The phenomenon of "Partizan" and Željko Obradović

The decision of the Euroleague executive board, made in mid-June 2022, that Valencia and KK Partizan receive a special invitation for the next season, caused enthusiasm among the fans of the Belgrade team, who had been waiting for a long and painful nine years to return to the elite rank of the competition. Participation in the Euroleague is of existential importance for clubs, especially those that are not privately owned. Performance in the highest quality European basketball competition ensures a better position in negotiations with potential player and sponsor reinforcements. Partizan coach Željko Obradović also knew this, who at the introductory conference, a year earlier, emphasized the return to the Euroleague as the main goal: "I am aware of what my arrival means, what is expected, the only thing that interests us is to be someone who will play Euroleague, but not for a year, but to be an integral part of the competition. I think that Partizan has a place there and that Partizan deserves it".

FAITH IN SELF

The return of Željko Obradović and the Euroleague breathed new life into the black and whites, and the effect could be seen immediately - 11.500 season tickets were sold for Partizan's games, a record number in the history of European basketball, while the team was strengthened by quality players such as Exum from Barcelona, ​​Nanelli from Maccabi and Papapetrou of Panathinaikos. The euphoria of the fans grew with each new signing, but the view of the coaching bench of Partizan was something that gave reason and foundation for any optimism.

However, the very first games in the Euroleague showed that the trophy specialist has a serious job ahead of him in order for Partizan to reach the level expected by the euphoric fans, and probably Obradović himself. The Black and Whites lost their opening three games in the competition, while a look at the scoreboard in mid-December showed a 4-9 record. When you add two defeats in the ABA league to that, the alarm bells went off. The fact that the defeats were mostly by small margins and in uncertain endings was no consolation for the psyche of the players and fans. A state of euphoria replaced a state of depression. Questions began to be asked about the selection and character of the team, the play of the playmakers, the large number of foreigners and the low performance of local players, the choice of Panthers as captain, the performance of individuals...

The resulting crisis and public pressure usually force most clubs to take drastic measures in moments of crisis, such as changing coaches or individual players. Partizan from a few seasons ago would probably have done the same. This Partizan, with Željko Obradović and Zoran Savić, who have complete autonomy regarding sports matters, did not deviate from the plan prepared at the beginning of the season. They believed in their own judgments, hard work and players. When they started to justify the trust and expectations shown, the team that has been the best in Europe in the last 20 rounds started to grow. What are the reasons for such a drastic change?

DEFENSE IS THE KEY

Partizan's biggest problem, but also the biggest room for improvement, was the game in defense. Opponents easily broke through the first line of defense forcing the rest of the back five to help and rotations that were usually late. In the so-called "next" pick and roll the defense help was able to be unnecessarily deep from the first pass, which created space for the opponent's open threes. Often, the lack of communication between the two defenders led to confusion as to which type of defense was being played, which resulted in easy points for the rivals. A special problem was the poor selection of fouls outside of the bonus, so the opponents, after taking over, got to the hoop too easily instead of stopping with fouls.

In addition to desire, energy, aggressiveness and good communication, better defense also requires a longer squad. Partizan's rotation was strengthened in mid-December with the recovered national team players Avramović and Smailagić. For the first time since the beginning of the season, Željko had the opportunity to count on all the players in training, which, according to him, was reflected in the quality of training itself. The aforementioned Avramović brought great aggressiveness to the opponent's outside players, and Smailagic had a rarely seen ability to steal the ball from opponents on the jump when defending the puck. The rest of the team was refreshed with a longer rotation and a more correct distribution of minutes and responsibilities, so the defensive things fell into place. The freshness was felt most by the players who were no longer forced to play more than 30 minutes in Euroleague duels, so their decisions at the end of the games became more and more rational and of better quality.

All this was a prelude to the second half of the game against the two-time consecutive European champions, Turkish Efes. The Partizan team managed to come back from a double-digit deficit and with the now famous three-point shot by Naneli, they ended the series of defeats in uncertain endings. From this time distance, the mentioned match represented a turning point of the season. The team started to believe in themselves, and the fans started to believe in the team again. Stark Arena became full of holes during the matches, and Partizan started defeating the teams that at the time of the match held the first place in the table, such as Fenerbahçe and Monaco, later Olympiakos, Real...

WINNING STREAK

There is only one narrative left that the black and whites had to deny, and that is that they are the "home team" that does not have a strong enough character to win in heated away games. The opportunity for such a thing arose against Crvena zvezda at the end of January in Pionir, and until then Partizan had only won two away games in the Euroleague. Additional pressure was created by the two victories of Crvena zvezda over Obradović's men in the season so far, so even a third defeat against their fiercest rival would be tantamount to disaster. Carried by the fantastic Ledej, who had been criticized for their poor performance in derbies, the black and whites won a very important victory and "became the mangupi in someone else's yard".

Carried by confidence and led by the best coach in the history of the game, black and white mangupi won five of the six remaining away games in the Euroleague, while playing with their opponents at home and following them to the "Nikola Tesla" Airport with a double-digit difference. In the last 20 rounds, the Belgrade team won 15 duels, and the victories over the main competitors for winning the league, Olympiakos and Real, were particularly impressive. A series of fantastic results brought the black and whites into the fight for placement in the Top 8 of the Euroleague, which was definitely confirmed by a magnificent victory away from home in Monaco.

