The Serbian U-16 national basketball team achieved an extraordinary success, winning the gold medal at the European Championship after an 18-year drought. One of the men responsible for the achievement was head coach Stevan Mijović.
Met by local media at the airport, Mijović did not hide how much the victory and gold medal meant to him and how proud he was of his players.
“I don’t want to say that it’s about me—it’s not about me, it’s about the boys… that’s not important. From the first day we gathered, we did a great job. It wasn’t easy; we had a lot of problems. I wouldn’t single anyone out in particular; everyone gave their all. I think we wanted to win much more than any other team, and that’s why it resulted in gold. Besides this, Serbia finally has a generation that is a promise for the future and the prospect of Serbian basketball. That’s not just my opinion, but the opinion of everyone who followed this,” Mijović said. He then commented on the excellent preparation conditions the national team had.
“Everything was flawless from day one; every detail was covered by the federation. Our only job was to work. We gave our all, and the result came on its own.”
Mijović hopes that Serbia will have the opportunity to repeat the success next year and that it will be done with the same lineup.
“We are moving forward. We hope we all stay in the same lineup. We are moving forward. It’s been a long time since we had a world gold. I don’t remember if there was one at the U-17 level, but we are going step by step, just like at the championship.”
He was composed at halftime and believed in a good result for the team.
“To be honest, we were a bit overwhelmed. I was calm; I told them to keep playing and shooting, that everything would fall into place, and not to give up. I wasn’t being dramatic; I was calm… I believed in them, I had a feeling that we couldn’t lose the game. We looked like that both on and off the court, so I had no doubt that the result would come.”
When asked if he expected Serbia’s offense to look so dominant, his answer revealed that his coaching concerns were more related to the defense.
“As for the offense, yes, I did. From the very first friendly match, we played great on offense, and there were no problems there. During our preparations, we had problems on defense, but we fixed that. After that, it looked great at the championship, and offensively, I expected the guys to look that way,” Mijović concluded.
MVP Kusturica Is Humble About the Success
One of the most deserving players for the outstanding result was Nikola Kusturica, who also earned the title of MVP of the tournament, which was held in Tbilisi.
The players were welcomed at the airport upon their arrival in Belgrade, and Nikola Kusturica addressed the crowd.
“Honestly, no one expected this, not even us. We went there, we fought, and… we took the gold,” Kusturica said briefly at the start.
He also emphasized that the entire team deserves credit for everything, even though he was the MVP.
“The atmosphere on the team was incredible, the team is incredible, and this will be remembered for a lifetime. If it weren’t for my team, this never would have happened. We will remember all of this,” Nikola Kusturica said at “Nikola Tesla” Airport in Belgrade.
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Source: Telegraf; Photo: ATA Images