The Serbian team’s skid stretched to six games while the Italian outfit bounced back from a tough loss in Paris
Milan piled more misery on Partizan but Obradovic is not giving up
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Regular Season
Round 10 of 34
Group Regular Season
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The Round 10 matchup between Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade and the visiting EA7 Emporio Armani Milan expectedly produced plenty of fireworks on and off the court, with the Italian side coming out on top 81-88 to give its head coach Ettore Messina some breathing space while it piled the pressure on his counterpart Zeljko Obradovic.
The result saw Milan improve to 4-6 while Partizan dropped to 2-8 after yet another loss, its sixth in a row, as the visiting team’s top performer Nikola Mirotic sank a game-high 19 points despite constantly being heckled by a raucous Belgrade crowd.
Mirotic was reportedly on the verge of joining Partizan from FC Barcelona during the 2023 offseason but eventually opted to go to Milan instead, a move many Partizan fans lamented, and they pulled no punches in showing their feelings during the Montenegrin-born forward’s first visit to Belgrade Arena since.
Mirotic and Zach LeDay were instrumental in Milan’s win as the latter netted 13 points against his former club, turning Obradovic into a forlorn figure after seeing his men suffer yet another gut-wrenching defeat.
Worse still for Obradovic, four of those eight defeats came on his team’s home court and as many as six were largely self-inflicted, with Partizan lacking composure and the killer instinct when the chips were down. The slump has left Obradovic, the competition’s most trophy-laden coach with nine titles at five different clubs, skating on thin ice ahead of next week’s Serbian derby against archrival Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade.
The outcome of Round 11's Rivalry Series fixture could have a huge impact on Partizan’s campaign in Europe’s premier club competition, but Obradovic was adamant that he still had enough time to turn around his team’s fortunes. He vehemently denied suggestions that Partizan would be nothing more than also-rans this term after a woeful start, vowing to bounce back with a vengeance.
“We have only pride to play for in the EuroLeague from here on? Really? Let’s see where we are at the end of the season and have this conversation again. You have now galvanized me even more to turn things around because I’ve never been a quitter,” he told reporters at the post-game press conference.
“I am not going to give up on our EuroLeague campaign in Round 10. You are sadly mistaken if you think the players are not disappointed and my job is to lift them and make sure they are ready for the next game. The fans and the players trust me and we’ll do everything humanly possible to flip the script.
“Fortune favors the brave and Milan earned their luck. They hit about 5 buzzer-beaters from downtown while we once again threw away a fourth-quarter lead. We lack focus on offense in crunch time and our shooting percentages are awful, that’s something we have to work on and improve,” added Obradovic, having refused to talk about the upcoming derby with Zvezda enjoying home-court advantage.
In contrast, Milan head coach Ettore Messina was delighted with his shorthanded team’s fighting spirit and die-hard attitude, which saw them prevail in a trademark fervent atmosphere generated by boisterous Partizan fans in a full house.
“It was very important for all of us because we didn’t perform well two days ago [in a 105-101 overtime defeat in Paris]. We played against a good team, very well coached and supported by 20,000 people but we played hard and disciplined in the crucial moments. We will have ups and downs but hopefully we will be more consistent going forward,” said Messina, who had to make do without key players Josh Nebo, Shavon Shields and Stefano Tonut.
He then heaped praise on the beleaguered Obradovic, whose number of critics on social media in Serbia seems to be increasing on a daily basis although he still appears to have the unwavering support of die-hard Partizan fans thronging the gym game after game.
“I have maximum respect for Zeljko and what he has accomplished because he is above all of us in the EuroLeague,” said Messina. “He’s had an incredible career and he always treated his colleagues in a very positive way, win or lose. He is one of the classiest people I’ve seen in basketball.”
Whether a gesture of support from Messina, a longtime rival on the court and friend off it, will help Obradovic get back to winning ways soon remains to be seen, but under the circumstances time is certainly not his ally with a grueling fixture list around the corner.