by Semih Tuna / stuna@eurohoops.net
Up to 2-1 in Group C of the Basketball Champions League Regular Season and 6-2 in Turkiye Sigorta Basketbol Super Ligi, Darussafaka Lassa jumped to a fast start in the 2023-24 campaign. Latvian forward Janis Timma has been part of the success.
Timma, 31, talked to Eurohoops about his contract with Dacka, shooting for the NBA, the wide differences between the league based in North America and the European approach, and missing out on participating in the history-making run of Latvia in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, among other topics.
For the Istanbul outfit, the Latvian sharpshooter is averaging 10.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per contest over eight appearances across continental and domestic action, including a 28-point effort against Reeder Samsunspor in Round 8 of the BSL Regular Season on Saturday. Fueling the best performance of the season, he connected 11/15 from the field, including 6/9 three-pointers in Samsun.
Trade during breakfast
Q: I read one of your interviews in the past and saw this story: You were in Memphis Grizzlies‘ facilities in 2015 when you learned that you got traded to Orlando Magic while having breakfast. Your reaction was, ‘Okay, can I finish the practice?’. Are you always that kind of a calm person?
A: I mean, yes. It is not the first day in business for me. It was a shock for me, but at the same time, I understood it was something new, exciting, a new chapter for me. I was thinking about big things and stuff like that in Memphis. At that time, I was 23. I was still young. I thought, ‘Okay, cool’. I had just finished the first practice, it was conditioning. At that time, in the morning we were doing conditioning practice. Then we came back to the facility, had breakfast and I changed my clothes in the locker room for a workout. We were sitting in the locker room, talking to each other. Then the GM came to me and said ‘You got traded’. I was like, ‘Oh, okay. Can I finish the practice?’. Everybody, even the coaches were surprised. They were like ‘Hey, we were spending so much time for you. Now you are going to come and kick our asses. It is not fair. Why are you going?’. I am okay with these things. I am not taking anything personally. They are meant to happen.
Q: Every year, we see European players getting selected in the draft. But from Ventspils to the draft… This is not a thing that we see very often. How was that process?
A: I finished the season and at that time, we had this Treviso camp. They invited me to the camp. I showed myself really well there, we thought like ‘Let’s go to the draft’. I don’t want to lie, there was less than a month, maybe even less time left for the draft. I had six or seven teams that wanted me to come to workouts. I had time to attempt only three places: Houston, Atlanta, and Memphis. I went to these three teams. In Memphis, a funny thing happened. I finished my workout, it was my first workout. For the second workout, one guy was missing, somebody didn’t arrive. One of the coaches came to the locker room and said ‘Who wants to participate one more time?’. I said ‘I’m ready’. So, I did two workouts in a row. Maybe that was also one of the reasons why they liked me. I had just finished the workout, and after work, there were exercises about running the court for two or three minutes. You just run up and down. I did that too. Even after that, I felt alright. After the second practice, they said ‘No no no, you don’t need to run again’ (laughs). After Treviso camp, I entered the draft and it was like the last seat on the bus. I think that was a mistake, but I don’t regret that. Because if I’d have entered the draft next year, I’d have been picked from the higher picks. There wasn’t a lot of time for people to understand me, my game, and scout me. But it is what it is and it was an amazing experience.
Q: After two very successful seasons with Zenit, you jumped to another level with Baskonia. I have to be honest with you, we were calling you ‘Swiss knife’. European basketball loves point forwards like you. You were one of them. How was the adaptation to the next level?
A: It wasn’t that hard actually. I think what helped me a lot was playing in the national team with the older guys against national teams like Spain, France, Slovenia, and Greece, basically the teams whose rosters are formed by EuroLeague or NBA players. I think that helped me a lot to adjust. For me, usually, it is not that hard to adjust to a different level because, since my childhood, I’ve always played with older guys. I think this was one of the advantages of me about going so fast to another level. It wasn’t that hard. I felt good. I felt a new challenge, I felt like I could play my game here easily too.
