Departure of the most trophy: How Zoc built an empire on the Bosphorus

At the end of December last year, on the eve of the match with Banvit in the Turkish Superliga, Fenerbahce fans hung a banner dedicated to their coach Željko Obradović, on which it was written - stay with us forever. The support for the trophy specialist came after the defeat against Zenit in the last seconds of the match in the Euroleague, the third tied in that competition. Fener was going through the most difficult moments in Obradović's era - in the next round they lost at home and against Valencia - but the message from the stands was unequivocal...

And expected. Under the command of the most trophy-winning coach in Europe, Fenerbahçe has become a basketball force and a team you seriously count on when the talk of trophy contenders starts before the season. And that is Obradović's merit. Since his arrival in 2013, the team from the Bosphorus has been the champion of Turkey four times, won three Cups and Super Cups and finally, in 2017, the Euroleague.

Now the cooperation has come to an end. Obradović's contract expired at the end of the season, and after negotiations with Fener's leaders and discussions with his family, he decided to leave Istanbul. The most decorated European coach announced that he will rest next season.

The success story on the Bosphorus lasted seven years. After leaving Panathinaikos after 13 seasons and a one-year break, Željko Obradović sat on the Fenerbahce bench on July 2, 2013. The dream of everyone in the Asian part of Istanbul was a European title, and who could provide it but a man who had climbed the basketball Olympus eight times before and whose name is a guarantee of success. Žoc was given a free hand in creating the team, and the club's budget allowed him to choose the best that European basketball has to offer. The making of an empire has begun…

The road to the top was built gradually, but already in the first season it was clear that things would not be easy. The final stretch in the Euroleague was the Top 16 stage. European wounds were healed with the title in Turkey.

There was no lack of motivation. The trophy expert himself points out in interviews that motivation is important in business, and that a motivated person can do anything. And along with motivation, adaptation is also important, which was not a problem for Obradović. After all, he wouldn't have been at the top all these years if he hadn't successfully adapted to both new environments and basketball. The game developed and progressed over the years, and he learned and collected what he could use and upgraded his system.

It was hinted in 2015 that his system would also be successful in Turkey. In the quarter-finals, Fenerbahçe was convincing against the current European champions, Maccabi, and qualified for the final tournament in Madrid, where they won fourth place. That season, the Turkish club's players picked up some individual awards - Nemanja Bjelica was the MVP of the Euroleague, and Bogdan Bogdanović was a rising star.

The Final Four in the capital of Spain was the first of five in a row that the team played until the end of this season. She reached the final three times and finally won the European title in 2017.

Before the start of the historic season (2016/2017), the competition system was changed. It was decided that the Euroleague consists of 16 clubs, and that - before the quarter-finals and the final four - 30 rounds will be played according to the system each against each other. In such a situation, you could see how much Obradović is a master in timing the form. Fener started slowly and finished the regular season in fifth place, and then in the quarter-finals they swept Panathinaikos, despite the fact that the Greeks had the home field advantage. By the way, during all the years under Obradović, the Turkish team played spectacular basketball in the quarterfinals and lost only two of the 17 matches played in that part of the season.

After the matches with the "greens" from Athens, the European title was a logical epilogue. At the final four in Istanbul, the question of the champion was never questioned. The semi-final with Real and the final against Olympiakos went in one direction. Fener's one. The Turkish team became European champions for the first time, and Željko Obradović became the ninth.

Željko Obradović won 9 European championship titles as a coach. The first in 1992, with Partizan, the second in 1994 with Juventud, the third in 1995 with Real Madrid, the next five with Panathinaikos (2000, 2002, 2007, 2009 and 2011), and the ninth and for now the last one in 2017 with Fenerbahce.

It remains regrettable that Željko Obradović did not win the tenth title of the European champion two years ago in his Belgrade, which is as much his hometown as Čačak, Badalona, ​​Madrid, Treviso, Athens and Istanbul. And the tenth title will come sometime. Because Žoc is basketball's Lord of the Rings. And the master of European basketball.

A special relationship with the players - the louder they shout, the more they love him

Fener's success all these years does not lie only in good games. One of the reasons is Obradović's relationship with the players, which has adorned him throughout his career. He will always put them first and say that they are the most deserving of all successes. There are also those other moments, when he blushes and starts making noise. Then you would not like to find yourself in the shoes of a basketball player. But Žoc reacts that way because he believes. He trusts the players and tries to motivate them even more, to shake them up. And if he overdoes it, then he has no problem apologizing to them. Which he mentioned in interviews. That is why the players value him, respect him and want to cooperate with him. After all, Luigi Datome recently said that Obradović is their Jordan. And we all remember the scenes from Moscow last year when Žoc took a time-out and yelled at the players, and he was especially angry at the Italian.

Also, during his tenure at the Bosphorus, he launched many players to the NBA. Bogdan and Bojan Bogdanović, Bjelica, Gudurić, Meli, Naneli, Judo and Vonamejker left Turkey for the strongest basketball league in the world. On the other hand, Žoc revived the careers of Jan Vesely and Luigi Datome after unsuccessful episodes in America.

Željko Obradović - more than a coach.