By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Dubai Basketball made history last season by capturing the ABA League title in just the club’s second year of existence, with Filip Petrusev playing a major role in both the regional competition and the team’s inaugural EuroLeague campaign.
The Serbian international averaged 11.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 38 EuroLeague appearances, although he spent the final stretch of the season battling a serious knee injury.
In separate interviews with Mozzart Sport and Sport Klub, Petrusev looked back on the events that led him to Dubai, claiming that false information about him influenced other clubs during the transfer market.
“The other options simply weren’t concrete enough in several aspects. In the end, there were only two or three teams left. One of them signed another player, while another received such negative information about me from a certain side that Dubai practically became my only option,” Petrusev said. “I’m sure Dubai received the same information, but they believed in me the most and made the most concrete offer. When I arrived there, it turned out that none of the information Dubai and the other teams had received was true. Obviously, there was an attempt to sabotage me. I don’t even know exactly what it was about, but that’s behind me now and I’m moving forward.”
Petrusev then addressed the physical problems that sidelined him late in the campaign, revealing he played through severe cartilage damage and two bone edemas while relying on injections and painkillers just to stay on the floor.
“I have serious damage to the cartilage in one of my knees. I even had two bone edemas that I played through with numerous injections and painkillers. The situation was very unusual. It’s like I’m 30 or even 36 years old, not 26. The cartilage in my right knee was so damaged that there was barely any left in certain places,” Petrusev added. “I somehow finished the season despite skipping a lot of games and practices. It’s much better now after therapy and injections, but I still have a lot of work to do to strengthen the muscles around my knee and eliminate the pain so I can play without any setbacks.”
Read the full article here
