16-year-old Montenegrin basketball player Đorđe Đukanović has had an excellent debut season with the Proteas. The young Cetinje native arrived in Greece last summer and quickly became the team's leader and captain.
He played for the Proteas juniors, joined the U21 team, and trained with the first team. The juniors, led by Đukanović, achieved good results this season and for the first time in history qualified for the Greek elite in his age group - the Montenegrin basketball player averaged 23,9 points, 10,4 rebounds, and 3,1 assists.
"I am proud of the team, but also of myself. We achieved our goal, we qualified among the six teams that will play in the elite league next year. I played a few games with the U21 team, we younger players got the chance to 'steel ourselves' with the older ones, which later, in duels with our opponents from the U18 teams, meant a lot to us," Đukanović told "Vijesti".
Đukanović played well throughout the season, and he remembers two games in particular.
"I would single out two duels. The first was against the best team in the league, Olympiacos, against whom I scored 38 points. The second was against Ionikos in the last round - in the match for the Elite, I scored 39 points," says Đukanović.
The Cetinje native wore the captain's armband for the Greek team this season.
"It meant a lot to me to be captain, and in another country - that's proof of how much the Proteas had confidence in me. I was the youngest in the team and got the opportunity to be the team leader, which gave me even more confidence," explained Đukanović, who arrived in Greece from his native Lovćen the previous summer.
At the end of November last year, Đorđe participated in the Euroleague's "Adidas Next Generation Tournament" (ANGT).
"The ANGT I played at in Istanbul was a great experience for me before continuing my career. The tournament featured basketball players in whom the Next Generation team's coaching staff saw potential, and being among the 12 best players at the Euroleague U18 tournament is no small feat. I continue to work even harder on myself," said Đukanović.
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