“Coach likes us to work hard, but with a smile on our faces,” Crvena Zvezda captain Ognjen Dobrić told a large group of reporters ahead of the new EuroLeague season.
Dobrić would use the phrase “smile on our faces” three more times during the conversation.
Zvezda’s captain has spent almost his entire career playing for Balkan coaches. The change in approach is certainly something new for him, but there really were plenty of smiles during the part of practice open to the media.
Jared Butler, who did not exactly shine during the preseason, was knocking down pull-up three after pull-up three. He still has plenty of goodwill with the fans.
Chris Jones was getting shots up from the wings on passes from Nick Weiler-Babb. Zvezda fans can expect to see those two sharing the floor quite a bit.
Assistant coaches were rebounding for Dobrić and Jordan Nwora as they worked on their shots.
At the other end of the court, Ebuka Izundu was working on his low-post finishing with both hands before moving on to finishing as the roll man.
And when almost everyone else had left the floor, David Krämer and Semi Ojeleye – now back after recovering from injury – were still out there.
“I think we’ve made an important breakthrough in the things that are most important for us, the things we’ve been struggling with,” head coach Ibon Navarro said, describing the past few days.
“Both in terms of energy and the chemistry we’re building within the team.”
The Optimism Is There, but So Is the Realism
Navarro did not go into much detail, but watching Zvezda’s preseason games was enough to identify one of the main objectives: play at a faster pace while cutting down on turnovers.
“There’s been a lot of learning, explaining and playing,” Weiler-Babb said ahead of Thursday evening’s EuroLeague opener against Žalgiris. “We’ve been getting to know each other, learning where guys are going to be on the court. There’s also been a big emphasis on cutting down our turnovers, so we’re learning those little details as well.”
The optimism is there.
There is also no illusion that everything will go smoothly.
Navarro’s system is different from what most EuroLeague teams run, and several players on the roster have never played in this kind of system before. That is why one word keeps coming up when Navarro talks about the early stages of this project:
Patience.
“With so few practices, we can’t expect the players to completely embrace my vision,” the Spanish coach said. “If we expect that – and it’s not going to happen – then frustration starts to build, for me and for the players. It’s better to be realistic and understand that this is a process.”
He probably did not intend it that way, but Navarro had also delivered a message to the fans.
And patience has not traditionally been one of the strongest virtues of basketball fans in Belgrade.
“Basketball here is more than a sport. It’s part of the culture. There’s so much passion,” Navarro had said only a few minutes earlier.
He may have known that in theory while coaching in Málaga. Over the past month in Belgrade, he has had plenty of opportunities to experience it himself.
By now, he must be closing in on triple digits when it comes to selfies with fans.
Weiler-Babb’s Glass-Half-Full Approach
The first real test comes Thursday evening against Žalgiris, traditionally an uncomfortable opponent for the red-and-whites.
Zvezda retained a significant part of last season’s roster, but there were still plenty of changes. Žalgiris, meanwhile, enter the season with greater continuity – in their coach, their playing style and their core.
The two biggest changes are Jonas Valančiūnas replacing Moses Wright and Carsen Edwards taking over from Sylvain Francisco.
“Teams that keep their core definitely have a big advantage, but when a team changes a lot of players, opponents don’t know exactly what to expect either,” Weiler-Babb said, choosing the glass-half-full way of looking at it.
If there are still smiles on Zvezda faces on Thursday evening, they will be more than welcome.
Mistakes are always easier to correct when the standings make for pleasant reading.
