Nikola Vucevic explained why he's not worried about Montenegro's blowout loss to Greece and how the Hellenic squad can look like with Giannis Antetokounmpo on board. The Bulls big man also referred to his relationship with the EuroLeague and weighed in on Panathinaikos' title run.
Montenegro were dismantled at the hands of Greece (57-86) in their first test after 10 days into the mini preparation for the Olympic Qualifying tournament.
Montenegro / Schedule
Brazil
Montenegro
CameroonOn Wednesday (19:00 CET), they will face the Bahamas (led by NBA stars Deandre Ayton, Eric Gordon and Buddy Hield) at the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus, before returning to Podgorica. On June 30, they'll be traveling to Riga for the OQT which wil be played between July 2 and 7. Their competition in the group stage will be Brazil and Cameroon.
"It's our first game after training camp. So, we shouldn't think it went very badly, but rather use it to see where we are, what we should work on," explained Nikola Vucevic, author of 20 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists.
"Compared to last summer we are missing eight players and Greece is, at the moment, maybe two levels above us," Montenegro coach Bosko Radovic argued.
"Our energy and motivation at the beginning of the match were disastrous. That was the key to the game. Although this is our first match during preparation, I have not seen my team play this way in a long time. Playing like that, there's nothing we can do," the specialist added.
Against Montenegro, Giannis Antetokounmpo was absent as he felt slightly under the weather before the contest and coach Vassilis Spanoulis opted to rule him out. The 'Greek Freak' is expected to play in the last game of the Acropolis Tournament against the Bahamas this Thursday, and Vucevic is certain that the two-time NBA MVP can help hia national team change gear.
"For sure. Giannis is one of the best players in the world," the Chicago Bulls big man told BN Sports' Eftychia Oikonomidou.
"He brings a whole different dimension to their team with his athleticism and the way he plays. He can play 3-5, he can guard 1-5. You can put him in different actions with all the guards that Greece have, it's surely going to be hard to play against them.
That's because of Giannis. They have a lot of good and experienced players and with a player like that, they will obviously be much better. Greece have great chances to qualify for the Olympics. And if they get there, they have a chance to beat anyone," the NBA veteran continued.
In a postgame chat with BasketNews, Vucevic reiterated the intention to extend his NBA presence for as long as possible. In other words, he's not considering moving to Europe anytime soon.
"I mean I've been in NBA for 13 years now. I have two more years on my contract. I like to stay there as much as I can because it is the best league and you play against the best players. So, probably not.
And also I wouldn't want to come back here if I'm not the same player anymore. You know, if it's not the same me and I'm not at the same level that I was, I don't want to come here and have a bad experience and have the fans watch a different version of me," he explained.
However, and despite the fact that he's not getting any overseas offers as he used to during the 2011 NBA lockout, Vucevic is following the EuroLeague pretty closely.
"Of course. Always. I watch live all the games," he told BN Sports.
"I have a EuroLeague TV application. I watch a lot of Red Star games, the team I cheer for."
Vucevic, who has already declared himself a fan of a best-of-five series to decide the EuroLeague champion, said he also watched the Final Four.
"It was a really good season," he commented.
"I think Panathinaikos played great. They didn't start off that well, but as the season went on, they improved and won the title. Kendrick Nunn played great, and they beat Real Madrid in the final game, playing an excellent second half.
Madrid are a very good team with good players. But Panathinaikos have [Ergin] Ataman who already had two titles, so it was an good comeback for them after a couple of years", Vucevic concluded.
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