is another retarded thing. He is either healthy or injured. If he is healthy he needs to be in 24, 18 and with our current strength he has to be in 12!!!! All the stories about taking care of him cause of injuries is bullshit. He is taking injured players in the squad all the time. What he did to Lucic is a disgrace. Same as with Bircevic I wouldn't answer the call up as long as Djordjevic is the coach. This is basketball, not fucking fortune-teller with WHAT IF stories about injuries. Why is he playing like a champ in Spain, don't they know he might get injured, oh noooooooo.

- Marjanovic thing is a total disgrace too. Arguably our weakest position has been the PF until emergence of Bjelica, but with him being a monster now, the C position is a mess, where we don't have a single complete player of star quality. In that competition of centers, Boban Marjanovic is our best option. He was last year and is this year. Making up stories for the media and public is bullshit. You either call him up, or you don't. He either fits the system or he doesn't. He went from being undesirable for a call up, to being center of our offense for this year and Djordjevic crying about how we lost the EL MVP, cause of Spurs bullshit.

- Stefan Pot/Miljenovic story. He was the best PG in ABA league last year where he was the assist leader and key player for Mega. He is too in ACB League now with Seville. Miljenovic btw didn't deserve even a call up to 24 according to Djordjevic, then why wasn't at least a replacement call when Jovic was injured. How is Pot ahead of him. Same goes with Micic which was cut in first round. They are btw the SAME AGE, Pot and Micic so your story about young and inexperienced is shit. They bot have been playing professional basketball for a while. Stefan Pot call up is a disgrace to many other players.

- Jelovac issue. So player who plays for one of the better teams in ACB League and has a great season at PF, one of the spots where we have little depth outside of Bjelica doesn't deserve a call up to 24? He had to be in front of Mitrovic and Macvan!

- Savanovic/Macvan/other veterans excuse is also pure bullshit. Veterans are either good to make the team or not. Also bringing a veteran as a role player is much more of a sure thing and value than bringing a young talent. So players are either good enough for NT or not. There is no excuse, it is not fair to even call up Savanovic, when he might not make top 12. WTF is that? If they deserve a 24 players spot they need to be there and fight with others. If that is the system. If it is a more subjective system, then be a man and say that in front of everybody. Don't make pussy ass excuses.

- Aleksandrov. How come he is not called up to top 24 at least to compete, or even in any friendlies before that. He is a veteran in prime years, and he is playing good basketball.

- Jokic and other NBA hopefuls call up. Not calling them up with an excuse that they don't have the NT as a priority! Even though a year before you didn't even consider them for the NT and you took Stimac and Katic to the WC? Suddenly he is surprised that the kid is making NBA plans? If I was him I would do the same, if coach sees more value in Stimac or Katic.

I can go on, and on and on. I don't question Djordjevic's contribution to NT and his result at WC but I do his human qualities and lack of character. All it takes is one bad competition and shit is going to hit the fan. For all who don't get what I am talking about, they need to listen to Obradovic's press conference from 2005 at Eurobasket in Belgrade. That is the key to chemistry and good teams and success. If the coach is not a shinning example of character of the team, when things are not going well shit goes crazy. When you are shooting 60% from the field whole knockout phase, fucking Vulin can be your coach and look good.

 

[Ayrfon2]

He is a conflicting personality, he has alienated players already and also had 2 major fights with players (Velickovic and Micov). It's not whether he was right or not, but rather what is the appropriate behavior for a coach

I can go on, and on and on. I don't question Djordjevic's contribution to NT and his result at WC but I do his human qualities and lack of character

some really quality analysis within your posts but these quoted parts are...

 

[CoachZ2]

some really quality analysis within your posts but these quoted parts are...

If you think Djordjevic is a nice guy, and a person of character then you are very wrong. He was always a persona in the locker room as a player and had his share of fights and conflicts with coaches etc. He is not really a role model in that sense. I love him as a player, I really do. As a person, that's a whole other story. Same can be said for Danilovic, Divac and many others. If you want to be a good coach, you have to have a lot of integrity. He is still a young and inexperienced coach, he can grow. I was just pointing out some of the things I don't like and I have seen.

