When the historic Serbian club hired Andrea Trinchieri, the expectations were high. The Italian mastermind has already delivered.

Some things are simply meant to happen and Partizan NIS Belgrade, after a rough start to the season, has turned things around in an admirable way.

The hiring of coach Andrea Trinchieri on November 1 of last year kick-started a renaissance of the “Crno-Beli” that nobody could predict. Of course, when the move was announced there were high hopes, but not even the most fanatical supporter of Partizan expected such a turnaround.

Partizan under Trinchieri can still qualify for the 7Days EuroCup Playoffs after its impressive 71-68 road win against AS Monaco, which came a week after the French club won in Belgrade, 72-68. At the same time, Partizan has a 9-3 record in the Adriatic League under Trinchieri and currently occupies third place in the standings at 11-6 overall.

Compare the rosters of Monaco and Partizan, and you will be surprised. Monaco is a battle-tested unit. Partizan, on the other hand, got real help from one key addition made for the Top 16, guard Alex Renfroe. The veteran playmaker had 20 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in Monaco and is providing the kind of veteran leadership that was missing for Partizan. Finally, all the pieces of the puzzle can fit together.

With Renfroe, Partizan qualified to the Top 16 after a blowout, 87-72 win against Turk Telekom Ankara, in what was a “night of effort and sacrifice,” according to Coach Trinchieri.

And on a roster in which players like 23-year-old Rade Zagorac are considered experienced assets, the tradition of producing young, exciting talents is alive and kicking in the face of Vanja Marinkovic. The 20-year-old guard is averaging 12.1 points and 2.5 assists while emerging as one of the favorites to win the 7DAYS EuroCup Rising Star Trophy.

Partizan is tied with Monaco at 2-2 in Group E of the EuroCup Top 16, one win behind Alba Berlin (3-1), which has already lost in Belgrade by 78-66.

So can Partizan make it to the next round, despite starting the season as one of the biggest outsiders of the competition?

The quotes of Andrea Trinchieri after the road win against Monaco are an indication of things which may come:

“We came here and beat a team that killed us a week ago. We played a great basketball game, playing good offense, good defense. We made mistakes; some mistakes cost us the point difference; but for who we are, who we want to be, I believe that this was a great game. We missed a layup to win the game by five, but I never, ever made this mistake of pointing fingers at those things. I don’t have bitter feelings. This is just another push to be better, another challenge. If we did not do it all, we will do it next time.”

So consider yourselves warned. You can’t compare yet this team to those of Partizan’s glory days. But if you underestimate them, you will pay the price.

:lol:

Ponosno.

Odlican nastup u EC za razliku od prosle sezone. Malo srece je nedostajalo. Parahovski s poludistance

Ekipa raste i bice bolja kako sezona odmice.

Prihvatili bi oberucke ovakav rezultat na pocetku takmicenja.

Vidim neki se cude zbog pune hale... Puna je od pocetka sezone jer igra Partizan.

Pozdrav za petog favorita EC :LOL: