By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
After his first season in the NBA, during which he didn’t turn many heads, Nemanja Bjelica is ready to prove why he was the EuroLeague MVP and what he can really do.
“When I came, I was MVP of the EuroLeague,” he said to “Star Tribune“. “But I needed to do something else here. I knew I belonged here, and I want to finish my career in the NBA. But I needed to change some things. I needed to work on my body. Now I’m ready. I put work in over the summer. I know what I can expect this year. I’m ready for the season, mentally and physically.”
Coach Tom Thibodeau agrees: “He’s done a good job. He has]that skill set as a power forward — our league has moved more toward that — to spread the floor. It adds another three-point shooter to the group. It’s not just his ability to shoot, it’s his ability to put it on the floor and make plays and be efficient.”
For Bjelica is important to feel important: “All my career I like to feel important to the team. It doesn’t matter what kind of role I will have; I just want to feel important. I play my best basketball when I have some kind of freedom, when I can create for myself or my teammates,” he said. “This is like, my most powerful weapon. It’s not that I don’t like to shoot. I like to do everything on the court. I think I have that opportunity. My family, they are happy here. I mean, the U.S., it’s like a promised country. You have everything here. I can’t promise we’ll play in the playoffs, but this is a team with a bright future. We just need to play hard every game. I hope fans will feel that.”