Bressanone, Ascoli and finally Milan. Nemanja Nedovic took a long road in order to reach the pinnacle of Italian basketball. He’s a product of a very peculiar career that brought him from Belgrade to Vilnius, to the Golden State Warriors on the verge of starting their incredible run of NBA domination, then Valencia, Malaga, a terrific breakout season that opened up many opportunities. And he chose Milan to complete a cycle because, yes, he started playing organized basketball in Italy. In Ascoli Piceno. So let’s start from the beginning.
NEDOVIC AND ITALY – “I was really young when I was in Italy. My father used to play handball. We moved from Austria to Bressanone, where I spent two beautiful years. And then we moved to Ascoli Piceno, very close to the sea. I spent two more years there, a very nice chapter of my life. I made a lot of friends there, I started playing basketball there so obviously it has a special place in my heart”.
HANDBALL OR BASKETBALL? – “I started practicing sports in Bressanone. First, I tried football, then I tried tennis and played soccer and tennis at the same time. I loved soccer, I like soccer even today, I liked to play with my friends, but at some point my mom said that I was going to be better playing basketball. And there I went, playing basketball in Ascoli”.
THE VILNIUS CHAPTER – “It was a very specific situation for me because at Red Star Belgrade I thought that I wasn’t going to move forward in my career, to get better and Lietuvos Rytas offered me the great opportunity to evolve as a player and as a person because I was alone and very young, 20 years old. I knew I also had a better chance to get drafted if I moved to a EuroLeague team, and that was one of the biggest factors. I didn’t make a mistake, because it was a great year for me, at 21 I was starting at the point for a EuroLeague team, I was playing a lot and at the end I got drafted. I think that was the most important year for my progress as a player”.
THE GOLDEN STATE EXPERIENCE – “It was a great experience, first of all. I didn’t know what to expect, I was really young, I’ve never been there before. The summer when I was drafted, I was supposed to move there early to adjust to everything in the States, the people, the food, the entire NBA system but I had to play the European Championship for my national team which was very important since it qualified for the World Championship and so I missed my summer in the States. I arrived to the training camp as a rookie for last. It was difficult at the beginning but like I said it was a great experience. My second year started great, I was playing great, I was playing a lot, with great teammates, a great coach and I really learned a lot”.
STEPH CURRY – “He was amazing. In the locker room he was sitting next to me so I had the chance to talk to him every day, to learn from him, learn his path from college to the NBA and I was just witnessing greatness every day. Just the way he practiced, individually or with the team. He’s really amazing. I had the honor to play in a team with two of the best shooters of all-time, top five all-time for sure (Klay Thompson is the other). I really learned a lot from that NBA experience, I learned a lot from Steph and I really liked him as a teammate”.
MALAGA – “It’s been special to me. When I came back from the NBA, I spent one year in Valencia. I had a lot of ups and downs because I had to adjust to the European style again. It was really hard for me. The offer from Malaga came when they played in the EuroLeague. Since day one I felt like at home. The people in Malaga accepted me like one of them, a malagueno. Three years there, three fabulous years, we won the Eurocup, we had great playoff runs, I have many fans there. I consider Malaga a second home”.
THE LAST SEASON – “It was kind of natural because every year I had elevated my game. My numbers, my stats are going up every year so I think that was going to happen, it was a matter of time. Last year I managed to be really consistent, stay healthy for most of the year. With this new EuroLeague format, you have the chance to play against all the teams, all the best teams, the best players in Europe and that was big motivation to me, pushed me to focus especially on EuroLeague games and gave my really best”.
BROOKS AND KUZ AGAIN – “It’s great. It’s always nice when you know somebody on a new team. I mean, I know all the guys by playing against them, Vlado Micov and me played together with the National team. It’s good when you have somebody who can help you to adjust or you can help him to adapt faster. But from what I’ve seen this team is made by guys with great personality, great characters, so I think we’ll have a lot of fun this year”.
HIS POSITION – “In my younger years I was playing only as a point-guard. In the NBA I was drafted as a point-guard, but in Malaga, Coach Plaza gave me a new role, as a shooting guard but I was creating also for my teammates. I consider myself a point-guard who can play at the shooting guard position, of course I can score the ball, I can drive and try to find my teammates, bring a lot of energy. I like to play up tempo. I think Coach Pianigiani’s system fit me good, my teammates fit me good and we’ll make it work”.
MILAN – “From the beginning when we started to look at my possible destinations, Milan was there, with a great offer for me, for my future, for my family, my girlfriend works as a model so she will have a lot of work here. Then I lived in Italy, I know the country, I love the food, I know the people, they are very kind and I was really impressed with the plan, the organization has for this year, the players they signed. It wasn’t a difficult decision”.
EXPECTATIONS – “My expectations are very high, with this team we can aim at the highest possible goals. Everybody expect us to win the Serie A again, we’d like to win the Italian Cup, and the EuroLeague is the biggest wish for us. It’d be great to qualify for the Top 8, set this as our first goal and then of course if we have a chance the go to the Final Four it’s be great. I think the quality is there, the players are there, it’s only a matter of chemistry, of how we’ll start the EuroLeague. In basketball everything is possible, Zalgiris was a great example last year. Why not try to do the same?”
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