The Serbian team’s head coach lauded fervent fans who turned up in droves on the final day of the regular season
Zeljko Obradovic hailed fantastic crowd after bittersweet win
Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade came up a dollar short and a day late in its quest to reach the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague postseason, but the team gave its fiercely loyal fans a quantum of solace with a 79-66 home win over Valencia Basket on the final day of the regular season.
The last available play-in ticket ended up in the hands of Anadolu Efes Istanbul, which capped a five-game winning streak with a 100-55 demolition of Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade on Thursday and turned Partizan’s game against Valencia into a dead rubber.
The fans still showed up in their droves
Still, a capacity 20,000 crowd turned up to give Partizan an emotional send-off as far as the EuroLeague season is concerned and the home team responded with a rock-solid performance, which left many of them wondering what might have been.
Partizan had suffered a string of fourth-quarter meltdowns when the chips were down, putting paid to the club’s hopes of reaching the postseason for the second time in a row after missing out narrowly on a Final Four berth last term.
Head coach Zeljko Obradovic, who was given yet another standing ovation by the fans, acknowledged there would be many regrets in the locker room following a patchy campaign in which Partizan at one point looked set for a postseason berth after a 9-6 start.
“It’s not easy to play a game in which the result is not important, but in front of this incredible crowd you have to give everything and the players understand that,” Obradovic said in his post-game comments.
“We now have a bit of time to reflect on our season in the EuroLeague and I believe that we missed out on a great opportunity to be in the top eight teams.
“We can improve in many departments but we will carry on with undiminished desire to succeed. There is more to it than just success on the court here, though, as it’s all about these incredible fans who supported us through the thick and thin.
“I am proud and privileged to have the support of this crowd and their undying appreciation of our efforts means added weight on our shoulders which we are happy to carry.”
Guard Danilo Andjusic was also impressed by the fan turnout. “I am at a loss of words to describe how I feel,” he said. “To have so many people show up and support us so relentlessly in what was basically a friendly matchup is incredible.”
Valencia also looked likely to snatch a postseason berth before an awful home stretch produced a 2-8 skid in the last 10 regular-season games, which cost axed head coach Alex Mumbru his job.
Mumbru parted ways with Valencia after the previous round’s shambolic 69-98 home drubbing at the hands of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, which finished second-bottom in the 18-team competition.
Valencia’s offensive woes were again everywhere to be seen against Partizan as the visitors hit a mere 5 of 22 from downtown, with only Semi Ojeleye and Jared Harper scoring in double digits.