INTERVIEW: Popović - „Now we have a chance of staying in the league“

In the 23rd round, Sutjeska have grabbed an extremely important home court win against Krka and with his experience, Aleksa Popović gave a huge contribution to it. In a short interview for our website, he spoke about their current situation in the battle to avoid relegation.

Read more in the interview below.

In the previous round you have beaten Krka at home court. How do you see the importance of the game and was you preparation for it any different than for the others due to all of the circumstances?

"The game against Krka was exceptionally important for us since in case of a defeat, we would for sure lose our chances of avoiding relegation. Now we do have this chance. We have been getting ready for every detail, just like for every other game, but we knew that we "had to” win. The pressure was huge and in the end everything turned out well.”

After your high advantage Krka managed to turn the game around, but despite all of the problems you managed to celebrate a triumph after overtime. How did you feel those decisive moments and what decided in the end?

"For three quarters we played fantastic basketball, we gained a huge lead but in the final quarter we played weak on the defensive end. After that we became unconfident on the offense and the opponent took advantage of it well. They scored some difficult shots, turned the game around, but we managed to consolidate our ranks in the decisive moments and deservedly won.”

This victory kept you in the battle for staying in the ABA League, but you have a difficult schedule until the end. Do you believe that you can avoid the last two spots and where will you seek for your opportunities until the end?

"You are right. This win keeps us in the race and the situation is hard to predict. Ahead of us is a tough schedule and the same goes for our rivals. However, we will prepare game by game. The first game is against Crvena zvezda Telekom in Belgrade and they are huge favourites. It will be difficult, we will play the best we can in this moment and will try to take advantage of every opportunity that we might get.”

Few weeks ago you changed head coaches. You cooperated with Igor Jovović before, at Budućnost VOLI. What did he bring to your team?

"I have cooperated with Igor for a long time at Budućnost. I got used to his system of work and my teammates fit in quickly. Now all of us are doing our best to stay in the competition.”

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INTERVJU: Popović: „Sada smo ponovo u mogućnosti da opstanemo "

U 23. kolu, Sutjeska je postigla izuzetno bitnu domaću pobedu protiv Krke i sa njegovim bogatim iskustvom, Aleksa Popović uveliko je doprineo njoj. U kratkom intervjuu za naš zvanični sajt, nekadašnji igrač Budućnosti VOLI pričao je o trenutnoj situaciji, u kojoj se nalazi njegova ekipa u borbi za opstanak.

U poslednjem kolu na domaćem terenu ste pobedili ekipu Krke. Kako sami vidite značaj ove utakmice i da li ste se zbog svih okolnosti na nju pripremali nešto drugačije nego na ostale?

"Utakmica protiv Krke za nas je bila veoma važna jer porazom bi gotovo sigurno izgubili šanse sa opstanak. Sada smo ponovo u mogućnosti da izbjegnemo poslednja dva mjesta. Pripremali smo se detaljno, kao i za svaku drugu utakmicu ali smo znali da "moramo" pobijediti. Pritisak je bio ogroman i na kraju se sve dobro završilo.”

Nakon vaše visoke prednosti Krka je uspela da preokrene utakmicu, ali ste uprkos svim problemima uspeli da proslavite pobedu nakon produžetka. Kako ste doživeli ove presudne trenutke i šta je po vašem mišljenju presudilo na kraju?

"Tri četvrtine smo igrali odlično, imali veliku prednost ali smo u poslednjoj četvrtini odigrali "labavo" u fazi odbrane. Nakon toga se pojavila nesigurnost u napadu i protivnik je to odlično iskoristio. Pogodili su nekoliko teških šuteva, preokrenuli ali smo se u presudnim trenucima ipak konsolidovali i zasluženo pobjedili.”

Ova pobeda vas je zadržala u borbi za opstanak u ABA ligi, ali pred vama je težak raspored do kraja. Da li verujete da možete da izbegnete poslednja dva mesta i gde ćete tražiti svoju šansu do kraja regularnog dela?

"Upravo tako. Ova pobjeda nas drži u borbi za opstanak i tu je situacija potpuno neizvjesna. Kao i nama i našim konkurentima je težak raspored ali pripremaćemo utakmicu po utakmicu. Prvi meč je protiv Crvene zvezde Telekom u Beogradu i oni su veliki favorit. Biće teško, mi ćemo odigrati najbolje što možemo u ovom momentu i pokušati da iskoristimo svaku priliku koja nam se ukaže.”

Pre nekoliko nedelja promenili ste trenera. Sa Igorom Jovovićem ste sarađivali već u Budućnosti VOLI. šta je doneo vašoj ekipi svojim dolaskom?