Peñarroya on the New Partizan: "We Won't Sign Just Anyone, Fighting is Mandatory!"

"I tried to rest and have a good break, but a normal vacation for a coach isn't easy because you have to study the market and build a new team, a new roster. Ultimately, the market was very, very tough for us, especially this summer. The market, particularly this summer, was crazy — big money, many teams. But in the end, I'm happy with our current roster. I believe we have good players, experience, and other players who are rookies but possess talent and a desire to improve. Right now, we're trying to build a real team, to forge our new character... and we want to show our fans in a few days what our character and competitive spirit are like. But I'm happy because we've had very good training sessions, very good intensity over the last two weeks; the guys are hard workers. Clearly, we have some issues with injured players – for example, Lakić, Lamar Stevens, or the Washington case didn't play the last game. FIBA windows, late arrivals of players... But this week is the first week, more or less, that we can all train together, and I think we're on the right track at this moment."

"Over the last six months, I've gained experience understanding Partizan's history, Partizan's character. I've explained it to the guys, haven't I? It's mandatory to have a very, very strong character. It's mandatory to fight, to fight not just in games, but in training too. It doesn't matter if you play two minutes or ten minutes, it doesn't matter if we win or lose, on the court we must fight and play together. And we must show our fans that this is our team's philosophy. This is essential because our fans love that character. But that's not enough; we also need to play good basketball. Otherwise, in this EuroLeague, in this ABA League, it's very difficult to compete. But I think we've added good workers, good experienced players to the team. New guys who want to prove they have the level to compete in the EuroLeague and ABA League. And at this moment, we are happy."

"I expect us to have a very nice experience, probably the first opportunity for our players to meet our fans. This is the first moment to show the fans our new faces, our new character. But this isn't the time to think about winning or losing a game. Clearly, we want to win, but this is the moment to use these types of games for very, very good training. I'm happy to be here again. I want to experience playing in this tournament, and I especially hope we can play outdoors on Sunday. I think it's a good experience for everyone, including myself. I just want to show our fans that this team plays tough, plays 100%, plays together, and plays with pride to defend the black-and-white colors."

"The market is very, very difficult right now. It's clear, as I've said many times, that we need to add one or two more players. But not just any player, simply because at this moment we only have 13 professional players on the roster, as Vanja will likely be out for the next two months. We need to sign players, but if possible, good players, and at this moment, we don't see such players on the market."

"I'm in daily contact with the club, and they consult me on all specific situations. This isn't the moment to explain every situation. It's clear that we worked hard all summer and faced challenges — challenges because some players decided to sign with other teams, but I think we're trying to do a good job. Our communication with the club... especially with Luka a few weeks ago, and now with Zoran, the communication is perfect."

"I think it's good. I believe the first coach was in handball, a handball coach at Partizan. But yes, very good coaches. You know, Ibon Navarro is a friend, a great coach. We've been competing for the last 10 years. And I think that's good. Many years ago in Spain, we typically had three, four, five, six Serbian coaches. Now it's quite common for Spanish coaches to be all over the world. I was the first coach in Belgrade in basketball."