By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The 26-year-old Tomas Satoransky admits he needed some time to adapt when arriving in the NBA but he has done so and when the opportunity arrived, he was ready to shine in his second season with Washington Wizards:
“I’m living the dream. The NBA is different than any other thing I’ve ever experienced. The second season was much easier for me from the beginning. As a rookie, I had a problem. I got too excited about everything, but now I know how this league works, I’m focused on the main things. Once John Wall got injured, I was ready for my chance.”, Satoransky told Walla’s Arale Weisberg.
A great NBA season wasn’t the end of it. The Czech Republic national team advanced to the World Cup and they’ve done so for the first time since 1982. He hopes this success will motivate more kids to try out basketball, especially since it’s not the first choice sport in his home country:
“None of our players were even born when Czechoslovakia played last time in MundoBasket, so we definitely understand how big this achievement is for us. This is a very special moment for all of us. I hope this success will change something in the Czech Republic, who loves football and ice hockey more, but maybe this will make more kids love basketball, dream about it and play it. After winning the 7th position in 2015 EuroBasket, we are proving it was no accident.”
The national team success doesn’t happen without everyone doing everything they can but Satoransky especially notes the role of coach Ronen ‘Neno’ Ginzburg. He believes that Neno deserves and will without a doubt get his chance in the EuroLeague:
“I know that I’m getting too emotional and it’s not easy coaching me sometimes… But Neno and I have a special bond. It’s amazing to see a person coming from another country who cares so much about Czech basketball. You can feel it in every practice, in every game. I don’t manage to realize how come he never got a chance in EuroLeague team. He belongs to the highest levels in European basketball, and I’m sure it will happen now, after gaining so much success with our team.”
Before the Wizards, Satoransky spent two years with Barcelona and he could experience first-hand the influence Juan Carlos Navarro had on everybody. He learned a lot while playing with him and took his retirement as one final lesson:
“The most amazing about Navarro is that he was the biggest star and yet the most normal guy. While we were playing together in Barcelona he was no longer in his prime, but you could feel his magic touch. He just came to work every day. His retirement is a lesson for life. You can achieve everything, win it all, be Juan Carlos Navarro, but at the end, you can’t beat your own body. He had too many injuries in the last few years, and had to quit.”