Βy Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
Ioannis Bourousis is having a… spectacular season with Laboral, with admirable duration at top performance levels. It remains to be seen whether, as the clear leader of the team with the smallest budget in the Final Four, he can take the Basques even farther, all the way to the throne of Europe and the ‘ultimate fairytale’.
In his interview to Eurohoops, the international center makes it clear that he hasn’t improved at the age of 33. It’s just that a coach gave him the role of the leader in the team for the first time. He admits that in 2009 he made a mistake not signing the offer the San Antonio Spurs had made.
Now he’ll go to the NBA if a similar prospect comes about. Staying abroad is still a priority but he’ll think about returning to Greece if he feels that a team provides the conditions he asks for. He talks about Pablo Laso who, after 15 months of the player’s career in Real’s starting line-up, decided to leave him on the bench, and believes that in Berlin… anything can happen!
The season that you’re having is unreal. We all know that you’re a quality big man and that you have more excellent years under your belt. This year is something else. Certainly, the role and the freedom of movement help. Can you explain it purely in basketball terms?
“The reasons are that in a short period of time we’ve found chemistry and all the players their roles. My teammates don’t have experience at the top level, they’re young in age. As soon as I got here, coach Perasovic took me aside and told me that I have to guide them and lead the team. That made me feel great responsibility and it came out on the court. The attitude they showed towards me, and their trust, made me exceed my limits.
The elements I’m displaying this year in Laboral, I always had those as a player. It’s simply that I had never been given a similar opportunity and a corresponding role of being the leader. In basketball terms, the fact that my team trusts me as the main creator from inside the paint and expects me to set up plays helps a lot. I unfurl on the court everything I have to offer and my role this year excites me.”
In the summer it took you a long time finding a team and for the first time you didn’t have any arranged or good offers as a free agent, because of your marginalization in Real. Did you expect things to turn out that way?
“It’s true that in the summer I didn’t have the offers I’d gotten used to on other occasions. But when I played with the Greek national team everyone saw that there weren’t any problems and I was fine. With Real I had, and still have, amazing relations. It’s simply that Pablo Laso decided to change a few things in the team and made the decision, after 15 consecutive months of playing in the starting line-up, to let me sit on the bench. I decided not to go to China and signed with Laboral. I knew I would have the chance to play well and enjoy basketball. But I didn’t imagine I’d have a season like this. I’d be lying if I told you I was expecting it.”
In the summer you’re a free agent once again and you’ll have as many offers as you didn’t get last year. Which championship would you like to play in? Do you have any priorities?
“No, I don’t have any specific priorities in mind. When the season is over I’ll think about it and I will definitely talk with Laboral first since they’ve treated me excellently.”
None of the two “eternal enemies” in Greece have a center of your class. If you had a good offer from Olympiacos or Panathinaikos would you return to Greece in the summer?
“My priority is to play abroad, because I enjoy basketball more away from Greece. However, if I find that, aside from the financial aspect, there are some additional conditions that interest me more than money, then I might seriously consider coming back. I want to have my peace of mind, to occupy myself only with basketball and nothing else.”
Do you feel that you made a mistake in the summer of ’09 when you didn’t sign with the Spurs?
“We had made an appointment in Berlin with coach Popovic. He showed great interest in me. The offer was excellent, but I had other things in mind then. With the experiences I’ve gained from abroad and with my way of thinking now, yes, I can tell you that I made a mistake.”
If you had a good offer from the NBA in the summer, would you go?
“If it’s an offer that makes me feel like the team wants me and knows what I can offer, yes, now I’d go to the NBA.”
Everyone considers Fenerbahce the favorites in the semifinal. Do you believe that Laboral can complete the miracle season by making history?
“We’re a team of fighters and we’ve proven it. We want to play our own game and if we’re a bit lucky, anything can happen. Life plays weird games! You never know what can happen in Berlin.”