BARAĆ: “THERE WAS AN EMOTIONAL DISCHARGE AFTER THE NARROW DEFEAT, BUT WE SAW WHICH OF THE YOUNGER PLAYERS WE CAN COUNT ON”

Mega MIS basketball players ended the 2022/23 season with a loss in the second match of the Serbian Super League semifinals against FMP SoccerBet in Železnik 96:70 (25:16, 18:18, 29:17, 24:19). The rejuvenated team of Marko Barać did not open the game well, but managed to react and provide good resistance to the rival until the middle of the third quarter when the host again broke away. A good opening in the deciding period allowed Mega to cut the gap in half, but Barać’s team was unable to shake FMP, who regained a significant lead and brought the match to a close in their favor.

Mega MIS thus ended the 2022/23 season, in which it reached the finals of the Radivoj Korać Cup, the quarterfinals of the ABA League, as sixth-placed in the table with a score of 12-14, but also the semifinals of the Super League of Serbia after being first in Group B with five victories and one loss, ahead of Borac Mozart, Vojvodina, and Metalac.

Coach Marko Barać gave a chance to a large number of young players in the semifinal series, and Ognjen Nikolić, Ognjen Srzentić, and Petar Milosavčević made their debuts for the first team, which, in addition to analyzing the last game of the season, he spoke about at the press conference after the second semifinal clash in Železnik :

– A well-deserved victory for FMP. We didn’t deserve anything today, unlike the first game, which was close. There was an emotional discharge after the narrow defeat. This showed through the lack of energy and focus from the tip-off. We didn’t fulfill the agreement for the first two attacks and allowed easy points from the paint so that the host would score 20 of their first 25 points from the inside. They showed much more toughness than us today. Of course, the fact is that compared to our young players and our current squad, there is an excess of experience and weight, but today they had more desire and energy, and I congratulate them for that. I wish them the best of luck in the finals. We finished the competition, there were good moments, both through the group and in the first game. We saw what we wanted from a few of our players, who got a slightly bigger role in the Super League compared to the ABA League, and they justified it until tonight. We have seen from the younger ones who we can count on and to what extent. There were good moments, and they will use this experience to get better from everything, and we as a club, as well as the national team, will benefit from it. I hope that this will be a good experience for them,

Barać said.

Captain Luka Cerovina highlights the bad start of the match as one of the main factors of the defeat:

– We entered the game soft; they made a difference that they kept for the entire match. We fought as hard as we could. I congratulate FMP on their victory and wish them the best of luck in the future,

Cerovina added.

Photo: FMP SoccerBet/Ivica Veselinov