Serbia - All is easy with Kukoc on team

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Bozidar Maljkovic is an acclaimed basketball coach of avant-garde ways of thinking. Typically holding a contract with some of the finest European clubs, he still dedicates much of his free time to following basketball and keeping track with latest tendencies. Maljkovic has been the European champion four times will most probably be jobless until the end of the season, but confirms he still has motivation to win trophies. He claims recession has got hold of European basketball, which has contributed to a reducing number of points per match.

"There are 80 players from Europe playing in the NBA league. Imagine what would happen if they all returned home?. It’s a fact that the situation in Europe is hard and that there isn’t a great national league in Europe, except the Spanish ACB League. The lack of high-profile forwards has brought about a situation where defence is the stress of almost all coaches. There is a widespread tendency towards defensive style of play. Of course, that is all allowed and normal. One terrific attacker can beat any defence, but there are very few of those. When I became the champion with Limoge, Petar Skansi told me after the match that he was unhappy with the obstructive play in the Euroleague final. I replied that if he gave me Toni Kukoc I would change my team’s approach. How else can you achieve a result with players on your side who are not top-class. All you can do is to train them like commandos until they are ready to play two games one after another," explains Maljkovic.

Are there world-class basketball players currently in Europe?
"There are very few quality players both in Europe and here in Spain. Rudy Fernandez left for the NBA league this season. He and Rubio, Calderon, Gasol, Navarro and Garbajosa are all products of the ACB League. They play a similar number of games per season and every single match is a gruelling encounter. There isn’t much time for practice; matches are played very frequently and it’s absolutely essential for players to get proper rest. That’s why half the teams own jet airplanes. While I was working in Spain, it would sometimes happen to me that I didn’t know where we were going that weekend. Still, with that kind of pace, players develop more rapidly."

Are you under the impression that basketball is not as popular as it used to be?
"Basketball is essentially not a lucrative sport. When I became the champion of Europe, won the Greek Cup and played the final of the Greek championship with Panathinaikos all in the same season, club chairman Gianakopulos claimed we were still $3m in the red. All the while the arena was cram packed. The same thing happened in Madrid, when chairman Ramon Mendoza purchased the finest player in Europe at the time – Arvydas Sabonis – for three million dollars. He himself asked me why there were only two and a half thousand people in the arena, while at the same time when Laudrup played football at the Santiago Bernabeu for Real Madrid there were 80,000-strong on the stands. One of the FIBA Europe officials, Nar Zanolin, has recently told me that as many as 22 NBA clubs are making a loss," Maljkovic analyses the situation.

What is the current situation of the Serbian basketball?
"I deeply respect the people who work in Serbia. Today clubs in Serbia have scraps at their disposal. If there weren’t for the NLB regional league, Partizan and FMP would not be in the position to snap up not even this many fine players. There is only one way out for Partizan and Red Star – to give the Hala Sportova arena and the Pionir arena for these two clubs to run. I have talked about the issue with the Serbian president Boris Tadic."

Do you expect a high-profile player to emerge in Serbia soon?
"A number of players at Partizan are on the right track. Nikola Pekovic will become one of the very best in Europe, he just needs some time to accommodate in Panathinaikos. Regardless of all the invaluable hours of training with Partizan coach Dusko Vujosevic, he wouldn’t have improved this quick if there hadn’t been the tough competition. Only through games in the regional league can players develop their skills. I personally can’t believe some people are questioning the NLB league and if the participation of the Serbian clubs is justified."