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BALETIC Miodrag
Montenegro Coach
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01 Oct 2009
Montenegro ended the division B Eurobasket without any loss |
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Jelena DUBLJEVIC
 Jelena, it's a big relief to finally reach division A, I remember you told me it was one of your main objectives?
Yes it is, we worked so much for that, it's been two months we are just focusing on this objective reaching division A. But now everything is finished and we did it, we are so tired and empty, you know we changed place so many times, we travelled a lot. I'm not sure we are enjoying it right now. I'm sure we'll enjoy it more in two months. But anyway, this is a great performance for Montenegro's sport as Men's Basketball team also reached division A and all the journalists are around us, everybody is happy in the country which is very pleasant.
Now what is the objective for the next season?
The next season will be tougher for sure. We didn't lose any of the twelve games we played to reach division A but next summer will be harder for us, it's another level of Basketball. So of course, the objective is to go to the Eurobasket but I hope we'll be lucky during the qualification, I hope we won't get into a too strong group and I hope also we'll be lucky to avoid injuries.
Miodrag BALETIC
It must be a great satisfaction to drive Montenegro to the top European level?
It's a big success for a country with 600-700 000 inhabitants. Especially since the Montenegrin Championship is not strong and we don't have a lot of players. We've been working little by little to raise the level of Basketball here, to help the Clubs develop in terms of structures in order to be more professional.
What were the strengths of this group?
You know, when we played in Netherlands, we were down by 15pts in the middle of the game but we managed to take over the game and walk away with the win. We also met a strong opponent during the Finals as Portugal put a strong rhythm on the game at home but we pushed the pace and played a tough defence. We won these games because we were more focused and put a lot of pressure on our opponents.
Did the media followed your performances and supported you well?
Yes, they followed us a lot, they really helped us. But you know, Sports is popular in Montenegro in general. In any case, we don't have to be satisfied only with that and try to develop Basketball more. We have a good political support, a lot of politicians were basketball players and they are aware of our success and agree to help us.
What are the next objectives?
We are conscious that we don't have a team which is able to be among the top 10, we need to strengthen our team with another playmaker and an inside player. You know, we were lucky during all the competition as we had only one playmaker and if she got injured we would have been in a very difficult situation.
How can you strengthen the team?
We are going to try to naturalize some players and the administration will help us do that as they know it's a part of their interest to have a strong team.
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