 

[Ayrfon2]

I agree about Divac, Danilovic part... Regarding Sale, i know him very well for about two decades and with all the flaws he has i have to disagree about his human qualities and a lack of character... Although we haven't shared locker room so that's the off-court side i talk about

 

[Serbian_Layup2]

Once again, the logic is so flawed. It's one thing for a coach to say I want these guys because I trust them, this is my team, my system bla bla. He doesn't do that, but he preaches competition for spots, preaches being far and loyal to the ones who try the hardest and most bla bla bla. His actions do exactly the opposite. That will cause a rift the first time we don't achieve a result, he is gone and players will explode. Just think about these examples:

- Bircevic was good enough to make final 12 last year, as a Radnicki player. Now in Estudiantes a year later he is not good enough even for top 18 player. He was on 24 list, didn't make it past the first cut!!! What happened suddenly? We got better at his position? We inserted Erceg there, and we are not talking 4 C like 2014 (Krstic, Raduljica, Katic and Stimac) but 3, so he had to at least have that spot in 12. Even if he doesn't make it to 12, he HAD TO BE in 18. What does that say to Bircevic? If I was him I wouldn't answer the call up next time. He sure didn't forget to play basketball in a year, he only got better.

- Lucic case is another retarded thing. He is either healthy or injured. If he is healthy he needs to be in 24, 18 and with our current strength he has to be in 12!!!! All the stories about taking care of him cause of injuries is bullshit. He is taking injured players in the squad all the time. What he did to Lucic is a disgrace. Same as with Bircevic I wouldn't answer the call up as long as Djordjevic is the coach. This is basketball, not fucking fortune-teller with WHAT IF stories about injuries. Why is he playing like a champ in Spain, don't they know he might get injured, oh noooooooo.

- Marjanovic thing is a total disgrace too. Arguably our weakest position has been the PF until emergence of Bjelica, but with him being a monster now, the C position is a mess, where we don't have a single complete player of star quality. In that competition of centers, Boban Marjanovic is our best option. He was last year and is this year. Making up stories for the media and public is bullshit. You either call him up, or you don't. He either fits the system or he doesn't. He went from being undesirable for a call up, to being center of our offense for this year and Djordjevic crying about how we lost the EL MVP, cause of Spurs bullshit.

- Stefan Pot/Miljenovic story. He was the best PG in ABA league last year where he was the assist leader and key player for Mega. He is too in ACB League now with Seville. Miljenovic btw didn't deserve even a call up to 24 according to Djordjevic, then why wasn't at least a replacement call when Jovic was injured. How is Pot ahead of him. Same goes with Micic which was cut in first round. They are btw the SAME AGE, Pot and Micic so your story about young and inexperienced is shit. They bot have been playing professional basketball for a while. Stefan Pot call up is a disgrace to many other players.

- Jelovac issue. So player who plays for one of the better teams in ACB League and has a great season at PF, one of the spots where we have little depth outside of Bjelica doesn't deserve a call up to 24? He had to be in front of Mitrovic and Macvan!

- Savanovic/Macvan/other veterans excuse is also pure bullshit. Veterans are either good to make the team or not. Also bringing a veteran as a role player is much more of a sure thing and value than bringing a young talent. So players are either good enough for NT or not. There is no excuse, it is not fair to even call up Savanovic, when he might not make top 12. WTF is that? If they deserve a 24 players spot they need to be there and fight with others. If that is the system. If it is a more subjective system, then be a man and say that in front of everybody. Don't make pussy ass excuses.

- Aleksandrov. How come he is not called up to top 24 at least to compete, or even in any friendlies before that. He is a veteran in prime years, and he is playing good basketball.

- Jokic and other NBA hopefuls call up. Not calling them up with an excuse that they don't have the NT as a priority! Even though a year before you didn't even consider them for the NT and you took Stimac and Katic to the WC? Suddenly he is surprised that the kid is making NBA plans? If I was him I would do the same, if coach sees more value in Stimac or Katic.

I can go on, and on and on. I don't question Djordjevic's contribution to NT and his result at WC but I do his human qualities and lack of character. All it takes is one bad competition and shit is going to hit the fan. For all who don't get what I am talking about, they need to listen to Obradovic's press conference from 2005 at Eurobasket in Belgrade. That is the key to chemistry and good teams and success. If the coach is not a shinning example of character of the team, when things are not going well shit goes crazy. When you are shooting 60% from the field whole knockout phase, fucking Vulin can be your coach and look good.

Well, you got it all wrong, you are viewing everything from wrong perspective and I can’t let you think that you figured it all out. I just can’t imagine what your writing would be like if we did poorly last summer.

