Zvezda president explains why Red Star chose Dusko Ivanovic / News - Basketnews.com

Zvezda president Nebojsa Covic says the team needs a bigger and stronger authority and military-level discipline.

Credit: Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade Credit Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade

Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade officially presented Dusko Ivanovic as their new head coach today. Ivanovic takes over the team from the hands of EuroLeague rookie Vladimir Jovanovic, who achieved one victory and suffered six defeats at the start of the new EuroLeague season.

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In a wake of the changes, club president Nebojsa Covic addressed the public and spoke in detail about the coaching change and team budget.

"We have an interesting period ahead of us. We decided to go with a majority of local players this season. Therefore this team requires a bigger and stronger authority. I'm not saying that the former coach did a bad job, but authority is needed. Dusko will set all the rules of the game and all the principles. If you want a top result, moms and dads cannot stand behind it. You need huge discipline, which is on a military level. That's the only way you can be a team," Covic pointed out, via Mozzart Sport.

"You can have 10 MVP-caliber players and not win anything. There must be a team and it must be understood that we win and lose together: from management to the last employee," the top executive added.

"Dusko Ivanovic's characteristics are exactly what we need. Wherever he worked, he won trophies and he is of course a proven EuroLeague coach. All of that led us to Dusko, but we didn't have much of a choice, too."

Then Zvezda's president commented on the dismissal of the 38-year-old Vladimir Jovanovic.

"I have always had the approach that we give young coaches a chance. It's always a risk when a young coach comes. In sports, it is relatively simple to evaluate whether someone is satisfied or not, and that is the result. In the last case with Jovanovic, we had a large enough sample to see what the future perspective would be if Vlada had stayed.

"I don't think there were any big mistakes, but every game we were close to winning, we ended up losing. Jovanovic is an excellent, young coach and I expect him to continue the path of development. He is a very dedicated specialist," Covic said.

Last but not least, hereferred to the club's budget.

"I'm worried about whether we'll financially follow through on everything we've set. Our budget is around €10.0 million in total. This budget is not only for the first team but also for the coaching staff, junior selections, and basketball school. Everyone is involved there.

"When I came to Crvena Zvezda, I had the problem of having one contract with the club administration, another with the manager, and a third with FIBA. We cleaned it up and finished the whole process: we have never functioned like that. We will also publish this year's fees for players and coaching staff," Covic told reporters.

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