BELGRADE (FIBA U18 European Championship 2016) - Borisa Simanic is ready to take on a leadership role for Serbia at the FIBA U18 European Championship, buoyed by a 2015-16 season full of highlights.

The uber-talented power forward will be one of Serbia’s top guns as they aim for at least a top-five finish in Samsun from 30 July-7 August and qualify for the FIBA U19 World Championship 2017. 

“We just want to play as well as possible. We want to prepare as best as possible and not really go into the tournament with high expectations,” said the softly-spoken Simanic, who will be playing in his second U18 European Championship. 

Despite being younger than the rest of the competition in 2015, he averaged 9.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks at the FIBA U18 European Championship. He also collected 10.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks at the FIBA U19 World Championship.

“I played against guys two years older who have a lot of experience and that helped me in my mental game to improve. Now I am ready to take my responsibility and lead this team.”

Simanic’s solid numbers did not translate to team success though as Serbia lost to Australia in the Round of 16 of the FIBA U19 World Championship and then finished fifth at the FIBA U18 European Championship.

Simanic will also be looking to build on the hard lessons he learned in Volos last summer at U18 Men, missing a shot to give Serbia victory in regular time in their Quarter-Final match up with Turkey, before seeing his side go on and lose in added time.

Fast forward to the 2015-16 season and Simanic has seen his share of highlights, starting on 22 October when he made his Euroleague debut for Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade against defending champions Real Madrid.

“Madrid had a big lead so I kind of expected to come in. When I got in, the lead was so big I really didn’t feel any pressure so I just decided to take the open shots and do the best I could on defence and play hard,” said Simanic, who hit 4-of-6 shots including two three-pointers for 10 points. 

Almost five months before his 18th birthday, Simanic also grabbed four rebounds in 28 minutes of action and came up with blocked shots against Madrid’s established stars Gustavo Ayon and Jonas Maciulis.

“I just didn’t feel any pressure. It was my first real opportunity to show myself to the first team.”

It proved to be Simanic’s only real chance to shine in the Euroleague, totalling 22 minutes in his five other appearances. The Ljubovija native also played in nine Adriatic League games, averaging 1.8 points and 0.9 rebounds in seven minutes a contest. 

Still, Simanic spent the entire season practicing with Zvezda’s professional team despite not turning 18 until late March, when he signed a four-year professional deal with the club. 

That experience with senior players helped Simanic for when he went to Zvezda’s junior team for the U18 Adidas Next Generation Tournament (ANGT). 

“I practiced the entire year for the first time against players who were stronger physically and technically. So when I returned to (the junior) level, it was a lot easier for me,” Simanic said.

He came back to a Zvezda junior team which he had helped to the ANGT final the past two seasons - winning in 2014 against Real Madrid and losing in a repeat final in 2015. 

Simanic dominated the ANGT Belgrade qualifying tournament in February, winning MVP honours and getting Zvezda back to the ANGT Finals for the sixth straight time, collecting 22.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.6 blocks.

Simanic then helped Zvezda get back to the ANGT title game in May - albeit another loss to a Spanish club, this time Barcelona. Despite the loss, Simanic was named the Finals MVP, averaging 18 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.8 blocks.

“The MVP award means a lot individually, but I would have liked it more if we won the tournament and I did not get any awards,” Simanic said.

Simanic also shone with the Serbian U18 team between the ANGT qualifying tournament and the final round, as he helped the country to a second-place finish at the 2016 Albert Schweitzer Tournament - losing twice only to eventual champions Germany. 

“We only had 10 days to prepare for the tournament. Every day at the tournament was new preparation and the team got better every game,” said Simanic, who was named to the All-Tournament Team as he averaged 12.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks.

If he can come up with those kinds of numbers in Samsun, Simanic looks set for even more success in 2016. 

FIBA