Svetislav Pesic: 'Many players left for the NBA and then disappeared' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS-Scanpix Credit Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS-Scanpix

Svetislav Pesic, the Serbian national team’s new head coach, gave an interesting and lengthy interview to Mozzart Sport, referring mostly to the different generations of players in his country’s basketball.

Pesic spoke about how the Serbs quickly forget how young people lack patience, choosing to try their chances in the NBA rather than stay and mature in Europe.

“Some new players will come, others will end their career. I once went over to Madrid to visit Sasha Djordjevic. We talked about him playing for the national team, he was the captain. He said he couldn’t do it anymore but added that could help in some other way.

Everything has an ending. We’ll create a balance of young and experienced players. In this way, a real winning team will emerge, “said Pesic, just a few days after being named as Serbia head coach.Right now, the nucleus of Serbia consists of NBA regular season MVP Nikola Jokic, EuroLeague MVP Vasilije Micic, EuroCup MVP Milos Teodosic, and Adriatic League MVP Filip Petrusev.

Credit FIBA Media“No serious team was ever composed of the 12 best players, but it was made up of 12 players who did the best work. High goals, of course, are not possible without great players, we know that.

We know that you can’t win medals with inexperienced players. The big players are those who have realized that they aren’t geniuses, but an integral part of the team, “said the experienced coach.Talking about Aleksej Pokusevski, who’s playing with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Pesic warned his countrymen not to run ahead of themselves.“He is a talented boy, there is not the slightest doubt about it. But there are also more talented players in Serbia who do not play in the NBA. The requirements are different in terms of the NBA and the national team. I repeat, there is talent, but the NBA is pushing. The availability of players for the national team has been limited. America will always be there.In previous years, the goal for a player was to play in the national team. The NBA was just a thought. Now everyone wants to go to the NBA. Even those who don’t have the slightest chance of playing there want to work with a coach who coaches in that style.

So, many players left for the NBA, and then... they disappeared. They left early and did not confirm the huge expectations they created. Everything has to be done at the right timing,” the former FC Barcelona boss stated.

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