Partizan’s Poor Start Opens the Door for Mitar Bosnjakovic

In the midst of a dreadful and potentially season-ending EuroLeague losing streak, Partizan Belgrade head coach Zeljko Obradovic has tried everything to turn his teams' fortunes around. This desperation has led to an opportunity for Mitar Bosnjakovic.

Mitar Bosnjakovic / fiba.basketbal

After their worst season of the Zeljko Obradovic era, Partizan Belgrade rebuilt their entire roster this summer. Being a EuroLeague club, they primarily brought in win-now veterans as many EuroLeague teams do but there were a few exceptions, including 18-year-old Serbian wing Mitar Bosnjakovic who joined from Real Madrid’s prestigious youth academy after lifting the Adidas Next Generation Tournament championship with Hugo Gonzalez and Egor Demin only a couple of months ago. 

While Bosnjakovic played a key role in Real Madrid’s championship, including a team-high 16 points in their critical victory over Mega Basket, he was seen as a step below Gonzalez and Demin as a prospect and thus, was not expected to see any notable playing time with Partizan this season. 

But then Partizan lost four in a row after a 2-2 start, and things were rapidly spiraling for them. In their Round 9 matchup with Barcelona, Bosnjakovic didn’t just earn his first appearance of the EuroLeague season, he was in the starting lineup. A trend that continued into Round 10 against Italian side Milano. 

Bosnjakovic’s play has ebbed and flowed. To be clear, he belongs out there and doesn’t look overmatched or overwhelmed in the slightest. He’s finding open spaces, cutting when the opportunity arises, crashing the glass on both ends and isn’t afraid to put the ball on the floor. Defensively, he’s given Partizan a burst. Standing at 6-foot-7 and with remarkably impressive strength for his age he’s able to outmuscle opposing wings and even switch onto bigs when he has to. 

Against Barcelona, Bosnjakovic was primarily tasked with face-guarding their premier talent, Kevin Punter. He made life difficult for the former Partizan star and forced Barcelona to use him differently to get his offensive flow going. They had Punter come off more screens, set more screens, and cut more frequently on baseline drives. Barcelona’s decisive second-quarter run in this game came with Bosnjakovic on the bench. Partizan’s second-half resurgence came when he was back on the floor. 

As Barcelona played their way out of Partizan’s face-guarding, the Serbian club began to switch everything. Bosnjakovic ended up on the taller Chimezie Metu on two key possessions and forced a turnover both times. One time he poked away the entry pass and the next time, he denied entry so well that the pass came off the backboard. Bosnjakovic impresses physically, and that was part of what made him such a dominant scorer at the youth level. 

In the early days of his senior career, Bosnjakovic is still figuring out that side of the ball. His ability to overpower people is less effective, and he does have some nerves out there. He’s not shooting threes with confidence and gets happy feet when catching kickouts, occasionally resulting in travels and turnovers. This seems to be more excitement and desire than anything else because his positive offensive plays have largely come from cuts and offensive rebounds. The energy is always there, and sometimes just a little too much. 

Partizan’s losing streak has continued, they are now 2-8 and at the bottom of the EuroLeague standings with Virtus Bologna and ALBA Berlin. Two seasons ago, they were 4-9 to start the season and then one win away from the Final Four. They have stretches of competitiveness, and over the last two games, Bosnjakovic has helped with that. If his improvement at this level can sync with Partizan’s, he could make quite the name for himself over the course of the season. 

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