A few days remain until the “Final Four” in Athens. Bozhidar Malkovich, the head of the coaching staff of one of the tournament participants, Spanish Taugres, shared his expectations on the eve of the end of the season with the Montenegrin newspaper Vijesti. 55-year-old Serb experience not to occupy - a tournament in the capital of Greece will be his eighth “Final Four”. Malkovich managed to win it four times - in 1989 and 1990 with Yugoplastika, in 1993 with the French Limoges, in 1996 with Panathinaikos, which will confront Malkovich's team in the Friday semi-final.
“Before any Final Four, I’m talking about two circumstances. First, each team has a 25 percent chance of winning the champion title. The second is going to the tournament to conduct an open training session with the players with 20 thousand spectators. Nothing more. Nevertheless, I know from experience that the closest team to the title will be the team that is capable of making the opponent play in the way that suits her in two games, ”says Malkovich.
The mentor of the Basque club is sure that in the case of a survey of experts, Taugres and Unicaje would be assigned the supporting roles, but he is not going to give up.
Panathinaikos and CSKA are the main contenders for the title both in budget and in staffing (which does not mean that we are behind them in this segment), and in club organization ... And yet I believe in my guys. We have qualities to compete on equal terms with any team. However, it is ungrateful to make predictions about something more. I want to remind you that my student Velimir Perasovich, who, due to health problems, cannot lead the team, made a big contribution to the release of Taugres in the Final Four. ”
Responding to a request to comment on the balance of power on the eve of the semifinal match with the hosts, Malkovich made an excursion into the past, recalling the times when he himself brought the “greens” to the court.
“No need to waste words when speaking of Panathinaikos.” While I was in the club, the leadership pursued a policy of attracting extra-class stars such as Dominic Wilkins, Dejan Bodiroga, Zharko Paspal, Dino Raja, Stoyan Vrankovich ... Now the situation has changed radically. The emphasis is shifted to the creation of a collective game, and according to this concept, acquisitions were made, starting with Ramunas iškauskas, continuing with Milos Vujanic, Dejan Tomaszewicz, the best player of the Athenians Dimitris Diamantidis, then Mike Batista, who is hunted by half of Europe, and ending with Sani Bechirovich, in “European basketball was the greatest talent of its time,” explains the Serbian specialist.
Malkovich expressed doubt that spectators in Athens will see a spectacular game.
“In recent years there have been many fluctuations in the game of the tournament participants. Remember the collapse of the Bologna Fortitude, which was smashed to smithereens by Maccabi in 2004 with a difference of more than 40 points [118: 74 - approx. Ed.], or the performance of my current club last year, when Tau easily lost to Maccabi. Therefore, psychological preparation plays a crucial role, and the one who plays the most stable will have an advantage. I took part in seven “Four Finals” and each time I demanded one thing from the team - not to surpass yourself, but to play as it is objectively capable. There will be no brilliant matches in Athens. Too much is at stake, and the pressure on the referees, players and coaches is enormous, ”Malkovich said.
Translation of Boyan SHOCHA