By Peter Toth
This is Belgrade. We are invited and ushered into the hostel where the juniors of Red Star outside Belgrade live together. Inside everyone is busy, the NIJT Belgrade tournament is approaching, so they have two practice a day and also school and other studies, hard times for the guys. We are here to meet two columns of the U18 team, David Miladenovic and Pavle Cvetinovic.
The 209cm tall David (1997), we already know very well, he has been playing center in Zvezda for years now and was also in Serbia’s national team at last year’s FIBA championship, frequently noted for his strong attacks and irresistible rebounds. While the other guy, Pavle Cvetinovic (1997 and 211cm tall), is new to us, he joined Zvezda only six months ago. The two young centers are not only teammates, but also good friends, both with a funny and very friendly manner.
David tells us that he is the only son in a family who had nothing to do with basketball before. His dad played football for years and so did he, too until the age of 10 when he, growing beyond 170cm, has decided to try basketball at the local team (Mladost) in Smederevska Palanka.
“After my first visit to Mladost, I immediately knew basketball was for me, finally I could make an excellent use of my size there, I suddenly felt confident and was ruling the whole game among my peers. My coach, Dragan Cosic, whom I owe not only basketball basics but also my love and enthusiasm for the game, has taught me for three years. I became MVP in the U13 and, when I reached 195cm that year, I was invited to play in FMP Belgrade which was a great honor and a terrifying challenge alike.”
“I am not such a self-made baller”, says Pavle, “coming from a basketball family with a dad who was a professional player not only in Serbia, but also in Slovenia and Croatia, basketball was out of question for me. My father started to train me at a very early age, so – after a short adventure with tennis – I irresistibly fell in love with basketball.” Following paternal footsteps, at 11 (with a height already passing 180cm) Pavle has joined the local team in Bor and stayed with them for three years, when he went to Nis to play with the team Nibac there.
The lines of these two different careers have crossed in Zvezda, where the two physically so similar players, the slightly smaller David with a huge wingspan and the taller but short-handed Pavle, have met and became friends. David got into the team when FMP merged into Zvezda in 2011 and plays there ever since, while Pavle was invited only this season after an extremely successful year in Nis. Despite the physical similarities and their shared skills of being strong scorers and formidable rebounders, Pavle says he still lacks the experience, strength and confidence that David already possesses. “And also a couple of kilograms of muscle” – laughs David - “but he will easily catch up with us. In Zvezda there is no other way: you learn, fight and win. So will we do both at the upcoming tournament this month.”
So what else one could say but that we all look forward to seeing how high the stars of Zvezda will rise this February.
