By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
As the ABA League prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary, one of the most influential coaches in regional basketball has reflected on the player who best represents what the competition was originally built to achieve.
Zmago Sagadin won 25 domestic and international trophies during his distinguished career and was named Slovenian Coach of the Year nine times. Best known for his work with Olimpija Ljubljana, which he led to European success and the EuroLeague Final Four, he also coached Crvena Zvezda and helped develop a long list of players who went on to compete at the highest level. He was also one of the driving forces behind the creation of the ABA League. Sagadin’s career record
For Sagadin, Nikola Jokic’s transformation from an unheralded prospect at Mega into one of basketball’s all-time greats remains the competition’s most remarkable success story.
“For me, Nikola Jokic is the greatest miracle of them all. When he was that chubby kid playing for Mega, nobody could have imagined that we were watching one of the greatest players of all time,” Sagadin said to Meridian sport. “He effectively demonstrated that everything comes down to work – that the best players are not born, but made. Through hard work, he reached the sky. I believe he left a defining mark on the ABA League, even though he ultimately crowned it all in the NBA.”
For Sagadin, Jokic’s rise also represents the player-development philosophy that once defined basketball throughout the region. Another coach who embodied that approach was longtime Partizan boss Dusko Vujosevic.
“For me, Dule Vujosevic is a king and a legend of the ABA League. There was a quiet affection between us, even though we were fierce rivals on the court, because we had very similar philosophies and thought in much the same way. The school of Professor Aca Nikolic, of which I am also a part, always emphasized recruitment and player development. It was about finding young players, preparing them and quickly placing them in the spotlight. In the end, only a few experts, such as Dule, continued doing that – achieving top results in Europe while simultaneously producing high-quality young players.”
Sagadin believes that identity has gradually faded as ABA League clubs have become increasingly dependent on foreign players.
“The ABA League was conceived as a league that produces players, not one made up of legions of foreigners, as it has become today. Player development must always come first. We were obsessed with producing players. In the end, Dule Vujosevic and I were among the few who managed to develop talent while also competing in Europe.”
The Slovenian coaching legend would like to see Partizan, Crvena Zvezda and other regional clubs rebuild their rosters around stronger domestic cores.
“Serbian basketball, like basketball throughout the region, must return to player development. Partizan and Crvena Zvezda, as well as the other clubs, should have seven or eight domestic players and perhaps four foreigners – not rosters that are 90 percent foreign. Those foreign legions are destroying basketball in this region and driving young players toward Europe and the United States because they are no longer given an opportunity to develop here. There is no Dule anymore, there is no Sagadin, and nobody is pushing those young players forward. It is a disaster.”
Sagadin added that clubs also risk losing their connection with supporters when domestic and regional competitions become secondary.
“Fans lose that sense of identification when a team plays the ABA League with its left hand because it is using its right hand for the EuroLeague. It is unwatchable. The solution lies in player development and turning toward young players. We must listen to the voice of our predecessors and return to the teachings of Aca Nikolic. Young people and homegrown players – that is what the people of this region want.”
Read the full article here
