INTERVIEW Andrej Žakelj: It's not a question of whether we want Montenegrin players, but whether they want to come

The season has just ended, and the Budućnost Voli basketball club is already preparing for the next one.

The Montenegrin champion is starting to form a new team, and before that, the club's leaders did what was expected and extended their cooperation with the current coach, Andrej Žakelj, for another two years. Žakelj took over at Buducnost in November 2023, when he succeeded Petar Mijović - with the "blues" he won three titles in Montenegro, along with two Cups, and in the 2024/2025 season he led the team to the final of the AdmiralBet ABA League, when he was named the best coach of the regional competition. In the Eurocup, when he succeeded Mijović, Buducnost did not make it past the group stage, and then for two years in a row the final goal was the round of 16. In that competition, the defeat by Cluj in the just-completed season in which Buducnost had home field advantage in the first match of the knockout phase was particularly painful.

"Podgorica is my second home, I have family here and it was a logical move. I have to thank the president and the Board of Directors for their trust. We all know that it is not easy to stay at Buducnost for so long. For me, this is confirmation of good work, but with this move the club also sees that with me at the helm it is going in the right direction. We all want more and that is normal, but what we have achieved so far is a realistic picture. We can once again build a good team within the possibilities that the club has," said Žakelj at the beginning of the interview for "Vijesti".

There were other offers, but for Žakelj there was no dilemma.

"It's like that every year and it doesn't matter. I didn't even think about other options. The future was concrete and fair in the discussions, so we quickly agreed."

In addition to Žakelj, guards Fletcher Magee and Axel Butej, and center Jerry Butsiel have extended their contracts with the club. When it comes to the players who played for Buducnost last season, it is expected that this will not stop there, but that cooperation will be extended with some more first-team players.

"The hardest thing is when a large number of players leave. There is no effect in changing more basketball players every year. Especially when it comes to my work system, which takes time. We immediately tried to keep the players who want to stay, who are within our means to pay them," Žakelj pointed out.

Negotiations with basketball players who wore the jersey of the Podgorica club last season are ongoing.

"After the last game, the president told all the players that the club's doors are open to them. The club is ready to talk to everyone and that's really the case. The expectations of some players are too high for us and I wish them all the best. Some have signed and left. We are satisfied with the work we have done so far, we are talking to everyone, and who will stay - we will see. Prices have increased, everyone has high expectations, the market is unrealistically expensive. We want to keep players who suit us in terms of character and quality, and to fill the necessary positions in accordance with our capabilities," explained Žakelj.

WE DON'T WANT TO RUSH, WE WANT TO HIT WITH REINFORCEMENTS

When it comes to departures, Podgorica will no longer have Skylar Mays and James Thompson, Rashid Sulamon has signed for Turkish side Çajirova, Nikola Tanasković is leaving for Partizan, and Đorđije Jovanović is going to college. Jovanović was introduced by St. John's last month, and then Buducnost said that Jovanović has a valid contract with the club for the next season, and that Buducnost has not held any talks with the aforementioned college, nor has it signed any transfer agreement, and that the published allegations are incorrect and represent only an attempt at spin by certain management agencies.

"I don't have official confirmation for Jovanović, but I assume he's going too. Mays showed quality at certain moments, far from it, but he didn't have what we wanted and it ended the way it did. Thompson had good seasons in the VTB League, he had offers from richer clubs than Buducnost. Maybe the system and league here didn't suit him," said Žakelj.

Thompson and Mays were not up to par, in the 2024/2025 season, Judoka Azubuki was a complete failure, the season before that, Jacoree Williams and Colby Ross left before the New Year. Therefore, it is clear that the selection this summer must be done carefully.

"It's always difficult to get all the players right, and that's why we don't want to rush, but to bring in proven ones, those who are hungry for success and have energy. We need to check as many details as possible, and we're all doing that. At the moment, the prices for the players we're interested in are too high. They'll definitely drop at some point. We don't want to rush, we want to get it right," Žakelj explained.

