Unfortunately, handball in our area has been in deficit for years when it comes to professional literature. Authors and books that deal with the essence of the game itself can be counted on the fingers of one hand, so every attempt to change something in that field is worthy of attention and praise.
With the desire to change and improve the existing situation, the first step was made by the proven handball expert Dragan Đukić who wrote a book called „3: 2: 1 – Return to the roots“ which talks about the famous type of zone defense, characteristic of the Yugoslav handball school for many years. and all its specificity, which for unknown reasons has never been written in our language before.
The promotion of this unique literary work, of exceptional importance for handball sports as a whole, was held at the Faculty of Sports of the University „Union – Nikola Tesla“. It is no coincidence, if we take into account the fact that Dragan Đukić is a graduate of basic and master studies at this faculty. Apart from the author, Dragan Adžić, the coach of handball players of Buducnost and the selector of the women’s national team of Montenegro, the leader of the golden generation of Yugoslav handball and prominent coach Veselin Vujović, as well as full professor at the Faculty of Sports in New Belgrade and one of the greatest experts spoke about the book. in the field of physical preparation, prof. Dr. Vladimir Koprivica.
Dragan Đukić is one of our students, he also finished his master’s degree and this is an opportunity to congratulate him on his work. What I would especially point out as extraordinary is the title of his book, which states – a return to the roots. I had the opportunity to talk with the legendary Branislav Pokrajac about our famous defense. I remember when it was created and how surprising it was in the world of handball. The invitation to return to our roots is one of the best titles that one could give to a work like this – said Professor Koprivica.
The reviewer of the book was Dragan Adžić, who arrived from Podgorica especially for this occasion, although the competition season is in full swing.
I am glad that I am the reviewer of Djukic’s debut who, as a man, but also a top coach, has more gifts, and one of them is to convey to the players what he wants in a very drinkable way. He also has the talent to convey what he wants and shape it nicely on paper. That gift doesn’t have many of us coaches, so his success in expressing himself is even greater. The first significance of the book is that our heirs will also be able to use this type of defense. In this return to the roots, everything that is characteristic of the Yugoslav school of handball is summarized. This defense 3: 2: 1 is derived from our mentality, which we do not give to ourselves, which we want to win stronger… This is just the first time, and I want Dragan to relax after him and write more things, and thus pass on knowledge to us – stated is Adzic.
Veselin Vujović did not hide his enthusiasm either:
I am pleasantly surprised by the book, its aesthetics and what it has proven and presented. The book is about the defense that brought so many important results to my generation, but also to the generations before me. Everything is simply explained, so that coaches who do not really understand this defense, can read everything here. If you have a center midfielder, a defense player, formed in this defense, then he will help his teammates and play them. My advice to the coaches is to start from that point and form a good center half. This book, of course, goes down in history, because a nation that has no history is not a nation. Today’s handball has made a lot of progress, but I think that this defense would again be a difficult task for all European national teams. Thank you Dragan for writing this book and I want to say that he is not alone in all this – said Vujović.
In his rich coaching career, Dragan Đukić led several domestic and foreign clubs such as Red Star, Metaloplastika, PIK Szeged, Skopje’s Vardar, CSM from Bucharest, and he was also the selector of Montenegro, Israel, Great Britain, Switzerland, Macedonia and Jordan. Noting that the promotion of this book is his final academic day, Đukić said:
The other day I read a sentence that reads: „The main goal of education is not to learn things, but not to forget them!“ In all this, I must say that the book itself is a sublimation of all knowledge that originated in the former Yugoslavia. I hope that with this, we will bring this famous defensive formation to the place where it should be. The title is symbolic, because on the one hand it speaks of defense, and on the other hand in a specific way it counts down to start restarting and looking for ourselves again, not to be ashamed of who we are and to have values in all these areas – Djukic paused briefly and then added:
I was aware that a book published in 2020 could not look like a book from 1970. It must look different and approach the reader in a different way. I wanted to translate the book into a language that today’s readers understand. Also, I thought that the book should be published in English so that people in the world would be aware of its significance. An electronic edition will also be published. There are hidden traces in the book that attentive readers will be able to find, and I tried to write in a „Pavić’s“ way. That you can read the book from wherever you want and understand it. To lead you to the same goal from every point. This book is no longer just mine, but ours and yours. I hope that you will read it in your own way – concluded Đukić.
