By Antonis Stroggylakis / info@eurohoops.net
Filip Petrusev’s first game as an opponent of Olympiacos after his departure from the club didn’t go as he’d like. On both a team and a personal level.
For starters, Petrusev’s Dubai BC fell to a superior Olympiacos side 67 – 86 for their second loss of their maiden EuroLeague season. Then, the Serbian big man was the recipient of some excessive booing by fans of the Greek side.
Olympiacos‘ supporters booed Petrusev louder than any other Dubai player during the team presentation and turned their volume up every time the big man missed a shot, especially if his effort was thwarted by a man in a Red jersey. They particularly celebrated an airball he did in front of Kostas Antetokounmpo’s raised arm.
“Yeah, I did,” Petrusev told Eurohoops when asked if he felt that there was a particularly negative reception towards him. “I understand. They welcomed me really well when I came. Maybe they [fans] feel I should’ve stayed.”
“But I love the fans, I love the city. It’s about some other things, basketball-wise. It’s good for both sides. Let’s see what happens in the future.”
Petrusev joined Olympiacos in November 2023 by signing a three-year deal with the club after a very short NBA stint. A year later, he was loaned to Crvena Zvezda, where he found the important role he wasn’t able to get that season in Piraeus.
When the summer arrived, Petrusev parted ways with Olympiacos to move to EuroLeague newcomer Dubai.
“I think they [fans] will understand,” Petrusev added. “It’s a basketball decision. You never know where you’ll land in the future. It’s all good.”
Petrusev scored a team-high 14 points on 4-9 from the field and 6-9 from the line for Dubai. He scored exactly the same amount in each of the first two games of the season.
“Tough game for us,” Petrusev said. “We’re a new team. We’re missing a lot of players (Dzanan Musa, Aleksa Avramovic, Justin Anderson) also. It’s tough but we have to fight. We still get to know each other and try to find our identity as a team. It takes time. Olympiacos is one of the best teams in Europe and they’ve been together for a while. It’s hard but we need to keep going. Not a lot teams are going to win here against Olympiacos. We need to keep our heads together and keep going.”