- Birčević was never good to make the final cut last year or this year. Everybody knows that, and his role at Mundobasket confirmed that. So, why did he make the final cut last year? This brings us back to Novica Veličković. Novica’s refusal was the only reason why Birčević found himself on that roster. Erceg was injured, Savanović and Mačvan simply don’t fit Đorđević’s vision of our play, and Birčević was there just to fill the number for practice, but Đorđević was caught by surprise when Novica canceled on him. Bjelica and Veličković were supposed to cover PF position last year. Later, he went public and said that Savanović or Mačvan would have been called up if he knew that Novica was going to turn him down. Actually, Đorđević is showing strong character and respect towards all our players. He was honest from the very start by saying this, before his dispute with Novica: “Mačvan and Savanović are our notable names, but they don’t fit my vision and I don’t want to drag them through preparations and then cut them out.” Very honest and very respectful. And i have to add that Veličković apologized to Đorđević for his bad act last year.

- What he did to Lučić is a disgrace? How so? I don’t know what it takes for people to realize that Lučić has serious, very serious back problems and his body simply can not endure tough club’s competition + exhausting NT preparations. Last year Đorđević had waited for him until last moment. I hope I’m wrong, but Lučić is probably never going to be able to go through NT preparations.

- Marjanović from Mega Vizura was not our best center, that Marjanović was making improvements. Marjanović from Crvena Zvezda is the best Euroleague center and could have been our best NT center this year. Who is making up anything? Last year Đorđević wasn’t persuaded in Bobi’s abilities, and he said that honestly. This year, Bobi had a monstrous season and Đorđević changed his mind. What’s wrong with that, does he have a right to change his opinion about some player. And even this episode is speaking in Đorđević’s favor, he was ready to call up a player that was far from being his favorite last year. He recognized his progress and wanted him in NT.

- Stefan Pot was called up only to serve for practice, nothing else. Why would he call Miljenović or Micić just to fill the number when he doesn’t have serious intentions with them. In fact, he sent them a good message, show progress if you want a spot in NT. I love Miljenović, he has a great basketball mind, but he needs to work on his body a lot. Next season will be a big test of his abilities. You don’t get Đorđević’s way of thinking, it may be weird, but it’s sincere.
- He could have called up Jelovac, but I guess he likes Mitrović more than him. Nothing wrong with that, he is the coach and that’s his opinion. Erceg is better than both of them and we have enough depth at PF.

- I explained it for Mačvan and Savanović, that’s his way of thinking. You may disagree with that, but it surely is straightforward.

- Aleksandrov? Are you kidding me?

- Was he supposed to call up a 19 y.o. kid last year over experienced veterans like Katić and Štimac? I don’t think so. It was way too early for Jokić to be on the roster, especially last year when Krstić was coping with injury. We needed maturity and stability, even if it’s just for a locker room. This year Jokić displayed all the talent he possesses, and he saw his name on the roster, but he decided that NBA is his top priority at the moment. I just hope that won’t turn out to be his habit.

If I didn’t know what we did last year, by reading your posts I’d think that we got eaten alive by every single opponent. Show some credit to Đorđević, he managed to gather players to trust each other, after couple of years I finally see that fighting spirit in our eyes, desire to compete with everyone and win against everyone. That’s a huge accomplishment by Đorđević and he should be praised for that. He can’t become an elite coach over the night, it takes time. He managed to set up a strong foundation and even if we don’t do well this year, he did much more good than bad.

 

[CoachZ2]

This leads nowhere. I won't write shit about Djordjevic and NT anymore. Basically, you win and you are right. Let's call it that. In the meantime try to watch more basketball.

 

[Serbian_Layup2]

This leads nowhere. I won't write shit about Djordjevic and NT anymore. Basically, you win and you are right. Let's call it that. In the meantime try to watch more basketball.

You can write whatever you want about Đorđević and our NT. It’s OK if you don’t like Đorđević, we don’t have to agree. For example, I agree when you say he lacks coaching experience, it’s true, but he can’t beat time. For the time being, he makes up for it with his energy and persistence on making a strong relationship between players. Is it going to be enough this time, we’ll see…
I may be wrong but it looks to me that you don’t understand his principles of electing players for our roster.

 

[CoachZ2]

You can write whatever you want about Đorđević and our NT. It’s OK if you don’t like Đorđević, we don’t have to agree. For example, I agree when you say he lacks coaching experience, it’s true, but he can’t beat time. For the time being, he makes up for it with his energy and persistence on making a strong relationship between players. Is it going to be enough this time, we’ll see…
I may be wrong but it looks to me that you don’t understand his principles of electing players for our roster.

