Obradovic: “I always felt love at Panathinaikos, but what I experience at Partizan is unique”

For him Zeljko Obradovic no introduction is needed as he is the greatest coach in Panathinaikos history, being on the bench for over a decade and influencing the course of the club’s history more than anyone else.

A relationship that, as he mentioned in an interview with mozartsport o Serbian coach, she was more than professional, as she received huge love from the clover.

Of course, Mr Zots he emphasized that despite what he experienced in OAKA, what he experiences with the team of his heart, the They were partisansit is incomparable! Finally, he also made a small comparison to NBA and her Euroleague.

What he said in detail:

On the opportunity he had to coach teams with a large fan base such as Panathinaikos and Fenerbahce: “Every environment is special. Fenerbahce fans create the atmosphere. Fenerbahce is incredible, because it has the largest number of fans in the world. Some data is not known and approachable exactly, but they have 25,000,000 to 30,000,000 followers.

Greece is also big with Panathinaikos and Olympiakos, it also has clubs from Thessaloniki. Then compare that to Serbia which has a population of seven million and who knows if we are even at that number because of all that is happening to us… God help us. I wanted to come back here, I adapted to every environment and had no problems anywhere. It was different cultures, people, but something clicked and I said to myself: Now or never».

For his identification with the teams he coached: “Identifying with a group is the most important thing. Wherever I worked, I behaved like this, especially when it came to Partizan. When I went to Badalona after Partizan, I thought I would stay there for the rest of my life, and I only stayed one year. Then I went to Real knowing what was going to happen, I stayed for three years. Next up was Treviso, one of the most organized teams of the era.

I’ve always felt love, especially at Panathinaikos and Fenerbahce, but what I’m experiencing here is something incredible. You don’t have many players now who stay at a club for a long time, it’s all individual decisions. You choose what your priority is in life».

On having the opportunity to coach some of the top players in the Euroleague: “I am very happy to have had the opportunity to coach so many players. The most important thing is relationships with people.

I am in touch with almost everyone. When we see each other, the reactions are very specific, positive. We have communication. I am most fortunate to have remained on excellent terms with almost all of them. Everyone knows what basketball players they were and what quality they had on the floor. For me it means more what kind of people I worked with».

On how he spends a day as coach of Partizan: “We practice at 11 in the morning. The day before, usually in the evening, I prepare all the training for the next day. I pick some of the next opponent’s games to watch, I also study one of our own games and sometimes watch a bit more of us. I don’t sleep. My habits have been like this since I was playing.

I usually spend the evening working and analyzing and rest at least 45 minutes in the morning. Then I go to the gym. Training ends, if someone stays a little longer it might last longer, but generally it ends around one o’clock. Then I try to find some free time for lunch with friends, come home and then do the same again».

On the differences between NBA and European basketball: “The format is interesting as it is set up. From Partizan’s point of view it is positive, because we have a large number of tickets. People know they will see all 17 Euroleague teams, as well as the ABA Liga.

Whatever happens they are always there to support. Partizan is definitely number one in this in Europe. The data is such that we had more fans than all the teams in the NBA, but we couldn’t even publish some figures».