“I didn’t close the doors to the NBA”
Q: Your NBA rights were held by Orlando Magic and you were the free agent for the first time. You wanted to take your shot in the NBA, unfortunately, that didn’t happen. I know, you know and basically everyone knows you are not a G League player. Did you wait for your chances in the Magic?
A: That would be the most painful question because basically, I gave up my last two years from the EuroLeague, Europe, to be there, to show myself. G League is a totally different world. Players play differently. It is not about team play, it is an individual thing. I understand that I am more of a team player. Like you said, I can do everything on the court and help the team win. But there, it is different. Different games, different ways of playing basketball. I guess Orlando didn’t need that kind of player, so they didn’t pick me up. There were talks about 10-day contracts but it never came out.
But still, I didn’t close the doors to the NBA. I just want to play. It’s always been my dream and I wanna experience this environment and I know that I can fit in this system too.
Q: You said it is individual, I believe that it is also about business, contract side too. Ex-EuroLeague MVP Vasilije Micic doesn’t play a lot of minutes right now. What do you think about it?
A: Like I said, it is a different basketball. It is hard to compare. EuroLeague basketball and NBA basketball are two different worlds. They play the same game but the only thing similar is, that you need to make shots, the ball needs to go through the net. Other than that, everything is different. We see plenty of good EuroLeague players, and stars going there and cannot play. We see a lot of NBA stars coming to Europe and they cannot do anything. It is hard. At the end of the day, this is business. This is how they see basketball in the US, this is how they see basketball in Europe. I think it is never going to be the same.
Q: After that experience, you had a short stint in Kazan, then you passed up the next one and a half years. Was that because of injuries, or were there any other reasons?
A: I never had big injuries in my life (Thank God). I’m feeling great and healthy and I was healthy. It was just I didn’t want to give up that easily. I always thought ‘Okay, this didn’t work out, those doors didn’t open up, let’s try another door’. I was trying to be around because if you are around that area, you are around those people and that world, you will get more chances. Somebody will see you, somebody will appreciate, like your game, will take a look at you. But if you are out of there, there are fewer possibilities. That’s why I was living there. I was practicing, I was trying to keep myself in the game shape. At the end of the day, I was tired of just practicing. I love this game, I love playing the real game. Those emotions that basketball brings to you, practices don’t bring them.
Moving to Darussafaka
Q: About Dacka… How did the transfer process happen?
A: Basically, one day I got a phone call from my agent. He said ‘I might have a team in Turkey for you, are you ready? It is Darussafaka’. I knew this team from the best side, I knew how the team was built, and how everything was going on with the team. I heard everything positive about Dacka and I said ‘Okay’. The coach was also a big part of this. He was the assistant coach for Anadolu Efes, so he knew me, and he saw how I could help. That was the reason. I said ‘Okay, I’m ready to come and help win every game’.
Q: You didn’t spend so much time with the team and didn’t have much time to explore the city but what have you seen so far both team and city-wise?
A: City-wise, I’m not really exploring a lot because I’ve been here a lot of times. I love big cities. I don’t have any problems with the lifestyle, the traffic and all that. I’ve always played in more or less big cities. It is easy for me. With the team… From the stars, a couple weeks to understand the system, and how everything goes. Guys were playing for three months and I came in, and everything changed a little bit. I need to adapt for them, they need to adapt for me. I guess everything worked out well. I think we had one of the best starts in Darussafaka so far. Even though we miss some players, we still fight and don’t give up. I like the group of guys here. I like the coaching staff. Everything is great.
Q: You have an out option in your contract. What are your thoughts? Are you going to use it? Any certain plans?
A: It is hard to say. Yes, I have a contract option. I still have two games left before I need to decide. There have been talks with the teams. Of course, I’d love to stay here, everything is going well but I really miss EuroLeague basketball. I think I can help a lot of teams, improve their strengths in positions with my game and experience. But it is hard to say right now. My focus is on the next two games. We need to win them. That is my main goal for now.