The placement in the best eight teams in Europe was crowned by the fact that Partizan is the best attacking team with an offensive rating equal to 121,2 (number of points per 100 ball possessions). Also, the black and whites are the most accurate team in the Euroleague in three-point shooting and from the free throw line. The mentioned statistics best show how much Obradović "feels" about his team and each of its individuals. Despite the certain tendencies of modern basketball and the influx of analytics that claim that the game in isolation has been overcome and the shot from half distance is ineffective, Željko realizes that it is isolation that is huge forte one (Exum), and the half-distance of the other (Panther) of his player, so with certain actions and sets he even helps them to get into given situations.

ŽELJKO'S BASKETBALL

The previous few sentences could create an image of how Željko defies modernity, but that would be the most wrong possible conclusion because between the name "Željko" and the phrase "modern basketball" there is an equal sign. Most of the current trends were designed, implemented or, in the last case, popularized by Željko Obradović. One can write and talk about his greatness and importance for days, but as the legendary Duško Vujošević liked to say, praise from the guild means the most, and there is no coach in European basketball who, when asked who is the best coach in history, will say anything else except - Željko Obradović.

A big reason for Partizan's success lies in the fantastic relationship between coach-players-fans. A coach of the caliber of Obradović enjoys great authority among the players, and he earned it not only with the vast knowledge he possesses, but also with the trust he gives them. On the eve of the season, most of the individuals from Partizan's team were under question: is Exum capable of playing the role of the primary organizer of the game, will Panter cope in the role of captain, will Lesor improve the defense that once represented his main flaw... Literally everyone the Partizan player improved during the season and through working with Obradović, which is evidenced by the fact that Lesor is in the competition for the best player of the Euroleague, and Madar and Smailagić for the best young player. Dante Exum doubled his numbers from Barcelona, ​​while Kevin Panter built on his tremendous scoring abilities with an ever-improving game in the playmaking of the rest of the team.

Željko's status as a deity among Partizan fans does not need much explanation, but the more interesting topic is how a group of basketball players of various nationalities managed to win the hearts of 20.000 fans who regularly fill Stark Arena in such a short time. How much are they <font style="vertical-align: inherit;" class="">Partizan</font> loved their pets can also be seen through the large number of Cameroonian flags, which is a response to the provocations of the fans of the biggest rival, who call KK Partizan KK Cameroon, alluding to the large number of dark-skinned foreigners. The impression is that the French center Mathias Lessor was the first to make a connection with the fans, who were delighted by his combativeness bordering on fanaticism. Now it has become a tradition that after the game he approaches the stands and, like the leader of the fans, with a scarf around his neck and a megaphone in his hand, starts a fan song that the rest of the hall enthusiastically accepts.

PHENOMENON OF KK PARTIZAN FANS

Little by little, Partizan fans pushed the boundaries of loyalty and broke viewership records, and often videos and photos of spectacular choreography went to Europe via social networks. Partizan's game has once again become a landmark in Belgrade and an event that simply must be attended. Tickets are sold out several months before the games, followed by a general rush and search for them. Partizan's duels in the regional ABA league were attended by a total of around 100 spectators, in the Euroleague by more than 300 spectators, and both figures represent absolute records for the mentioned competitions. The fans proved an impressive gesture of loyalty on away games, so KK Partizan had 3000 of their people in Munich and Milan, 2500 in Bologna and Berlin, several hundred in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid, and a few dozen in Kaunas and Istanbul.

Traditionally loyal fans of Partizan from Montenegro, Macedonia and Republika Srpska began to be joined by people from Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Hungary, and according to Željko Obradović, guests from Spain, Italy, Greece often come... Gestures like applause from the entire hall The Croat Marija Hezonja and the Bosniak Džanan Musa contribute to the positive impressions that foreigners have from their visits to Belgrade, but also instill hope in more normal relations between the peoples of these areas. Numerous celebrities were not immune to the euphoria surrounding KK Partizan, so it is increasingly common to see pop stars, businessmen, former athletes, but also true greats of Belgrade's artistic life such as Dragan Bjelogrlić, Zoran Kostić Canet and Bogdan Diklić in the front rows of Stark Arena.

"THE KING IS THE KING"

By placing in the eight best teams on the Old Continent, KK Partizan fully justified the special invitation to participate and became the first Serbian club to achieve such success in the current format of the elite competition. He secured a place in the quarter-finals of the Euroleague earlier than the Turkish giants Fenerbahce or the first-placed team of the Spanish championship, Basconi. The opponent of the black and whites in the fight to go to F4 will be known after the last round, Barcelona, ​​Real and Monaco are in circulation, but it seems that the mentioned clubs are more afraid of Partizan than Partizan them, as evidenced by the statement of Monaco's assistant coach Mirko Ocokoljić: Surely everyone wants to avoid them in the playoffs. Because I know they can finish fifth and we meet them, I wouldn't like to play them. I would prefer to play against Maccabi or Fenerbahçe. With that I said everything when it comes to Partizan".

Just two years ago, the Black and Whites finished the season in seventh place in the regional ABA league. If Panathinaikos wins in the last round, this year's regular part of the EuroLeague black and white will finish in fifth or sixth place. Asked to comment on the recent success and rise of Partizan, Željko's former assistant Erdem Dzhan answered briefly: "The king is the king." It is well known who he was thinking of and who he considers most deserving of the fact that a fallen great man was restored to his dignity and former glory.

In the past thirty years, as long as his coaching career lasts, the rules and styles of basketball, competition formats, the best players and clubs have changed, but one thing has not - the best coach of this beautiful game. Many tried to discover the best-kept secret of European basketball, which answers the question of how Željko managed to be at the top of his profession all these years, and his teams at the top of Europe. The secret is still safe, and as long as it is, Partizan fans' dream of another trip to immortality is also safe.