Nenad Markovic joins the BCL Podcast!

What changes did Nenad Markovic make to the defense already established by Laurent Legname?

I didn’t make many changes. I wanted to make some changes but I quickly realized that Gavin Ware is not that mobile and quick like Chassang. Different quality of legs to play defense. I understand that I couldn’t run the type of defense I want. These players don’t have the level to play 3 or 4 different things during the game, adjusting to the opponents, or preparing Plan A, Plan B, Plan T… So, I understand that we need to stick with something we’re gonna work on during the week and try to execute it. They were not reading the situations very well; they were just having one plan under Laurent Legname, and it’s always that one thing.

Changes he couldn’t make

I’m always thinking that a team should have more defensive tools like zone press, matchup zone, etc. When you do these things, you need to have players do this. Players who can switch. We are very poor in terms of having guys switching pick-and-rolls because first of all, we have short point guards. Our big guys are not ideal to switch except Kelly. My backup 4 (Abdoulaye Loum) is not a very good lateral defender, even though he’s very tall. He doesn’t know how to use his size to protect the basket. Jacques Alingue can switch in the pick-and-roll but Gavin Ware is not very good at it.

Karşıyaka had a good team because Petway, Summers, Ponitka could switch easily and we were still big with Soner, Muhammed at the 2. We could play matchup zone very well and switch everything and didn’t give the other teams many advantages.

Laurent Legname probably thought the same thing. He established just one good defense with one simple rule. Wherever the pick comes, you stop the ball and cover certain spots and that’s it. Make them turn the ball over. But the other team starts moving the ball, you’re in trouble. And guys do not have the energy for 40 minutes to put pressure, deny the passes, and all this. You need to have a backup plan. That’s what we try to get better at. I believe we have made a big improvement, compared to the start of the season.

Nenad Markovic’s coaching idols

I never look at just one person. I think in this business, you always take small things from everybody, watch everybody and try to build your own identity. All coaches do the same thing.

As a player, I admired playing for two coaches in particular: One is Pepu Hernandez, who coached me at Estudiantes and is my good friend. The second is Bogdan Tanjevic. Watching Bosna Sarajevo winning the EuroLeague without foreign players in 1979, Bosa is the kind of coach who made players inside the team grow. Nobody gives you time anymore to build the projects Bosa was doing in Bosna, Caserta, Stefanel, even Turkish NT.

After my playing days, I remember when I came to coach in Greece for the first time, Zeljko and Dragan Sakota called me. They said ‘You are here for many years if you need our help, then just call us. Let’s have coffee; let’s have lunch.’ These two guys helped me a lot. At the moment, Dragan Sakota’s son, Dusan was the only player in Panionios from Panathinaikos. We became very close and they were helping me because I was very young, only in my second year of coaching. I came to a difficult country with a lot of basketball culture. I needed help and guidance. Both Zeljko and Dragan helped me a lot. Later on, I found my way.