The winner of a record nine EuroLeague titles got the better of his fellow Serbian
Partizan edges Efes as Obradovic beats compatriot Kokoskov in their first clash
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Regular Season
Round 3 of 38
Regular Season
Partizan Mozzart Bet BelgradePAR
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Anadolu Efes IstanbulEFS
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Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade head coach Zeljko Obradovic drew on his wealth of EuroLeague experience to notch a sweet win in his inaugural battle with compatriot Igor Kokoskov, as the Serbian side outmuscled Anadolu Efes Istanbul 93-87 in a titanic Round 3 clash.
Obradovic, who has won nine titles in Europe’s premier club competition with five different clubs, saw his team enact sweet revenge on Efes for last season’s debacle at the same venue – a 65-97 blowout which vanquished Partizan’s hopes of making the postseason.
Partizan relied on a trio of outstanding performers to prevail, led by Sterling Brown, who poured 24 points while Tyrique Jones racked up 18 to go with 8 rebounds against his former club. Isaac Bonga chipped in with 16 points in a flowing team effort.
Known for demanding perfection from his players, Obradovic refused to get carried away in his postgame comments after seeing Efes bounce back from a 12-point halftime deficit to nose ahead 75-76 early in the fourth quarter.
"We played much slower in the second half than we did in the first and we allowed them back into the game," he said. "It’s an important victory and I must thank my players for a very good effort. It’s still early days in the season and there’s a lot of things that need to be fixed.
"We were outstanding in the first half as we forced 10 turnovers from Efes and scored a barrage of fast break points while the fans gave us a lift after our rival had turned the game around,” Obradovic added at the press conference.
"We were up and down and we beat a team coached by Igor Kokoskov, who made a name for himself in the NBA and has a force to be reckoned with of a roster."
Jones, who dominated the paint at both ends throughout, echoed Obradovic’s words after a flying start and an equally strong finish to the game.
"It was a hard-fought win and |I am just happy we got it done,” Jones said in a flash postgame interview. We wanted to protect our home court at all costs. They are a good team, they made a run, but in the end, we came out on top."
Partizan benefited from selfless teamwork to cancel out lethal three-point shooting from the visitors, who sank 5 of 10 three-pointers in the first quarter, but finished on 12 of 32 from downtown as Partizan’s relentless hustle took its toll on Efes.
Kokoskov, who took over from Obradovic at Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in 2020, having worked at a myriad of NBA franchises as an assistant before he was named the Phoenix Suns head coach in 2018, conceded that a poor first half cost his team.
"We didn’t exist in the first half; we gave them too much respect and they didn’t feel us at all," he said. "The reaction was there in the second half and it came down to a one-possession game, but it’s hard to keep up with Partizan when they are playing at home. We have to do a better job, though, as we committed some turnovers after timeouts at crunch time.”
