This will be the 31st time that Ettore Messina faces Zeljko Obradovic.
“We have met many times, both of us have long and successful careers. I have the utmost respect for Zeljko Obradovic, not only as a coach but also as a person. It’s a pleasure, a challenge, and a special moment when we meet on the court. My teams have exceptionally good results against his in the regular season, but he is the one winning finals. Those wins in the regular season don’t mean much in the end.”
The celebrated Italian strategist won’t be able to count on the injured Nikola Mirotic. In the conversation about the Montenegrin basketball player, Messina also responded to whether he had talked to him about alleged calls from politics and the church that reportedly prevented his arrival at Partizan.
“Unfortunately, he may be off the court for a longer period. I haven’t had conversations with him on that topic, I didn’t want to get involved in that (the reasons for not coming to Partizan). When we got the information that he was available and not coming to Partizan, we tried to sign him like other teams. That’s it. Remember, I put him in the starting five of Real Madrid when he was 19 years old. I have an important relationship with him that has been going on since that time.”