By Stathis Trapezanlidis/ info@eurohoops.net
Jasmin Repesa, who won the championship in three different leagues, in Italy (Fortitudo Bologna), in Croatia (Cibona, Cedevita) and in Turkey (Tofas), is probably the best person to run the project of Cedevita.
The club decided to invest in young and talented – mainly local – players. Repesa is known for his ability to work well with youngsters, giving opportunities and preparing players for the highest level. However, he still feels that he deserves the chance to coach in the highest level and prove that he can produce top result.
Eurohoops met him in Berlin after Cedevita’s game with Alba on the last day of Euroleague’s regular season. He analyzed the plan of Cedevita with young players and the decision of playing in Euroleague without foreigners. Also he didn’t refused to talk about the Croatian national team, the choice of Dario Saric to stay in Europe and promising Dzanan Musa, who preferred the Croatian team from signing with former Euroleague champions, Olympiacos.
During our conversation with coach Repesa about whether he prefers to work with young and talented players or superstars, Sasa Obradovic, who had just finished his statements after the match, appeared. We also asked his own view on the subject. “I prefer a combination of both, but ask Repesa, he is the best” he said smiling.
The answer of Jasmin Repesa to our question was clear: “I prefer to work with superstars. But if you don’t have a superstar then work with young people. I have this reputation that I’m perfect for working with young people, but be sure that I would prefer a superstar”.
The reason for the debate on young players and superstars was the addition of a Bosnian prospect Dzanan Musa, who had a deal with Olympiakos, but ultimately chose the Croatian champion. Jasmin Repesa gives his own explanation for this decision of Musa: “Cedevita is now definitely the most important club in the Balkans for the future. Because it is a privately owned club, its owner is very stable, there are no problems with money and budget and that makes a club with future in European basketball. You need to be realistic, none can change that. I fully respect all clubs from the Balkans like Red Star, Cibona, Partizan, Olimpija but Cedevita is the only club with money and budget that doesn’t depend on public money. We have now in construction maybe the best Academy in Europe for young players. They know now that Cedevita is a good option for them and they are coming”.
-Coach, you have won championships in three different leagues, in Croatia, in Turkey and in Italy. You still miss a title in continental level…
“Yes, but first of all I miss the chance to coach a really big, big time club, which is ready to compete in the highest level. I can’t complain about my coaching career because I am really happy coaching in many European clubs but not clubs of the elite level. I had some opportunities, but every time there were some misunderstandings. Two times I was very close to Real Madrid, one time very close to Olympiacos, one near to Efes, one near to Maccabi but it didn’t end up well. And I am really upset of that, because my opinion is that after everything I did in European basketball, I deserved a chance in a club like that in the top level”.
The project of Cedevita
“I don’t know when was the last time that a team played without foreigners in Europe. It is very dangerous to start a season like this, because you know you are afraid that you could lose one or two game by 20-30 points and you lose confidence. After that it’s very difficult to keep the team together. We had close games with the exception of the match against CSKA in Moscow, where they beat all the teams with ease including us. I am very satisfied because we are eliminated but we won three games without foreigners. You saw today Mazalin, who was born in 1997, Arapovic, who was born in 1996. They played 10 minutes, they played good. Maybe we could win one more game at home against Alba Berlin or Limoges or Malaga, but in the first two games, maybe the most important for us against Malaga and Limoges we played without Ukic who is the most experienced player for us. We missed him a lot”.
About the project of the team and the reasons they decided to play in Euroleague without foreigners Repesa told us: “At this moment we decided to go like this because we don’t have a really big budget, so we didn’t have the ability to sign important foreigners. We decided to work with young players and give them the chance to play in this level. My opinion is that this is a good idea, this is a good investment for the future. This can change for example next year and you can sign foreigners, but only if you have the budget for signing really important players”.
Cedevita continues its season in Eurocup and according to Repesa it’s very difficult to say something about the limits or the goals of his team in this competition. “Its very difficult to tell because it’s easy to see that our team is playing game by game better and better. It’s normal for a team with a lot of young players like us. They play hard, they don’t afraid to play against any team. I‘m optimist for sure, although young teams have a lot of ups and downs”.
The issue of Croatian national team
We couldn’t avoid to talk about the Croatian national team. Repesa who was until the last Eurobasket the coach of the team, is ready to stay in his position, despite the criticism of Croatian press: “This is my country, I can’t say no if they call me. This is my ideology in life. If you are healthy, you can’t say no. It is my obligation and I can’t say no! Now, if the Croatian federation wants another coach and they can find a really good one, then no problem for me. I can accept it”.
-Coach, there’s the idea that you can’t work for both a national team and a club and at the same time giving 100% of you. What is your opinion about this?
“I can tell you that it is really difficult to coach both the national team and a club. Especially for me it’s many, many years like this. But I could never refuse an invitation of the national team. I feel proud when I represent my country. ”
-Which is the goal of Croatian national team in Eurobasket 2015?
“We play at home so there are expectations, I think the minimum goal is to qualify for the Olympic Games in Brazil”.
-What the team needs in order to make the next step?
“This team needs small things. maybe before the FIBA World Cup we were more optimistic than we should and not realists. We were going to do something big, but maybe it is too early and we have to be patient. We have many young talented players, so they are coming in the big stage like Saric and Hezonja. And my opinion is that when they grow up completely after 1-2 years, when they are completely ready for the high level, then with Bogdanovic and Tomic and other players, Croatia can think about really big goals like fighting for medal. Before that, maybe it is too optimistic that Croatia is at this point ready for biggest challenges”.
Yasmin Repesa was the coach who gave Dario Saric the chance to play for Croatian national yeam two years ago. Saric has an excellent season in Euroleague until now playing for Dusan Ivkovic’s Efes and the 53 years old coach reveals what he said to him about his choice to stay in Europe and not go directly to the NBA after being drafted: “I know him very well because I put him in national team two years ago and he is going step by step, getting better and better by year. I told him that he could go immediately to Philadelphia and have minutes on the court, but my opinion was that it was better to go to Istanbul and work on his body, getting also some experience on highest European level. Because you know, he will never be late for the NBA. He can do it a little bit later. It’s important to develop himself game by game”.