Dražen Petrović, Stojko Vranković, Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoč, Žarko Paspalj, Dino Rađa, Jure Zdovc, Velimir Perasović, Ratko Radovanović, Luka Pavičević, Duško Ivanović
“From the very first days of the creation of the golden cadet-junior generation, which Branislav Rajačić and I formed and coached, Rusmir followed our work. He was very ambitious and had a great desire to learn, and as such we included him in our work, which continued in senior competition with a selection that, in all EU, world, and Olympic competitions, was always in the medal-contending circle.”
At the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, where he was introduced by the incomparable Michael Jordan, mentioning his coaches, he first mentioned the name Rusmir Halilović.
“Rusmir Halilović can be defined by three characteristics:
The first basketball player from this region to go to the NBA.
“I entered basketball on a court in a park with glass backboards, which at that time in Podgorica was like going to the Moon, and which Rusmir built in two days out of spite, opening a basketball school there.
The second step connected to Rusmir was joining the Yugoslavia cadet national team, where he was the selector and coach, and where we later became European champions.
The third step connected to Rusmir was with the senior team of KK Budućnost, where I was on the roster when he came to Podgorica for the second time and led us into the playoffs after an extremely poor start.
I tried to escape his system of work both in the national team and in the club, because it required hellish effort, but I never succeeded in my intentions because, to my luck, he always defeated me with arguments. Rusmir is my destiny.”
“My first encounter with Rusmir was at the first training session in Podgorica for entry into the Yugoslav national cadet team. From him, I learned the basketball alphabet, which I later expanded upon and used, and for that I am very grateful to him.”
“Rusmir is one of the people who created not only players but also coaches. From him I learned a great deal, not only about basketball but also about work, order, and discipline. His priority was always the production of top-level players, and only then the team result. I thank him for everything he gave me.”
“My work with young players in Belgrade began at the initiative of Bora Cenić, while in Sarajevo that initiative came from Rusmir. I do not divide coaches into specialists for working with youth and seniors, but I am certain that Rusmir would have been a very good coach in senior competition as well, as he demonstrated on several occasions. He did not chase senior basketball, which is much more exposed and profitable, but instead devoted most of his coaching career to creating players for top-level senior basketball, for which I wholeheartedly congratulate him.”
“The team from Bormio is the result of an extraordinary selection that Pešić inherited from a man named Rusmir Halilović, who should always be mentioned when talking about that generation, as well as all other generations from that era, from Dražen Petrović onward. He did great work in selection for the Yugoslavia national team and for the world of basketball.”
“First, I want to greet the legendary coaches Novosel and Ivković, who have won everything there is to win, and then to pass on my mother’s greetings to Rusmir for everything he taught my brother during the four-year development cycle. I would especially highlight one aspect of the game that Dražen learned from him, which was ahead of its time. Instead of the two-step layup, he taught him to enter the heart of the paint with a one-step jump in a single contact, and then, with multiple unpredictable threats, render the defense helpless: shooting at the basket in various ways or creating opportunities for teammates with assists. That became Dražen’s trademark in European basketball! Rusmir was my coach on the Yugoslavia senior national team during the tour of America. I joined him as a fully formed player, so he couldn’t improve me or make me worse!”
“The time I remember from my life with Rusmir is the period when we played together in the Bosnia and Herzegovina league, where Delibašić played in Tuzla and Dalipagić in Mostar. As a teammate, he always behaved like a coach. The basketball school he founded at KK Bosna was very popular, and all the girls in elementary schools were in love with the boy who played in it.”
“At the beginning of our work together, I did not understand Rusmir’s philosophy, because I thought that the priority goal in basketball was to win in team play, not to create players, after which, as a rule, team victories always follow. His approach directed me to devote my life to basketball.
I admired him for knowing how to recognize true talent at the right time.”
“Rusmir Halilović established a developmental system of work with young national team categories that was exceptionally successful and remains in use to this day.”
Many European and NBA stars have gone through his programs, selections, education, international affirmation, and early orientation to senior positions at which players can give their maximum.
“Greetings to Rusmir from Edin!
When I first spoke with him about working with younger age categories, I couldn’t believe his story about all the basketball players he had found—selected and educated—but later I became convinced that it was all true.”
Cedi: “I entered basketball in Sarajevo. My first club was KK RIN FAMILY, which Rusmir founded and led.”
Amer Ramusović, in his article about Rusmir Halilović, highlights the titles VISIONARY and PHYSICAL TRAINER WITH A STANCE. You can read the entire article, published in the Komun@ magazine from Podgorica, by clicking here.