Like I said, no point. I have no idea what is he doing, you're right.

 

[Black@dder2]

Well, you got it all wrong, you are viewing everything from wrong perspective and I can’t let you think that you figured it all out. I just can’t imagine what your writing would be like if we did poorly last summer.

- Birčević was never good to make the final cut last year or this year. Everybody knows that, and his role at Mundobasket confirmed that. So, why did he make the final cut last year? This brings us back to Novica Veličković. Novica’s refusal was the only reason why Birčević found himself on that roster. Erceg was injured, Savanović and Mačvan simply don’t fit Đorđević’s vision of our play, and Birčević was there just to fill the number for practice, but Đorđević was caught by surprise when Novica canceled on him. Bjelica and Veličković were supposed to cover PF position last year. Later, he went public and said that Savanović or Mačvan would have been called up if he knew that Novica was going to turn him down. Actually, Đorđević is showing strong character and respect towards all our players. He was honest from the very start by saying this, before his dispute with Novica: “Mačvan and Savanović are our notable names, but they don’t fit my vision and I don’t want to drag them through preparations and then cut them out.” Very honest and very respectful. And i have to add that Veličković apologized to Đorđević for his bad act last year.

- What he did to Lučić is a disgrace? How so? I don’t know what it takes for people to realize that Lučić has serious, very serious back problems and his body simply can not endure tough club’s competition + exhausting NT preparations. Last year Đorđević had waited for him until last moment. I hope I’m wrong, but Lučić is probably never going to be able to go through NT preparations.

- Marjanović from Mega Vizura was not our best center, that Marjanović was making improvements. Marjanović from Crvena Zvezda is the best Euroleague center and could have been our best NT center this year. Who is making up anything? Last year Đorđević wasn’t persuaded in Bobi’s abilities, and he said that honestly. This year, Bobi had a monstrous season and Đorđević changed his mind. What’s wrong with that, does he have a right to change his opinion about some player. And even this episode is speaking in Đorđević’s favor, he was ready to call up a player that was far from being his favorite last year. He recognized his progress and wanted him in NT.

- Stefan Pot was called up only to serve for practice, nothing else. Why would he call Miljenović or Micić just to fill the number when he doesn’t have serious intentions with them. In fact, he sent them a good message, show progress if you want a spot in NT. I love Miljenović, he has a great basketball mind, but he needs to work on his body a lot. Next season will be a big test of his abilities. You don’t get Đorđević’s way of thinking, it may be weird, but it’s sincere.
- He could have called up Jelovac, but I guess he likes Mitrović more than him. Nothing wrong with that, he is the coach and that’s his opinion. Erceg is better than both of them and we have enough depth at PF.

- I explained it for Mačvan and Savanović, that’s his way of thinking. You may disagree with that, but it surely is straightforward.

- Aleksandrov? Are you kidding me?

- Was he supposed to call up a 19 y.o. kid last year over experienced veterans like Katić and Štimac? I don’t think so. It was way too early for Jokić to be on the roster, especially last year when Krstić was coping with injury. We needed maturity and stability, even if it’s just for a locker room. This year Jokić displayed all the talent he possesses, and he saw his name on the roster, but he decided that NBA is his top priority at the moment. I just hope that won’t turn out to be his habit.

If I didn’t know what we did last year, by reading your posts I’d think that we got eaten alive by every single opponent. Show some credit to Đorđević, he managed to gather players to trust each other, after couple of years I finally see that fighting spirit in our eyes, desire to compete with everyone and win against everyone. That’s a huge accomplishment by Đorđević and he should be praised for that. He can’t become an elite coach over the night, it takes time. He managed to set up a strong foundation and even if we don’t do well this year, he did much more good than bad.

Exactly my thoughts, you saved me a lot of time.

 

[CoachZ2]

Exactly my thoughts, you saved me a lot of time.

How nice you found each other in this cruel modern world! So happy for you guys!

 

[INTEGRAL2]

Crush of Serbians

 

[Serbian_Layup2]

How nice you found each other in this cruel modern world! So happy for you guys!

LOL, man i like you, no homo thing

 

[Serbian_Layup2]

Crush of Serbians

Nope.

 

[CoachZ2]

LOL, man i like you, no homo thing

You deserve only the best, so don't settle for poor old me. WTF is this? This is not the chemistry the NT needs. I am the Aleksandrov of basketball fans, so zero fucks given about me.