First of all I just want to say that I am writing this entry in English because I envied bloggers, journalists that cover European Basketball and I felt like I had to express my feelings for Roko Ukic.
I did not know who Ukic was before Fenerbahce Ulker signed him right before the Euroleague regular season crucial last game against Zalgiris in Istanbul. Literally FBU played with only one proper point guard the whole group stage(Damir Mrsic who is a legend to Fener fans) before his arrival. Unfortunately Ukic couldn't prevent Zalgiris win over Fener in Istanbul and kissed goodbye to the Euroleague at an early stage. But later in the season he and his comrades claimed the Turkish league title and Ukic earned himself a spot among the hearts of the fans thanks to his control, vision and his scoring abilities. Nevertheless there are a number of people who taught Ukic did not know how to control the tempo of a game like a Greek point guard would and he always chose driving to the hoop rather than earning himself assists.
With the arrival of Ukic's compatriot Neven Sphaija as the head-coach of FBU. Ukic was completely different from last season, he knew how to control the tempo, was fully confident and organized his team mates brilliantly and he did not know have a single turn over after 4 games in Euroleague.
More importantly his, Sphiaja's and Aydin Ors' Fener beat last season's defending champion Barcelona at Palau Blaugrana and defeated title contenders Montepashi Siena by 13 in Istanbul. Now you'll find these performances more impressive when you think that Tanjevic's Fener lost by 55 in Siena last season and lost to Barca both the games by big margins.
And finally last week Fener defeated last years Final Four finalist Olympiacos in Piraeus and Ukic gave a message to Teodosic, Spanoulis and Papaloukas that stated "Yo soy el comandante!". He controlled the tempo of the game until the final buzzer was heard clearly in Piraeus as the renowned Gate 7 of Olympiacos was silent as the dead.
We are marching comandante!
