Youngsters left their mark in Partizan’s road win

Partizan won away from home for the first time since early December when it ran past Slask Wroclaw 71-93 on Tuesday night.

Partizan head coach Zeljko Obradovic was pleased and relaxed after his team's surprisingly comfortable road win over Slask. His team opened the game with a 4-21 run and never led by fewer than 11 points the rest of the way.

What must have made Obradovic additionally happy were the contributions, and the level of performance, of his young players, who have all clearly displayed improvement over the course of the season. Tristan Vukcevic turned 19 last week, Gregor Glas is 20, while Yam Madar, Uros Trifunovic, Alen Smailaigic and Balsa Koprivica are all 21 years old.

On Tuesday night, they all got extended playing time and delivered. Playing a team-high 24:31 minutes, Madar had 15 points sharing the honor of the game's top scorer with Kevin Punter. Koprivica collected 10 points and 8 rebounds in fewer than 20 minutes, and Vukcevic netted 6 points in just under 14 minutes. Smailagic made another step in his return from injury with 6 points and 6 rebounds in 18 minutes, while Trifunovic was scoreless playing 19 minutes, but has developed into one of the team's top defenders.

"They are talented players, but they need a lot of work. It is something that makes me happy, that I have an opportunity to work with really young players", Obradovic explained. "On the other side, I am really happy I have guys like Kevin [Punter], like Zach [LeDay], [Matthias] Lessort and Dallas Moore that are experienced players, and they are trying to help the young players. That is very important."

That mixture of youth and experience is a formula that has been jelling nicely for Partizan as it closes towards the regular-season finish line sitting in second place Group A.