By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
It was just before midnight, CSKA had just qualified to the Final Four and the doors of the guests locker rooms at OAKA opened. And the first think you could see was Andrei Kirilenko smiling! The biggest icon of modern Russian basketball returned to Europe to win the Euroleague, but most of all to enjoy basketball in what will probably the last season of his career.
Eurohoops was there to share his joy and also his approach in the most important part of the season. A season that started for him in a very strange way in the NBA and may end up in Euroleague glory.
– It was a strange season so far from you, leaving the NBA and returning to Europe. How do you feel about it?
“I had some issues in my personal life, but of course I know that I can still play on the high level. I know it in my mind. I don’t need anybody else to tell me that. I know that I am going to be down soon (laughs). I know that. And as soon as I won’t be able play on the high level, I will be done, right away! During the last month I couldn’t play in the level I used to before, but it only takes some time and some games to be get back into a rhythm. My teammates, my coach believed in me. When your coach believes in you, you can play on a different level. When you coach is not counting you and you are playing just 3 or 4 minutes, then you can’t”.
– CSKA was already rolling without you. How did you became a part of the team’s chemistry so quick?
“Look, I was raised in the CSKA system. I know the majority of the guys, the doctors, the personel, I know them for many, many years. And chemistry-wise, there wasn’t a single problem. Ask any guy, any of my teammates! I have never been a vocal teammate who said give me the ball and I will do all the rest. No! I was raised on the John Stockton example. He was quiet, he was always there, he was giving everything on the floor and he was valuable. That’s my life, that’s my career, that’s the way I was playing whole my career”.
– What’s your take on coach Dimitris Itoudis?
“He is very attentive to details in his preparation before the game. It’s tough some times for the players, because there are so many details. But he is trying to give his best. He is more like a diplomatic coach. He is also very emotional. He is trying to be aggresive with his players, but it always starts with us. You are reading your coach, you are learning him, you have ups and downs, but so far we are doing a great job. Things are working”.
– And now you are going to play in Madrid in the gym in which you won Eurobasket 2007…
“Yes, we have good memories from there. It doesn’t mean anything right now, but we have good memories and I hope we can add some more memories”.
– Do you care about the perception there is about you in the States as a player?
“I am about to finish my career anyway and I feel like I had a tremendous career in the NBA. I think I am the all time leader small forward in blocks, or something like that, that’s what they told me (smiles). I think it’s a very good achievement anyway. I played in the All Star Game, I played in the rookie game, I was part of the All defensive teams. I had many important games in my career, so I don’t have any regrets”.
– And winning the Euroleague will be an ideal finish?
“Don’t get me wrong. I love to be a Euroleague champion and that’s where we going to. That’s what we want to be. But my game perception is that it’s only basketball. We give everything on the floor and when the game is over, it’s just over. Don’t think about it. Everybody is keep asking about the 2012 when we lost to Olympiacos in the final. The game was over and in the next hour you are done and you are thinking about the next one. That’s my perception about it, about everything in basketball. When the game is over, the game is over. There’s no time to be sorry for youself. If the other team is better than you in this particular night what you are going to do? Blame the referees, blame the opponents? Somebody fouled you and they didn’t call it? What you are going to do? Nothing! Accept it and move on”.