Mitrovic: 'Oakley would send Wembanyama to Paris with one contact' / News - Basketnews.com

Coach Zvezdan Mitrovic of Galatasaray Ekmas Istanbul gave an interview where he talked about his team, talked about EuroLeague developments, and offered criticism to the NBA.

Credit: imago images/PanoramiC Credit imago images/PanoramiC

Zvezdan Mitrovic, who joined Galatasaray Ekmas Istanbul in the summer, gave a comprehensive interview to Milun Nesovic of Meridian Sport, where he touched on a number of topics.

Victor Wembanyama

Team:San Antonio SpursPosition:CAge:19Height:224 cmWeight:104 kgBirth place:FranceProfileNewsStatistics

The first issue on the agenda was his move to Galatasaray, which, although one of the biggest sports clubs in Turkiye, has a basketball branch that has been struggling since the departure of Ergin Ataman in 2017.

Lastly, Mitrovic and his men were defeated in overtime in a game against Hapoel Jerusalem, which was one of the finalists of the Basketball Champions League last year.

"It is a club with great expectations," Mitrovic said. "After all, it is a sports society of over 30 million fans. Galatasaray University itself is an institution. However, the football and basketball clubs are heaven and earth," the Montenegrin coach said, imposing a reality check.

"Our budget is mediocre, and expectations are high, especially in relation to the possibilities. We have the sixth-seventh budget in the Turkish League," he noted.

However, he remained unphased about the conditions that the basketball branch was in.

"But I knew all that when I was coming. I was very aware of where I was going."

When asked about EuroLeague predictions, the coach had brash remarks to give. Starting off with the best and the worst teams, here is what he had to say.

"Monaco is... the best with Real, Barcelona and Olympiakos.Those are the teams that should be high," Mitrovic proclaimed.

Moving on with the worst teams, the Montenegrin was quite brash.

"Baskonia! They look really bad.Well, let's not waste words on ASVEL, which has 18 consecutive defeats in the Euroleague…”

Speaking of Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and LDLC ASVEL, Mitrovic had a piece of his mind to give about early coaching changes.

Victor Wembanyama

MIN:27.2PTS:16.25 (52.86%)REB:7.5As:1.5ST:1.25BL:2.25TO:4.75GM:4ProfileNBA2023/2024

"I am annoyed by coaching changes. Well, it's a circus," said Mitrovic harshly. "Nenad Canak came to Turk Telekom; everything [roster, staff] is completely new, and immediately - [they] fire him," stated Mitrovic, exemplifying the case of Nenad Canak, who was fired after just 7 official games in the season.

Mitrovic continued with his examples.

"It has already become a tradition at Crvena Zvezda. The clubs make a selection, make a mistake, but let them change two players.

The easiest thing is to change coaches. We are consumables," Mitrovic noted solemnly.

Once again, off the LDLC ASVEL reference, the Montenegrin specialist had some thoughts about Victor Wembanyama and what he perceived as a decline of quality in the NBA.

"Realistically, I was afraid that someone would run into him and break his knees," the coach said about Wembanyama.

"When I played against ASVEL as a coach, whenever Wembanyama was on the court, we won... The following year, when he was in Paris [Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92], he was guarded by two heads shorterCharles Kahudi, and [he] could not score a basket.There was a solution."

If Wembanyama was so guardable, why are NBA teams not employing the same methods to defend against him? Mitrovic also had an answer to this question.

"I watched San Antonio [Spurs]. It's no longer a fight in the NBA like it used to be. Now, everything is fluffy," the coach explained.

"Imagine Charles Oakley guarding Wembanyama. One contact, and he goes back to Paris. I prefer that kind of basketball, but I'm still old-fashioned."

The specialist continued to deal harsh criticism to the NBA, addressing the role of the coaches.

"They dressed them in sweatpants. If you want to bench a player, the player pushes you away and comes back... Now they will use artificial intelligence to replace us," Mitrovic stated ominously.

"Once Pat Riley, in an Armani suit, [was] a Hollywood star! Now, we don't even know half of them."

Galatasaray will host Turk Telekom Ankara on the 5th of November in the Turkish Basketball Super League.

Thank you for reading us! We have even more content for you.