Obradovic on having 9 NT players: 'That's the most beautiful thing for a club' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: AFP – Scanpix Credit AFP – Scanpix

FIBA World Cup international break impacts teams in different ways, but some clubs experience it like no others. Partizan NIS Belgrade had 9 of their players leave for national teams during the week.

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The head coach of the team Zeljko Obradovic wasn't distraught about this fact at all. On the contrary, the legendary specialist noted that it is a great privilege to hold as many NT players as Partizan does.

"I am very satisfied with the fact, and I would like everyone to be a part of national teams one day. It is proof that they are quality players," the coach pointed out when asked about the international break.

Six Partizan players left for the Serbian national team - Aleksa Avramovic, Rade Zagorac, Alen Smailagic, Uros Trifunovic, Balsa Koprivica, and Nemanja Dangubic. Meanwhile, Yam Madar and Rodions Kurucs played for Israeli and Latvian national teams respectively, while Dallas Moore battled for Albania in the 2025 Eurobasket pre-qualifiers.

Obradovic was not disturbed that he had only 4 players for training. "Nine national team players... That is the most beautiful thing for a club. I am very satisfied to have many players who play for their countries," the legendary coach noted.

The Serbian specialist looks forward to getting back to work and playing against KK Igokea m:tel on the local front: "It is necessary to get react positively in training. Igokea is a good team, it's always tough to play against them, and it certainly requires very good preparation."

Partizan is holding joint-first place both in the Group A of 7DAYS Eurocup and in the ABA League.

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