Žakelj does not easily give up on a player he believes in, and the best example of this is McKinley Wright, who was not at the level in his first season in Buducnost, but then exploded in the second, was the MVP of the ABA League and eventually went to Dubai.

"It was his first season in Europe, he struggled, and I had problems with him at the start too. He has a different view of basketball. Few people believed in him in the first season. After that, he realized some things, the club showed him confidence and he returned it all. Basketball requires patience, to stand on the ball."

THERE WILL BE TEAMS WITH EUROLEAGUE BUDGETS IN THE EUROCUP

The future will play in the Eurocup next season, but it's too early to talk about ambitions, said the coach of the "blues".

"There will be 32 teams in the Eurocup and it will be even harder to win that competition. There will be teams that will have Euroleague budgets. Expectations are always high here and it should be that way, but on the other hand we need to be realistic. I think that Buducnost will have about the 15th budget in the Eurocup, that's the current situation. But that doesn't mean that we don't want to compete. We are ambitious, we want to build a good team, to compete. It's too early to talk about goals and desires, but desires are always high."

Buducnost entered the Eurocup last season with great ambitions, with a desire to make a breakthrough. In the end, they gained home-court advantage at the start of the playoffs, but even that wasn't enough, and they lost to Cluj in their home stadium and ended the season in that competition earlier than expected.

"I think we played good basketball in the Eurocup. We were third in the group, we had home court advantage. We played against Cluj, which I think we are better than. But they were better that day and deserved to advance. They were close to eliminating Bahçeşehir in the quarterfinals. We expected more and there is no alibi, we all have to take responsibility for that. For the first time in this competition system, we had home court advantage, maybe the pressure was great. I don't think our season was over with that defeat, but it wasn't easy to play after that. We have to be honest and fair and say that the Eurocup season, after the defeat against Cluj, was unsuccessful."

In the ABA League, the semifinals were the ultimate reach, in which the "blues" were stopped by Dubai.

"We had a good season in the ABA League. Maybe we spoiled ourselves and the people around us a little last season. But we have to be realistic - this season we beat Partizan and Dubai, teams that are in the final with bigger budgets than us. In the regular season we were ahead of Red Star. Next season it will be difficult in the regional competition. We are trying to build a good team, which will fight and play well. Other teams have such ambitions too."

I CONTACTED SOME MONTENEGRIN PLAYERS

The future is also loved by Montenegrin players, a topic that is always current.

"It's far from the case that Buducnost doesn't want Montenegrin players. The biggest question is whether they want to come. We have already contacted some who are abroad. We want to bring them in, to give them a role. We need to have more Montenegrin basketball players, but in the end it's the player who decides where he wants to continue his career. Over the last few days I've been in contact with Montenegrin players. I hope they end up here - we want them, but in the end they wonder."

I will not be on the national team's coaching staff.

Žakelj also had the opportunity to lead the Montenegrin national team in the World Basketball Championship qualifiers. Our team is 2-2 after two "windows", and in July the team will be taken over by Zvezdan Mitrović, with whom Montenegro wrote a brilliant chapter and qualified for the World Championship in 2019.

Montenegro will play Portugal on July 2nd, and three days later they will host Romania at the end of the first phase, and there will be no Žakelj on the bench, at least not in the coaching staff.

"I won't be on the coaching staff. I'm done with the national team. I think we did a good job. The guys were great, they helped me, because it was my first time in that role and I thank them for that. I support Montenegro. I'm sure that Zvezdan will continue with good games and results. I hope that Montenegro will qualify for the World Cup," concluded Žakelj.

Like Montenegro, Portugal is tied 2-2 in Group B, Greece is 3-1, and Romania is 1-3. Three teams advance from the group and will face Spain, Georgia, and possibly Ukraine in the next phase. The second phase begins in August, and the three teams from the second phase advance to the World Cup, which will be hosted by Qatar next year.