Kalinic preaches the virtue of toughness
BELGRADE (FIBA Basketball World Cup/Euroleague) - Nikola Kalinic is not the most hyped of players in the Serbia national team but he is certainly one of the best.
The 2.02m forward set the tone for a surprising run to the Final at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup with a thunderous dunk early in Serbia's Round of 16 rout of Greece.
It was such an emphatic slam that fans in Serbia are still talking about the play.
The national team supporters believed that Kalinic was sending a message to not only Greece but the rest of the teams in the tournament about the young squad's potential.
A @nikola_kalinic veceras ovako za sve koji nisu imali prilike letos uzivo da gledaju! pic.twitter.com/whn8fCMEak
— Tatjana Djindjic (@TDjindjic) January 2, 2015In their last four games at the World Cup, Kalinic played an average of 22.75 minutes per contest.
He did a little bit of everything as the team finished runners-up to the United States.
Kalinic is now doing his best to help Crvena Zvezda bounce back from a slow start to the Top 16 of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague.
After losing their first four games, the Belgrade team won 86-69 at home against Alba Berlin with Kalinic pouring in nine points, handing out five assists and coming up with three steals.
[#ABA] @nikola_kalinic je heroj Zvezde: Iz odbojke za pobedu!
VIDEO: http://t.co/oXcjWSH6Ut
@kkcrvenazvezda pic.twitter.com/dzV7B9pB6q
— Telegraf Sport (@TelegrafSport) January 26, 2015"I think that our toughness was the key," Kalinic said.
"We played the way we wanted to play in other games - very tough, with great defense.
"Our defense allowed us to get a lot of easy points. I think that is the key.
"We made a statement early in the game and after that, it was just keeping the difference, so I think our toughness and defense helped us win."
The odds would appear to be stacked against them but with nine games remaining, the Serbian outfit does have a chance to climb Group E and get into the top four, something that is needed if Crvena Zvezda are to advance to the play-offs.
Their focus right now is only on Thursday night's crunch game at home to Zalgiris Kaunas.
It will be a battle of 1-4 teams.
"We are very motivated for the game against Zalgiris," Kalinic said.
"They are former European champions, a team that consists of a number of good, experienced players.
"We have a lot of respect for them.
"We are going to try to repeat the aggressive approach from our ALBA game because our good defensive performance could be the key to this game."
Meanwhile, no side has been better than Crvena Zvezda in the Adriatic League.
After 20 rounds, the team is unbeaten.
FIBA
