Former Gilas Pilipinas mentor Nenad Vucinic just doesn’t want too much drama during his coaching stint.
The Serbian-Kiwi tactician admitted that the national team’s shaky status and controversies prompted him to leave his job despite Gilas’ nearing buildup for the FIBA World Cup next year.
For him, there’s always a better way for the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas to handle things.
“There’s simply a little bit too much drama for my liking. I understand the pressure of the fans and the people about basketball,” said Vucinic in a radio interview Saturday.
“But every issue seems to be a very big issue and we shouldn’t be that way.”
Two weeks before the fourth window of the FIBA World Cup qualifiers, the former New Zealand head coach tendered his resignation and returned to his country.
It was a major setback to their coaching staff, composed of head coach Gilas mentor Chot Reyes and assistant coaches Tim Cone and Jong Uichico.
He was given the chance to lead Gilas in an interim capacity during the third window of the qualifiers as well as a pair of exhibition matches against South Korea last month.
Apart from that, Vucinic was also appointed as a consultant for Meralco in the Philippine Basketball Association and adviser for newly-installed San Beda University head coach Yuri Escueta.
But he clarified that his decision to leave the team was not related to his rumored dissatisfaction with the squad.
Still, Vucinic remained thankful on his short but sweet journey with Gilas.
“It was about a month ago when I advised SBP that I will be looking to go elsewhere and they really tried to keep me. There were no hard feelings between us at all,” Vucinic clarified.
