Pesic attacks Serbian basketball, says teams should leave ABA League / News - Basketnews.com

Pesic wants Serbian clubs to leave the ABA League to form a true national Serbian league instead of what the country has now. He mentioned Lithuania as an example of what the league should look like.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

After being written off as an outdated specialist, Svetislav Pesic led the Serbian national team to a second-place finish in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. The week after the win, the veteran specialist called out the local basketball system.

Currently, the strongest clubs from Serbia play in the ABA League and join the Serbian League (KLS) during the playoffs. Pesic thinks that all of this has to change.

In an interview during the RTS program "Oko", the 74-year-old coach highly criticized the situation.

"I think we don't have a pyramid of a competition system where the most important thing is to produce players. We have players in all leagues who have absolutely no prospects for the future of our big clubs or the national team," he said. "What will most likely happen in the next year or two is that Crvena Zvezda and Partizan will probably receive an invitation to the EuroLeague, and after that, they will become co-owners of the competition. That will 100 percent happen."

"What shall we do then? We don't need to play in the ABA league. Not to abolish it. But we have to go back to where we belong," Pesic explained. "We have to have a professional Serbian league. And now, now, now. Right now, at the end of this Olympic cycle. [We have to do it] the moment Crvena Zvezda and Partizan definitely get the certainty that they will play in the EuroLeague every year as the Lithuanian club."

Pesic went on to provide Lithuania as an example of a league that Serbia should try to emulate. Notably, Lithuania has multiple clubs that play in international competitions, with Zalgiris Kaunas, Rytas Vilnius, Lietkabelis Panevezys, and Wolves Vilnius all playing in the three major tournaments.

"What did the Lithuanians do? They formed a professional league. Every club in Lithuania has to adhere to a certain set of rules. [They regulate] what kind of hall they should have, up to 5,000, 3,000 seats. Absolutely everything is regulated," Pesic said. "And they play in their own league and play in European competitions. What is happening here? Apart from Red Star and Partizan, nobody plays in Europe. No club. And for years now."

"We also want to develop our basketball. What does it mean? That means the moment we create a professional Serbian league, a unique Serbian league," he continued. "Then the Serbian league will be suitable for European competitions. We need to connect with Europe, with the world. We have to connect with Europe. We have to be in Europe. Not in this area of ​​the former Yugoslavia."

When the presenter reminded that Arturs Zagars, a Latvian guard who blossomed in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, played in Lithuania last year, Pesic agreed that the Serbian league should strive to develop talents like him.

"If there is no competition system where these prospects could develop, we will stay where we are," Pesic concluded.

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