Danilović: “I am so proud of these guys for winning silver at EuroBasket”

Serbian basketball players returned to Belgrade after winning silver medal at EuroBasket 2017 in Istanbul. In the finals they lost against Slovenia (85 – 93), but during that game and during all championship they have shown what is team play and how you need to fight for your country.

In a room full of journalist in Hotel Crown Plaza they held press conference where president of Serbian Basketball Federation Predrag Danilović, head coach Aleksandar Đorđević, captain of the national team Milan Mačvan and the vice-captain Bogdan Bogdanović was talking about EuroBasket.

All players where participating in conference except Stefan Birčević, who stayed in Istanbul due the preparation for the new season with his new club İstanbul BŞB.

Ex famous Serbian basketball player and now president of Serbian Basketball Federation Danilović was so proud of silver medallists and he was quite sure that this team had achieved a huge success.

“I am so proud to be president of those extraordinary people and basketball players, they achieved a big success. Of course, when you play in final, you want to win, but this medal is a huge success. We played without seven players due to injuries but I want to say thanks to these guys who showed how to play for your country, coat of arms and flag”, sad famous Saša Danilović.

Coach Đorđević had to agree with his ex-teammate and added that this was one long summer with lot of problems with players but his team showed strength. Also, he thanked all journalists for their support and for following his team during this process.

“Thanks for your support, for following us and welcomed us, we appreciate it. On the other hand, I want to congratulate all these guys, they deserved all good words and congratulations. These were extremely difficult preparation for extremely difficult competition and with all the circumstances during preparation and competition, I think we have to be satisfied with accomplishment. I hope we will continue to bring medals to our country”, said Đorđević who thought that they needed a little bit of luck in final game.

“We were missing Jović and Lazić in final game. You all know their problem with injuries. We needed a little bit of luck. You know what they say that you have to deserve to be lucky and I don’t want to run from responsibilities but I wanted to see full squad playing finals. There we also a lack of energy, maybe we needed one more day to prepare for the game, but I don’t want to make excuses”, finished head coach of the Serbian national team.

Milan Mačvan thanked all for their support and emphasized that he was hoping they would bring gold medal in the near future.

“We came back from a big tournament, and we showed our maximum for now. We deserved to play in finals because we played and excellent tournament. We didn’t have the strength for one more step, to win gold but this defeat in finals will be a lesson to all of us, especially younger players”, said captain Mačvan.

Member of All-Star EuroBasket Team and new member of Sacramento Kings Bogdan Bogdanović was still emotional after loss in the finals against Slovenian team.

“Looking as sportsmen, we have to be satisfied with winning this medal, but it is not very good feeling when you end your competition by losing the game. But this medal is a success and I would like to congratulate my teammates. I want to say again that it is not easy to lose in the finals, but we will learn from this loss and try not to make the same mistakes in the future. We didn’t think of it last night, but a huge burden is dropped off our shoulders. Again, it is hard to come back home and celebrate loss but we will win that gold”, said Bogdanović.