Known for always demanding more from his team, the veteran tactician heaped praise on his men after a sterling effort
Coach Obradovic hailed Partizan’s clinical display in Monaco
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Regular Season
Round 26 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Zeljko Obradovic is rarely entirely pleased with his team’s performances as he keeps asking for perfection, in line with his unequivocal record of being the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague’s most decorated coach.
This time, however, the 64-year-old tactician, who has won nine titles with five different clubs in Europe’s premier club competition, had nothing but praise for his ruthlessly efficient Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade outfit after a comprehensive 69-86 road drubbing of AS Monaco.
Partizan took Monaco to the cleaners thanks to ironclad defense coupled with patient and balanced offense, with six visiting players finishing in double digits as the top performers picked up the baton from each other.
“We talked at halftime that we need to stay aggressive at both ends of the court. I am very happy how we played today,” Obradovic said in his postgame comments. “We prepared the game well against a quality team and after they took 9 offensive rebounds in the first half, we had that under control in the second.
“We were aggressive on defense and smart on offense. Again, a big thanks to our fans, whose support was as special as ever. Every game will be super important until the end of the regular season.”
Partizan, which made a dismal 2-8 start to the regular season, seems to have hit top gear at just the right time as the Serbian outfit improved to 14-12 ahead of the February break, staying firmly in the postsason picture while also boosting its hopes of squeezing into the top six.
Among a pack of performers, center and player of the game Tyrique Jones stood out with 17 points and 7 boards, putting Monaco to the sword with a strong finish after Sterling Brown netted 16 of his game-high 18 points in the first half.
Humble as ever, Jones credited his teammates for a smooth team effort which saw Partizan sink 8 of 16 from downtown and win the battle of the boards 35-32 after trailing 14-20 in that department at halftime.
“I am proud of everybody who contributed to this one and that’s the whole locker room,” said Jones, who also made a shout-out to Partizan’s traveling faithful. “The black-and-white always travel, we love their support and we’re going to keep fighting.”
Brown, for his part, lauded Jones and Brandon Davies, who also came up big in the paint at both ends as he racked up 15 points and 5 rebounds.
“It’s a very important win and our bigs really carried us in the second half with their rebounding and strong finishing,” said Partizan’s sharpshooter. “The game plan was to make it difficult for them on the offensive end as well as limit them on defense as they’ve got some great scorers.”
Monaco was limited to 8 of 28 from long range while its pack leader Mike James, who made 3 of 6 from deep for 13 points, went 0 of 7 from inside in the wake of relentless hustle from his markers. Ultimately, Partizan outplayed Monaco all over and will head into the break brimming with confidence after a thoroughly impressive victory.