Danilo Andjusic has already played for nine different teams in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Spain, Poland, Russia and now France. Follow his blog and get to know more about him and his team right here on EuroCupbasketball.com!
Danilo Andjusic: 'Ready for that challenge'
Blogs
7 mins read
Danilo Andjusic has already played for nine different teams in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Spain, Poland, Russia and now France. Things have changed for him since he joined Bourg. Last season the 30-year-old was given great responsibilities on offense and that paid off nicely as he averaged 16.0 points on 45.5% three-point shooting in the French League. He made his EuroCup debut in the 2009-10 campaign as an up-and-coming talent with Hemofarm Vrsac. Andjusic spent the 2017-18 season as a three-point shooting specialist with UNICS Kazan. Now, Andjusic is back in the EuroCup to play a leading role with JL Bourg-en-Bresse in the club's first season in the competition. Follow his blog and get to know more about him and his team right here on EuroCupbasketball.com!
I have to start by saying that when Bourg made it to the EuroCup, I was really happy because I feel this club deserves to be in such a competition as the EuroCup. I have been here for one year only but the people I know in the club and everybody who works for the organization want to take the club to the next level. They do a really good job, so I was really happy when we qualified and that's one of the reasons why I stayed here after last season. I saw the club's potential and what they want to do in the future. I think it is going to be great for everybody and for the club.
"I've felt really good since I came here."
Everyone at the club has given me a lot of confidence which is also one of the reasons why I stayed here. Not only because of the club and the way they want to grow, but also I've felt really good since I came here. Everybody makes me feel really good on the court, Coach has believed in me since Day One, giving me a good role on the team in which I feel comfortable. Everybody believes in my basketball skills and what I can do on the court. I am just doing my job and feeling good and I am happy to start another season with Bourg-en-Bresse.
To be honest, I wanted to feel like an important player on a good team. I always wanted to find a role in which I would be one of the key players in my team. I feel really good in that role, I like it a lot, and this is the position in which I am now. Only in Perm have I had this situation and it was good, but not as good as here. Last season, we had very good results, the best in club's history, and that is really important for me. I'm ready to accept the same challenge this year too, just on a bigger stage such as EuroCup.
I think we have a pretty good team, although some of our players don't have experience in European competitions. But I think we have a good team. We have good chemistry. We have a lot of players who were here for a lot of years. Our system is based on that so, because of that, I think we can have good results even in the EuroCup. Some of our guys already played in European competition, like Alen [Omic], who won the EuroCup title with Unicaja. He knows how it feels and could help us to good results in Europe. Zack [Wright] and I already played it and we can help the team with our experience to have a good season together. Also, I think our team is stacked with other great players, such as our captain Peackoc who is one of the best PF's in the past few years in the French league. Newcomers Scrubb, Allen and Luka are great additions to our team as well. All together, we can do great things I'm sure of it.
Life is really nice in Bourg-en-Bresse. To be honest, I didn't expect life to be so good in France, because I didn't have any experience before. But when I came here and saw how hard the people in this club work... not just them, but everybody in France. They work hard and like sports. All of this was new to me and I was positively surprised by all these things. So I feel good here. It is a small city, but we are close to Lyon, which is a bigger city. It's nice for living and I think that many players who never played in France don't know what they can expect here. I can only say positive things, everything has been great since I came here and like you probably know, I have played in a lot of countries, so I know what that looks like. Here, I have only positive things to say.
There's a thing that is truly important for the players to know: in France, you don't need to think about other stuff, just basketball. You just need to do your job, play basketball and focus on that, and all the other things will come because like I said, everybody in the club takes care of you. They take care of all that side stuff so you don't need to be worried. So that's a nice thing. You can just chill, play basketball and do your job.
"If we have a good start, then everything is open."
I am excited because I will play against two of my former teams, Partizan and UNICS, in the EuroCup regular season. I am really looking forward to playing both teams. Partizan is my favorite team from Serbia. It is the team that I rooted for when I was a kid. I played for them twice and they have, for me, the best fans in Europe. It is always great to play against them. Now I will be on the other side, but it is always a nice feeling to come back to our city, maybe play in front of my friends and family. Then, of course, I was in Kazan for two years and have great memories from that city and from UNICS. I'm looking forward to meeting all the people there that I know; a lot of them still work for the club. I can't wait to see them again.
A strong start is always very important in the EuroCup and I think we have a good chance to do that. If we have a good start, then everything is open. I believe that we probably have the hardest regular season group, so it is going to be a tough job, but I still believe that we can make it. We can think about it and do well enough to go to the Top 16. I am ready for that challenge. I always want to compete against the best so that I can see where I am. I know I am ready, so I can't wait for the season to start.
Finally, a message to our fans. I want to ask them to stay with the team and keep supporting us like they have all these years. This season, for the first time, they have the opportunity to see some of the greatest teams in Europe, with a lot of history. They have to stay with us because we will give our best to make them happy again, to make them proud of us.