EUROLEAGUE – The blood, sweat and tears pay off for Partizan

PARIS (Euroleague) - The result of this weekend's Euroleague Final Four will not determine whether or not Partizan Belgrade have had success in 2009-10.

They have, without question, already had a remarkable season.

A team that was supposed to struggle after losing two important players last summer, with Novica Velickovic joining Real Madrid and Milenko Tepic leaving for Panathinaikos, Partizan instead inspired an entire continent by knocking off giant after giant to reach Paris.

The last club to fall victim to Partizan in the Euroleague was Maccabi Tel Aviv in the last eight.

Olympiacos await them in Friday's second semi-final.

"When this season began, even the most daring dreamers could not have imagined this,” said Dusko Vujosevic, the Partizan coach.

"It has already been a fantastic success, but it's not something we won in the lottery.

"It is the result of our well-established system.

"We have flaws and shortcomings that need to be corrected to make it so such results can be expected, but if we want to give birth to such success, the roots must be deep. And we have done so now."

Vujosevic, who is also the coach of Montenegro’s national side, always has teams that work hard but this year's bunch has really stood out.

Australian Aleks Maric joined from CB Granada in Spain where he played little and became a force for Partizan, while young Czech Jan Vesely has continued his rapid ascent into becoming one of Europe's best young power forwards.

Guard Bo McCalebb had been a steady performer, averaging better than 13 points per game while Dusan Kecman has come up with big plays just when Partizan needed them.

Kecman will be best remembered, in fact, for his shot from beyond half-court at the buzzer in overtime that beat Cibona in final of the Adriatic League.

What Vujosevic will remember most from this season are the days in the gym when Partizan's players worked and worked and worked.

"This generation has really shed a lot of sweat and put in a lot of very hard work to get here," he said.

"I am especially pleased that this team consists of players of different races and nationalities.

"I am happy that they love to work this way and act like a team."

In his blog on the Euroleague website, Partizan’s Petar Bozic was right on the money when he wrote: “In Serbia, everybody is speaking about basketball, Partizan and the Final Four.

“For our fans, we are already champions.”

FIBA