by Semih Tuna / stuna@eurohoops.net
Last December, the EuroLeague was still a dream for Dušan Alimpijević and Beşiktaş.
The possibility was there. The ambition certainly was.
But it was still something to talk about in the future tense.
Nine months later, Alimpijević sat down with Eurohoops again under very different circumstances.
Beşiktaş is now a EuroLeague club.
And for Alimpijević, that distinction matters.
“As you know, I already said many times that, for me personally, my dream was to be in the EuroLeague with Beşiktaş,” Alimpijević told Eurohoops. “Not with anything else.
“Beşiktaş gave me a lot, and I felt this connection with the fans. I feel this love from the club side and the fan side. So, for me, one of the main goals and dreams was to be here in the EuroLeague.”
For him, the invitation did not arrive because of one season.
It was the culmination of what Beşiktaş had built over three years.
“Beşiktaş consistently made good results and consistently was at the highest level in the Turkish League and EuroCup competition,” he said.
“This EuroLeague came as an award after all these years.”
The dream, however, has already changed.
Getting there is no longer the goal.
Staying there is.
“Now, when we are already here and very excited and happy to be here, our next goal should be for all of us together at Beşiktaş to stay loyal partners of the EuroLeague for many, many years in front of us.”
“We always put character over talent”
Moving from the EuroCup to the EuroLeague inevitably changes the level of competition.
Alimpijević does not believe it should change the identity of his team.
Beşiktaş has developed a recognizable style under the Serbian coach over the last three seasons, and he sees no reason to abandon it now.
“Everything is pretty much the same because you have that style or you don’t have it,” he said.
“It’s not about what the EuroLeague brings us as a different way and style compared with the EuroCup. It’s more about what we want and how we have coached all these years.”
That starts with the kind of people Beşiktaş brings into the building.
“We chose good characters again. We have people who are hard workers. So, I believe that our approach will be pretty much the same.”
For Alimpijević, that is more than a preference.
It is a rule.
“We always put character over talent.”
Naturally, talent is necessary at this level. Every player Beşiktaş considers has already cleared that threshold.
The separation comes afterward.
“Of course, all players are already talented when we get in contact with them for our club. But if it’s a small percentage, you know, talent over character, we choose differently.
“Because with hard work, good behavior and an open mind, you can do much more than with just good talent and nothing else.”
Building a EuroLeague roster on June 26
There was one significant problem with Beşiktaş finally receiving its EuroLeague place.
The date.
The club’s participation was confirmed on June 26.
By then, the European transfer market had been moving for weeks — and, in reality, much longer than that.
“Absolutely, it was a problem,” Alimpijević admitted.
“When you go on the market on June 26, everybody has already signed their players.
“Not just after June 26 — they signed them already during the season. So, there were not too many names on the market when the season finished.
“And can you imagine what it was like when they announced us as a EuroLeague team on June 26?”
Beşiktaş had to move quickly.
Alimpijević believes the club did.
“I have to say that I’m very happy with what the GM, me and my coaching staff did in a very short time.
“We did an amazing job. We did the hard work, and I think that we made a really good roster for the conditions that we were in at that moment.”
And that roster might not be finished yet.
“We are on the market, but we are not in a rush,” Alimpijević revealed.
“Of course, we are on the market for two more players, but we are not in a rush. We made the base already.
“We made the base, and we will follow the upcoming games.”
Teaching David DeJulius to “think like us”
Years ago, Derek Needham offered an interesting description of what it takes to play point guard for Alimpijević.
At some point, the point guard almost has to start thinking like his coach.
Now that process begins again with David DeJulius.
The American guard arrives after an outstanding season in Spain, where he was the league’s second-leading scorer and earned a place among its best five players.
But Beşiktaş will ask something different from him.
“First of all, he needs to adjust,” Alimpijević said. “And he needs time, like every single player.”
Part of that adjustment is accepting a different role.
“He had a different role there. Now it will be a little bit different than the season before because, besides him, there are also Dotson and Berk Uğurlu with us.
“So, we have three good point guards who can cover that position at a very good level.
“All three of them must fight. All three must give their maximum and, of course, adjust to the conditions of the game.”
Alimpijević is not concerned about whether DeJulius has the tools.
“He will need time, but what is very important for us is that he has quality, he has talent, he has scoring skills, passing skills, and I believe it’s not a big problem for him to fit into our system and start to think like us.”
“We breathe as one”
This season also brings another challenge for Alimpijević personally.
His responsibilities no longer end with Beşiktaş.
He is also coaching the Serbian national team.
EuroLeague basketball already demands enormous amounts of time and energy. Combining it with a national-team job raises an obvious question:
Does Alimpijević ever need to protect himself from basketball?
For now, he believes the people around him make it possible.
