Obradovic says Partizan have 'no pressure' ahead of game vs. Olympiacos / News - Basketnews.com

Partizan traveled to Athens to face Olympiacos Piraeus without six players due to injuries and national team obligations. Zeljko Obradovic stressed that his team feels no outside pressure.

Credit: SIPA – Scanpix Credit SIPA – Scanpix

Injury-plagued Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade had their last practice in the Stark Arena, and from there, they headed to the airport for another flight to Athens.

Last week, the Serbian squad triumphed over Panathinaikos, and now they will face Olympiacos Piraeus on Thursday at 20:00 CET.

This time around, Partizan's rotation will be reduced to a bare minimum. Aleksa Avramovic, Alen Smailagic, Balsa Koprivica and Dante Exum are injured, while Danilo Andjusic and Uros Trifunovic have joined the Serbian national team.

"The situation is as it is. We are not going to complain. We are going to fight and play as well as possible under the given circumstances," coach Zeljko Obradovic said before the trip.

The 62-year-old coach also revealed encouraging information about Alen Smailagic, who has started practicing.

"He helped us in the previous training in some situations, of course he is not traveling because he is not ready yet," Obradovic said.

The winningest European tactician did not want to make any predictions for his player's return to action.

"It must be understood that he had a long break. It takes time. Same for [Dante] Exum. He is now resting for 15 days, after which he'll undergo a check-up where a decision will be made for the future."

Obradovic called Olympiacos "an excellent team that was in the Final Four. They have been together for a long time, and have excellent players led by [Thomas] Walkup and [Kostas] Sloukas, who always make the best decisions."

Partizan enter this game after three consecutive EuroLeague wins, however, Obradovic doesn't want to raise the bar of expectations.

"There was no pressure even before those wins, there is none now. We have pressure between us and that's it. On the sidelines, people are always talking," he added.

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