Tomislav Mijatovic, head coach of Anadolu Efes, spoke exclusively to Basketball Sphere about his new contract with the Turkish giants, his friendship with Dusan Alimpijevic, working with Ergin Ataman, and many other topics.
When you spend nearly 14 years in the same club as an assistant coach, working with names like Dusan Ivkovic, Ergin Ataman, Velimir Perasovic, Oktay Mahmuti, Ilias Zouros and Ufuk Sarıca, it’s only natural to consider stepping into coaching yourself. The knowledge gained from working with such figures is invaluable, and every person harbors a desire to try their hand at what they love most. From this perspective, being in the same position for 13 and a half years begs the question of when progress will follow.
Tomislav Mijatovic is not one of those people. Known among close friends as an eternal optimist, a good spirit, and an unassuming figure, he is always ready to lend a hand when needed. In these 13 and a half years, Tomislav Mijatovic has experienced everything at Anadolu Efes, both the highs and the lows, but he has always remained there.
What is most remembered is the golden period of the Anadolu Efes team, where they were at the top of the EuroLeague for four seasons. They won twice consecutively, lost in the final once, and had one season interrupted due to the COVID-19 virus when they may have been at their strongest.
Tomislav Mijatovic is the man you fight for on the court
However, at one point this season, the Turkish giants encountered problems. They struggled with injuries and had a 9-15 record in the EuroLeague. They were far from the expected position, and at that moment Erdem Can was fired, and his role was temporarily taken over by the Croatian strategist.
From that moment on, the Anadolu Efes team secured first place in the Turkish Super League, won eight out of ten games in the EuroLeague, and qualified as ninth in the play-in. There they lost to Virtus, while they lost to Fenerbahce in the Turkish Cup final. The improvement was enormous, and perhaps best described by a statement made by Shane Larkin for Basketball Sphere:
“Tomislav Mijatovic can give you positive energy that makes things easier, then you can go out and continue to play and fight for your team. In the short term, that’s the most important thing that head oach Mijatovic has managed to bring to our team, which maybe wasn’t there before because of all the losses and negative energy due to losing basketball games. So far, it’s been great, I have a lot of respect for him.
I’ve known him for six years and he’s always done everything you’ve asked of him. Now that he’s the head coach, it definitely drives us to go out and fight for him. That’s what you’ve seen from our team in the last six or seven games.”
Anadolu Efes – family
Although he has been achieving great results and completely resetting the team, new names have been emerging in the media over the past month as potential successors. It seemed like a great injustice to everyone. After so many years of waiting, he finally got the opportunity, proved himself, and in return, he should be demoted back to the assistant coach position? However, things are not so black and white. Tomislav Mijatovic received a two-year contract to lead Anadolu Efes just three days ago. The wait was over.
“To be honest, I don’t know what exactly was the decisive factor in terms of what tipped the scales. I am a person from the club, so I have a specific relationship where I actually know how things happen. I knew how things were developing and I was informed by the club’s officials not to worry about certain things and just focus on my work.”
“President wanted someone who knows the club”
“So everything was going normally, without any stress or burden on my part. The only burden or stress is the one you put on yourself regarding the game where you want to do your best for your team, for our jersey and those things. Everything else was regular and there was no additional stress created from anyone’s side.
I had a conversation with the club executives where the president himself told me that he wants the leadership of the club to be entrusted to me and for things to remain within the ‘family.’ He wanted someone from within, someone who knows the club and as the club looked in this past period, he wanted it to further develop, strengthen, and become even more competitive in every aspect. For me, that was certainly a great compliment.
You’re not even aware of the magnitude of these big things when they actually happen, but of course, when things settle a bit, it’s indeed a great honor, a great responsibility and a great excitement. It’s truly a beautiful and significant thing and then you try to actually enjoy a little in the whole process, which is difficult,” Tomislav Mijatovic began the conversation with Basketball Sphere.
After 13 and a half years, the wait finally came to an end
The moment Tomislav Mijatovic took over the club was anything but easy. Looking from that perspective, it certainly wasn’t easy for him because a poor result, which would be logically expected at those times, could also mean the end of coaching ambitions in a club to which he had dedicated everything for years. Nevertheless, he stepped into the fray and embraced the job.
“There’s no season when there isn’t some sort of grind. At the beginning, we’re fighting for positions, in the middle, we have the Cup, and at the end, the Final Four, so there are always those peaks and semi-peaks in the season. However you look at it, every moment of the season is crucial. From that perspective, I didn’t overly burden myself, nor did I have time to be burdened, but I have great support from both the players and the people in the club.
Relationship built on all the little details
“Again, I am a man of the club. So everyone is further mobilized and wants to help because they feel you and you feel them, so I’ve gained great support at all levels. This is something that definitely makes our daily work easier. It’s a relationship built on all the little details. These relationships are built on small human things to some bigger things. It’s a great compliment to me, of course, and again, a great obligation because you never want to disappoint anyone and there are people who somehow give you importance and show you love and respect.
Automatically, you have an additional obligation at all levels in the club to want to do things almost perfectly. It’s a nice story that we now have to successfully finish in the playoffs and then start focusing on what’s next, step by step. We can’t skip stages and steps. We have to go through step by step and hope for the best outcome,” continues the newly appointed head coach of Anadolu Efes.
Shane Larkin is the face of the entire franchise
We had to touch on Shane Larkin as well. As we’ve already discussed in the interview, the two of them have developed a special relationship throughout the season. In fact, at Anadolu Efes, the overall impression is that everyone functions together as one big family. Mijatovic emphasizes the importance of retaining players like Larkin.
