Partizan's center shares Obradovic story, praises fans: 'It is hard not to play for them' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Partizan NIS/Dragana Stjepanovic Credit Partizan NIS/Dragana Stjepanovic

Partizan NIS Belgrade center Balsa Koprivica has plenty of interesting stories, so it's great that he has agreed to blog on EuroCupbasketball.com this season. Koprivica, 21, not only started playing in the Partizan system, but his father played for the club too. Let's let him tell the story...

Balsa Koprivica

MIN:15.85PTS:6.3 (67.92%)REB:4.8As:0.6ST:0.5BL:1.5TO:1.1GM:10ProfileEuroCup2021/2022

Hello everybody, I am Balsa Koprivica of Partizan NIS Belgrade. This is my first blog for EuroCupbasketball.com. This is also my first year playing professional basketball, and to do so, I returned to my hometown of Belgrade after nine years living in the United States, where I moved when I was in sixth grade.

I have only been back home twice since then, during the summer of 2015, I came back just to see my family and train a little bit, and in 2017 I was with the U18 Serbian national team and also got to see the family.

It is nice to be back in Belgrade full-time. My life is pretty simple wherever I live, because when you play basketball, it is kind of the same routine wherever you go, just in a different environment.

But I know many people here, and my whole family is here other than my mom, so I have been busy seeing people I have not seen in a while. The first couple of months, that's all I did. I tried to spend as much of my free time with my family and friends who I had not seen for a long time and also to see different things in the city.

Partizan is the club where I played when I was a kid. I started playing basketball when I was 7 with a team called Superfund, and then when I was 9, I joined Partizan. But this is also the club where my father played and won the EuroLeague title in 1992. I grew up a Partizan fan, everyone in my family is a Partizan fan.

This is my first professional season, but I always had in the back of my mind that I wanted to play for Partizan one day. I did not know the timeline, when I would have an opportunity or when I wanted to, but I knew I wanted to play for Partizan at some point.

Balsa Koprivica

Team:Partizan BelgradePosition:CAge:21Height:215 cmWeight:109 kgBirth place:Belgrade, SerbiaProfileNewsStatistics

For the last two years, I have played at Florida State University. Once I decided I wanted to pursue a professional career, Partizan reached out to me earlier in 2021, which was before they hired a coach. I wanted to wait a little bit, to weigh my options. Then Coach Zeljko Obradovic came to Partizan, and I saw the vision that the club had with a team, and it was a no-brainer for me to start my professional journey with Partizan.

Some of you might know, but my dad was first a teammate of Zeljko Obradovic in the 1980s with Partizan, and then my dad played for Obradovic for two years at the start of his coaching career. So, there is a funny story about me meeting coach Obradovic. The first time and I guess the only time he ever saw me, was about 20 years ago.

Obviously, I don't remember that, but I was told it was at Zlatibor mountain here in Serbia as my mom was waiting for my dad to finish the practice, and that's when coach Obradovic saw me as a baby. And now, 20 years later, the first time I met Obradovic as an adult was also on that same Zlatibor mountain, but this time it was at the start of our training camp.

Obviously, I knew everything about Coach Obradovic, what he accomplished and what type of coach he is. And hearing it from my dad is great because dad could give me the real information. Even though it was different, because Obradovic was just beginning to be a coach when he coached my dad, and now he is one of the greatest.

But we talk about how great it is that my dad and I played for the same coach 30 years apart. It is just great to have an opportunity to play for this team, and the coach, and I'd say it is a great start for my career.

Our season is going well. We have an 8-2 record in Group A. There are some great teams for sure in the EuroCup. It is different from what we face in our domestic ABA League. Every team plays differently in the EuroCup, so you need to adjust from game to game for different types of players different styles of coaching.

Every week it is a great opportunity to see where we are at. We keep trying to win every game because we want to win it all - that's what we all play for, and that's what Partizan is all about. Some teams are younger, some teams are more experienced, but at the end of the day, any team can beat anybody on any given night, a bottom team can beat a top team on any given night, so we just have to be ready to play.

So far, the team that has left an impression on me is Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar. That was one of the tougher games we played this season, if not the toughest. We did not play well as a team, but I feel like they are the most impressive team overall, and Johnathan Motley is one of the better players I played against this season, if not the best.

He did not get to play as much in that game against us because he got a tech, but Lokomotiv has a great team and a bunch of really, really good players. And also, Joventut, we played them earlier in the season, they are a well-coached team and play well together.

I am happy to say that we have great chemistry. Coach keeps telling us just to have fun out there, to keep sharing the ball, keep playing for one another because that is going to make the game easy.

We have enough talent that any guy can score 15-20 points on any given night, so it is all about playing basketball and sharing the ball. We also all get along very well off the court, and that's what matters the most.

We also have a special chemistry with the fans. It is just unbelievable. Wherever we go, in the EuroCup or the ABA League – other than when playing against Crvena Zvezda – every game feels like a home game. It is great to have these people behind you.

When we went to Paris to play Metropolitans, we felt like we were the home team, our fans went to support us fully. Knowing you have these fans who support you, it is hard not to play for them. You play for yourself, but you play for the fans, for the coaches, play for one another because these guys are die-hard Partizan fans.

That's the kind of Partizan culture we have ever since the club was created. They also help us during the game, even when you maybe miss a couple of shots, they are there to help.

I was in the stands supporting the team as a kid, and ever since I was young, I wanted to be a part of the senior team. I am glad I got this opportunity early. I am grateful to be here and that I chose this team.

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