By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The next EuroLeague season will mark the first time since 2001 when the competition won’t feature any Serbian teams since Crvena Zvezda failed to defend the ABA League title in the Finals vs. Buducnost.
While Montenegro is back in the top-tier European championship, Serbia won’t have a representative and that’s certainly not pretty, according to legendary coach and two-time Euroleague champion Dusan Ivkovic.
“Crvena Zvezda is not in EuroLeague and that’s bad for Serbian basketball. I hope that our clubs will be able to gain some strength since the talent and foundations are there. There are always certain solutions when things are tight and I think that Serbian clubs will find them and that we will have a club in EuroLeague in the season after the next,” Ivkovic said per Novosti.
Ivkovic also talked about the presence of fellow Serbian coach Zeljko Obradovic in the Belgrade Final Four since defending champion Fenerbahce advanced to the tournament for the fourth year in a row.
“What I saw and also told Zeljko Obradovic was bravo. When it’s needed his team plays properly. Like they did last year. We should not forget that Fenerbahce was left without its backbone. The two best players of last season, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Ekpe Udoh. I wouldn’t like to increase the pressure in some way, the favorite’s burden, but in my opinion, if Kyle Hines and Nando De Colo are back for CSKA, we can expect these teams in the Final.”