By Nikola Miloradovic/ info@eurohoops.net
Zeljko Obradovic is not on the bench anymore, and Carlik Jones is still absent due to injury.
Still, somehow Partizan got the comeback win over Zvezda, and Jones was there, at least as a spectator, providing his insight on the troubled season of his team after the big win.
“It’s a big time win for the guys,” he said after the game, “Huge win, being down late and, you know, fighting back just kind of showed a lot of resilience, and you know I’m super proud of my teammates.”
Jones admitted that it was really hard watching his team being down and not being able to help, while he tipped his hat to Duane Washington.
As he said: “I think this year he will really come out of his shell and be himself, and it’s amazing to see it, man. I’m super happy for him.”
Jones added that he is “hopefully very close” to his return to action, and also addressed the elephant in the room, the decision of coach Zeljko Obradovic to step down from Partizan’s bench.
As he revealed: “Yes, I’ve talked to him, you know, just kind of reached out. He responded, I’m not gonna really go into what the conversation was about, but we definitely had a conversation… I understand, like being a human, if you have things going on or stuff going on outside of basketball, I’m a human as well, so I understand. And sometimes life is bigger than basketball. We might not always understand what’s going on or the exact reasons, but I’m praying for him. I hope everything is OK, and as a team, all we can do is kind of keep moving forward.”