“We are now at an age where we must be at the highest level of energy, dedication and professionalism,” he said. “Everything must be at the highest level.
“I have to say that I am very lucky to have two very good coaching staffs, both with Serbia and Beşiktaş, which make my job much easier.”
His relationship with the Beşiktaş staff, in particular, allows him to switch his attention completely when international windows arrive.
“When I am with the Serbian national team, I can think only about Serbia, and I have no problem because I know they are in safe hands here at Beşiktaş with my excellent coaching staff, which we have also been together with for many years.
“We know each other, we know the system, we know how we think, we know how to breathe.
“We breathe as one.”
That allows for a simple rule.
“When I am with the Serbian national team, I am dedicated 100 percent there. But it’s the same with Beşiktaş.
“When I am with Beşiktaş, I am 100 percent with Beşiktaş.”
Eight years of basketball — measured in gray hair
There is another way to measure what basketball has given Alimpijević over the years.
Just compare the photographs.
Recently, he joked about looking back at an older picture of himself and noticing one significant difference.
The gray hair.
So who deserves most of the blame?
Red Star? Bursaspor? Beşiktaş?
Alimpijević refused to single out one club.
“No, eight years made a lot of damage to my hair!” he laughed.
“But if you just put my EuroLeague season at Red Star eight years ago next to a picture from today, you will see what basketball has done to me in eight years.”
“Don’t calm down”
Six years in Turkey have also given Alimpijević plenty of time to understand the country away from the court.
And perhaps part of the reason he has adapted so comfortably is that he does not see Turks and Serbians as particularly different.
Especially when emotions are involved.
“Emotions and enjoying life,” he said when asked about the most Turkish habit he had picked up.
“We are pretty much similar, almost the same with emotions towards everything.”
An emotional rollercoaster?
“Absolutely. Up and down. During one season, during one game, everything.”
And Alimpijević would not have it any other way.
“I like this. I like people who have emotions.
“I don’t like these straight-line feelings where no one cares. I don’t like this.
“I like these emotions that we have. Sometimes it goes a little bit higher than it should, and it also goes down.
“But emotions are something that moves us.”
So perhaps Beşiktaş supporters should try to remain calm during their first EuroLeague season?
Alimpijević had precisely the opposite message.
“Don’t calm down, especially this season with Beşiktaş.
“Be hot, be emotional.”
There are two Dušans in Beşiktaş now
There is also a new problem for Alimpijević at Beşiktaş.
For years, when the supporters chanted “Dušan,” there was not much confusion about who they meant.
Now there is another famous Serbian Dušan at the club: Dušan Vlahović.
Alimpijević is willing to share.
Mostly.
“I said that I already worked on this ‘Dušan, Dušan’ before him!” he joked.
But he understands the hierarchy of sports in Turkey.
“Absolutely, we know that football is the number one sport in this country. We know how popular he is, and I know how much our fans love him.
“So, I’m really happy that I’m giving this cheering to another Serbian guy.”
Alimpijević has also been watching Vlahović closely.
“I’m really proud, and I watched the games. He had amazing games. I like his character.
“He exactly represents us Serbians — emotional and with good character.”
There is, after all, enough “Dušan” to go around.
“Dušan is our name. Serbian. So whoever makes it successful, I’m happy to have him here.”
Still, Alimpijević has developed a plan for his next visit to the football stadium.
“When I come to the stadium to watch the games and they start to cheer him, I will stand up.
“I will pretend it’s for me.
“It’s for me. I will take it!”
The best espresso in Turkey?
Alimpijević once shared a line about coffee: the best coffee is the coffee the day after a win.
After years in Turkey, however, his relationship with the country’s espresso comes with a disclaimer.
“I have to be honest and say that in Turkey there are not too many good espressos,” he laughed.
“Sorry, guys, but I have to say this!”
Fortunately, he knows one place where the standard is high enough.
“The best coffee is the coffee in the Beşiktaş office. Best espresso. We really take care of this.”
And perhaps the original idea has changed slightly as well.
A good coffee does not necessarily require a win the night before.
“The best coffee is when we are satisfied with a good practice.
“The best coffee can also be after some amazing coaching meeting when we agree on a lot of good things.”
After games?
Not so much.
“But after the games, which are mostly at night, we are not drinking coffee.”
For Alimpijević, then, the best coffee may not actually be the one after a victory.
But the bigger ambition remains exactly as he imagined it months ago.
He wanted to coach in the EuroLeague.
He wanted to do it with Beşiktaş.
Now he has both.
The next challenge is making sure this is not simply a one-year story.
And if Alimpijević gets his way, Beşiktaş will attack that challenge exactly as it has attacked the previous three years — with hard work, character and plenty of emotion.
Definitely not calmly.
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