“Shane Larkin is what we like to call a franchise player. That’s the reality. When we started this phase of attacking the EuroLeague Final Four and championship titles, Larkin came into the picture and has been profiled as the player automatically associated with the term franchise player. I simply think that his desire and his expressed interest from the very beginning to stay at Anadolu Efes and to continue here because this is also his home where he feels very good.
I think it’s a situation where our president never wanted to leave those things to chance but rather wanted to keep him in that role. He’s the kind of player every big club must have by their side. He has shown that he deserves it in every aspect. Especially with Vasilije Micic went to the NBA, Bryant Dunston and Krunoslav Simon leff.
You feel that those people are always there. I am incredibly proud of the guys and everyone working in the club. This can serve as an additional encouraging and motivational foundation for us and we must use it to our advantage. We need to build on that further, not just stop there but simply aim for more this season and in the upcoming seasons to come.”
Friendship with Dusan Alimpijevic
In various speculations over the past month, the name of Dusan Alimpijevic emerged as a potential new head coach for Anadolu Efes. However, Mijatovic offers a completely different perspective on the whole situation.
“Dusan Alimpijevic and I are great friends. We are in touch on a daily basis. I spoke three times with him today. We have a training game to organize, trying to sort out some things there and we discuss everything from amusing situations to arranging lunch with our wives. We were aware of everything, knew everything throughout this process. These are things that are always relevant.
On the other hand, Alimpijevic absolutely deserves to be where he is. He had two great seasons at Bursaspor and Besiktas where he achieved incredible things. With two different teams, he reached the finals of the EuroCup. Few coaches have achieved that in such a short period in Europe. He is truly a top expert who is where he is for a reason. He is rightfully a target for other clubs. On the other hand, he is my very good friend with whom I communicate on a daily basis, so we were aware of everything,” Tomislav Mijatovic said honestly.
Every defeat leaves a bitter taste in the mouth
Mijatovic was close to completely turning the season around, which would have been a huge coaching achievement. However, the night belonged to Virtus, who were more spirited in the deciding play-in game.
“There’s no bitterness in that context because every loss carries that bitter taste. Exaggeratedly, once we reached the Final Four final, played the final, lost, again a bitter taste. In sports, anything other than a final win has that bitter taste. Looking back at the situation, at the problems we had, the injuries, the games we lost clumsily, we accepted that series.
We went step by step and found ourselves in a situation where we were in the play-in. It’s truly a wonderful thing and I constantly tell the guys how proud I am of them. Our fans who have shown that in every game, because we are among the top 5 in attendance in the EuroLeague.
That speaks to how dedicated our fans are, how much they come, how much they support, how much they believe. It reflects on the floor. You feel those people are always there, it’s presented through positive results after almost every game. That’s why I’m incredibly proud of our guys and everyone involved, from staff to people in the club. It can serve as additional motivation for us, for building, for the desire for more, not only this season but also in the future seasons ahead.”
The game against Crvena Zvezda
We also touched on the game against Crvena Zvezda which in the case of Anadolu Efes’ win, meant that Partizan’s chances were nil, while for the Turkish team, it meant a secure place in the play-in. Anadolu Efes won by 45 points margin.
“I don’t have a special comment because such games simply happen in basketball. At one point, the game turns and goes into some unreal sphere. We are not better than Crvena Zvezda by 45 points. We didn’t plan to win by a big margin. Sometimes the game goes in a direction where the opponent misses something they normally wouldn’t, we score something extraordinary and that’s how such a night with an objectively unreal difference is created. No one in our circle was focused on creating a difference, just winning the game. The joy of win was what mattered to us.”
A glimpse into the next season
Although the current season is in full swing, there are already light speculations about the next season. That’s how it usually goes in the world of basketball. Names are thrown around on a daily basis and we were curious if Mijatovic has any vision for a player improvement in the next season.
“This season is still in full swing and at an important stage entering the playoffs. Talking about new names now would be very unserious. We are a team with high goals and ambitions. When the market becomes active after the end of the playoffs, of course, we will try to refresh ourselves in the best possible way. We have a very good base of players with us, players who know what Anadolu Efes means, so we will always be interested only in the best possible reinforcements for our team.”
Ergin Ataman
We also touched upon Ergin Ataman. He led Panathinaikos to second place in the regular season, right behind the brilliant Real Madrid and next week they play a decisive game for qualification for the Final Four against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
“That’s EuroLeague, that’s playoffs. Every game is new. You don’t have the luxury of relying on what you did in the last game. Each one is a new opportunity to prove yourself. I think Ataman has done something extraordinary. First and foremost, he has absolutely revitalized a team that came second in the EuroLeague regular season and is fighting for the Final Four and the highest goals.”
Vasilije Micic is an NBA player
For the end, we addressed the topic of Vasilije Micic in the NBA. We were interested in Mijatovic’s perspective on what the Serbian guard has shown so far.”
“Before he went to the NBA, I said that Micic is definitely an NBA player. Micic is a player who dominated Europe, but he improved and developed every year, so it didn’t surprise me that he immediately showed what he is capable of in the NBA. Micic is a complete player, both physically and mentally, who can play in the NBA in almost any team in a way that makes that team better. Personally, I am very happy and proud of him and of course, I am convinced that he will continue to progress and reach the top in the coming years, because he has such a high basketball IQ, knowledge and understanding of the game.
He is a great addition to any team. I expect him to be even better next season. He will become a firmly established NBA name and will play there as long as he wants to. That’s my view on the situation. I think the sky has always been the limit for him. He is one of the most dominant European playmakers of modern history, who can easily transfer his game across the ocean, both from the European and American sides,” concluded Tomislav Mijatovic in this interview for Basketball Sphere.
