CEROVINA INTERVIEW

He was neither the MVP nor the most effective player in the very important triumph of Mega Bemax over Igokea with 87:76. But Luka Cerovina was a “x factor” in a match that was “to be or not to be” for the youngest ABA League team in his fight for survival. Cerovina scored 11 points, including a crucial three after an offensive rebound at 79:76 for the home side with two and a half minutes before the end, thus signaling a triumph for his team. However, perhaps more importantly, the fact that in a match that was full of turnovers, Cerovina in the plus/minus statistical category had a fantastic number: 30! Translated, in the 25 minutes that Cerovina spent on the floor, Mega gained with him an advantage of 30 points over the rivals from Laktasi.

This, still a teenager (2000 born), turned his attention to himself with a new great party and indicated that talent that he undeniably displayed in the youth categories could soon translate into quality on the big stage.

– The duel with Igokea was extremely important to us, especially considering that Zadar had beat FMP. We had the imperative of winning, but even though we are a very young team, we handled that pressure well and eventually deservedly triumphed. I’m very pleased to have scored that three for a six-point lead two and a half minutes before the end. I relieved myself to shot that three, I had no pressure, first of all, because in that attack I caught the offensive rebound and what is said, the ball took me, and in the end everything turned out right – Cerovina summed up the impressions, who was born in Kragujevac, and he spent his childhood in Zvecan, where he started playing basketball.

Playing for Polet from Kraljevo he was not missed by Mega’s scouts, so he moved to Belgrade at 16 years old. With the juniors of Mega was Vice-Champion of the Euroleague’s F8 in Istanbul in 2017, and a year later won the Premier Edition of the Junior ABA League. With the selection of U18 Serbia, he also won a gold medal at the U18 European Championship which was held in 2018 in Latvia.

He made his debut in the first team of Mega Bemax in the KLS league in a duel withTamis from Pancevo last season. He was 18 years and 10 days old and had 10 points and 6 assists:

– However, I have to admit that I have much more to remember in the match that we played against the Crvena zvezda just a two weeks later that season. We were decimated by injuries, as many as seven players were missing from the first team. I started that match in the starting lineup and we unexpectedly won 76:74, and I contributed 12 points and five assists to that victory. I’ll remember that match while I’m alive.

Cerovina is very pleased with the games this season, and statistics say that Luka is the most accurate three-point shooter of the team in the ABA league, with an impressive 45 percent success rate:

– With Brekic and Langovic playing for OKK Beograd, I am the youngest member of the first team, but I get a lot of minutes and I really try to use every moment on the floor in the right way. It meant a lot to me that last season when I played under a dual license for OKK Beograd. I have gained considerable experience in terms of adapting to senior basketball.

When it comes to ambitions, Cerovina says:

– I am exclusively focused on avoiding relegation with Mega in ABA this season. Another win would theoretically guarantee us the goal, so we will do our best to record it even though we have very strong opponents in the last two rounds. I am really pleased with the conditions at the club. Young players at Mega are very much taken care of in all segments of our development. This is supported by the fact that I am one of the few players from the first team who is also a scholarship holder of the Faculty of Sports in New Belgrade, which is a great thing, because the club takes care of our education and cares about our future – concluded Cerovina.

Photo: Mega Bemax/Ivica Veselinov