Buducnost VOLI Podgorica guard Petar Popovic joined the club in 2016 and has been a mainstay ever since. The 25-year is enjoying his finest season to date and hoping to lead Buducnost on a historic run. Although he is not related to the Petar Popovic who won the 7DAYS EuroCup title with Joventut Badalona in 2008, this Popovic wants to be the latest player with that name to lift the EuroCup trophy. Follow his blog to learn more from Petar about Buducnost and its run in the competition all season long!
Petar Popovic: 'For me, Buducnost feels like home'
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6 Mins read
Hello, EuroCup fans! This is Petar Popovic, you can call me "Pop". First of all, I am not related to the other Petar Popovic who played in the competition and won it with Joventut. My family is all from Montenegro, so we are not related. There were two Marko Popovics, one of them in Buducnost, but basically, I'm not related to any of them. I know Marko Popovic, the one who played for Buducnost, very well through the national team. We are a small country and we know each other here very well. And about the other Marko Popovic, who also won the EuroCup, I don't know him. He's a bit older than me. I know who he is, of course. I watched a lot of games and respect him a lot, but I never had a chance to meet him in person.
We had a good week in the EuroCup, beating Virtus in Bologna. It feels great. Lately, at the end of December, we had some injuries and some COVID problems, so after that, we struggled a little bit. We had like three, let's say, not very good games for us. It was Bursaport at home, Ulm at home and Valencia at the road. We struggled a little bit, so this win means a lot to us. We are going to keep it for our confidence and. I had COVID and before that, I had an injury, so every game is important for me to try to get back in rhythm. It felt pretty, pretty nice to take that win and also for me, to have a decent game.
"I enjoy it here, it is my sixth year with the club."
I hit several three-pointers and also made some three-point plays. It is not so usual for me that most of my points came that way. I think that until this game, I made a total of 3 three-pointers and I hit 5 against Virtus. My teammates got me in a good situation, they found me on the court and I was able to make the shots and I feel happy about it.
In the last couple of seasons, our club managed to organize a couple of charter flights in the EuroCup, like in this trip. So it is a little bit tricky to come in the morning, practice and then leave right after the game but you know, from Montenegro, we usually don't have good flight connections. So if I had to choose between fighting charter on a game day or taking regular flights, I would choose a charter flight. We showed in our last game that it helps and we love it. Usually, we fly either to Belgrade and then we connect further, or we fly to Istanbul and connect from there. So usually, most of the games, we connect two or three flights and basically lose a day on travel, so the charter was a nice option.
As I said, I am Montenegrin and playing for Buducnost feels nice. I'm at home, basically. I live 30 minutes from here in a small city. It's the old royal capital of Montenegro, is called Cetinje. It feels nice to be close to my family, to my friends. When we have the day off, I can always go and visit them and spend some time with them. It is also an honor for me to represent Buducnost in the ABA League and the EuroCup. I enjoy it here, it is my sixth year with the club, so I am close with the people in it, the management. So for me, it really feels like home.
Now that we have played 12 games, I have to say that I like the new EuroCup format. I like it very much. There is not that pressure of finishing the competition by the end of December. We have a lot of games. I think that this season shows that maybe this format could live up in the next years. The games are pretty interesting. I think that both groups have given us a lot of good games, interesting games. As I said, I like it and I'm looking forward to the continuation of the groups and also, after that, the knockout phase!
"When we are at our best, we can compete with every team."
I think that we have seen plenty of good teams. I watched the game between Joventut and Partizan, and I think it was a great game. Both teams showed high-quality basketball. Also from our group, we played Valencia two weeks ago and they showed their strength. They didn't have a full roster the first time we played against them and are a very good team. I am mostly following our group and Gran Canaria is also a great team, but I think that our team has more to show in upcoming games. It is going to be pretty interesting until the end.
Our next opponent is Reyer. They have a pretty good team and reinforced with two well-known guys in European basketball, Jordan Theodore and Jordan Morgan. Personally, I think they have a very good team. They also have Austin Daye, who has been there for many years and is one of the best power forwards in Europe. But we are playing at home and luckily, they changed the COVID rules in our country, so we will have some fans in the gym. We are really looking forward to that game and to having a good game. I hope we are going to win and celebrate it with our fans, who we missed in the last month, or month and a half.
We still have to play regular-season games. These games that we are playing at home, I think it wouldn't be so good for us if we lose them. But thinking too far ahead is never a good idea. We are thinking about Reyer. We want to take that victory and after that, to go on the national break with that win and after that, we will see. We are two months away from the end of this chapter, so we have to go step by step and give our best in every game. When we are at our best, we can compete with every team and show some good basketball!