Summary: Fenerbahce - Anadolu Zero 90:93 (Sport1)
While most of the Anadolu Eps players finished last night (Wednesday) the final training session for the match against Maccabi Tel Aviv, and already went down to the dressing room, only two stayed for long minutes on the floor in Eliyahu's hands and continued to shoot dozens of three-pointers.
Naturally and symbolically, it is Vasilija Micic and Shane Larkin, the two superstars of the European champions, who will only now get to play together in the Euroleague for the first time this season.
Shortly after, when Mičić sat down for an exclusive interview with Walla!
Sports, I was going to ask him what the secret of the magic of the combination between him and Larkin is.
But in light of the spectacle that unfolded before my eyes, it seems that this question was spared me.
"We try not to complain or look for excuses, but to serve as an example for everyone," says the Serbian guard.
- For 15 rounds, Will Clyburn and you carried Epps, along with Rudy Beauvois.
Aren't you afraid that in the short and immediate term, Larkin's return will slightly upset the balance?
"Now I don't have to keep it a secret anymore, and can say what I said only in closed conversations: it's much easier for me and I feel much more comfortable when Shane is with me. Yes, it was hard for me without him. Somehow, when he's there, no matter how the season develops, I know in the end we'll find a way to play the best we can. Now we also have Will, who is one of the best players I've worked with. We don't have much time, but we'll need an adjustment period to get a feel for each other, and if we're all healthy - we We will get where we need to go."
"I don't expect promises from the teams in the NBA, but only trust."
Vasiliy Micich in Tel Aviv (Photo: Danny Maron)
- How important is the freedom you get from Argin Atman to you?
"To be honest, Atman and I hardly speak. It's already our fifth year together, and we've built such a relationship, that we both know what our goal is and what our mission is. He knows that I'm dedicated to basketball, and he respects that. He gives us freedom, and knows that I will always do everything To be successful, even when I have less good games. Basketball changes, and becomes very fast, and you have to adapt yourself. He did it, and he deserves all the credit."
Anadolu Efes is not just the reigning Euroleague champion.
The team that will take the field in Tel Aviv tonight at 21:05 can definitely be talked about in terms of a "dynasty".
In 2019, she stunned Europe, when from the depths of last place she embarked on an exciting journey that stopped only with a loss in the final;
In 2020, it already dominated the Euroleague table and seemed to be on the way to a historic win for the club, but the corona epidemic brought the season to a halt and its cancellation;
In 2021 and 2022, she started stuttering and suffered quite a few losses, and in each case she came to her senses and peaked at the right time to lift the European Cup again and again.
Eps is the third team in the Euroleague era to win two consecutive cups;
It was preceded by Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2004 and 2005, and Olympiakos in 2012 and 2013.
If you do this this season as well, and you will be the first since Yugoplastica Split (1989-1991) to complete three wins in three years, there will be no doubt to whom belongs the glorious, impressive and successful dynasty in this era.
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"I went through a trauma, but the fight only increased my dedication to the game."
European champion and MVP (photo: official website, Anadolu Efes)
- Last week I asked Vasilis Spanoulis which dynasty was the greatest of all, and unsurprisingly he chose Olympiakos.
"It's hard for me to be objective, too," Micic admits, "but every dynasty has its uniqueness. My first memories of basketball were watching Sharas' Maccabi. I admired him. I watched all the games then, I was a kind of encyclopedia, and in my eyes, this team started the The change in basketball.
"As Spanolis told you, there was really something unexpected about Olympiakos, because it didn't have the financial tools that other teams had, and it managed to build an amazing chemistry in the team.
But even with us, Efes did not have a tradition of success in the Euroleague and we created something completely new, which no one predicted in advance."
- Atman declared at the very beginning of your joint journey that you would win the Euroleague.
"True, and I didn't listen to him. He earned the right to say what he wanted, but it's not easy to think about these things at the beginning of the season. I just tried to focus each time on the upcoming game."
"We hardly talk. When he said from the beginning that we would win, I didn't listen to him."
Micic with Atman (Photo: GettyImages, Giuseppe Cottini)
Micic, who will celebrate his 29th birthday in about two weeks, grew up in Kraljevo, 120 km south of Belgrade. His brother-in-law is Luka Mitrovic, a player for Red Star Belgrade (ex Hapoel Jerusalem), and his real hobby is skiing. Yes, today He is living in a dream. Clichéd as it may sound, this is the reality: in the last two years, on the way to two wins, he was twice named MVP of the Final Four, and in 2021 he was also named the player of the season; last year he was the factory's king of baskets (18.2 points); and this season he is Averages 17.9 points and 6.5 assists per game, on his way to a 21.5 rating - the second best, only behind Olympiakos' Sasha Wezenkov.
And all of this is not obvious at all, in light of the difficulties that "Vasa" went through on the way to the top.
At the age of 17, when he played for Mega Vizora, he tore the cruciate ligament in his knee and was sidelined for an entire season.
Two years later, after raising it together with Boban Marjanović to the Adriatic League, he broke his hand.
His debut season abroad, with Bayern Munich in 2015, was interrupted by another torn ligament, this time in the elbow.
- When you were injured at such a young age, and you missed a critical year, were you close to breaking? Did you believe that one day you would still be among the biggest stars in Europe?
"As a child , everything around me was pink and beautiful, and it was hard to suffer such a blow.
I was traumatized, and I knew I would pay a price and lose from it, but this fight changed my career and increased my dedication to the game.
The biggest difficulty was actually later, when I was already back and feeling good, and then I got injured in Bayern.
I thought it would be difficult for me to come back again.
But when I also overcame this obstacle, everything became easier."
"I feel much more comfortable when he is by my side. Somehow, we will find the way to play the best."
Micic with Larkin (photo: screenshot, Euroleague TV)
- In the home Final Four for you, last year in Belgrade, your picture was carried on billboards, and placed on the counters at the airport.
Is this something you can get used to?
"I don't get used to it and I don't take these things for granted. I worked hard for them. I try not to stay in the past and not live thinking about the future, because who like me knows how in this field you are up one day, and the next day you find yourself down. I come from a basketball country In Serbia they talk about it all the time, and everyone has something to say. They criticize you, and cast doubt on every player. Maybe except for Nikola Jokic"...
- Which victory was sweeter and more special?
"The second one, in Belgrade, was the most special for me. No one believed that we would win twice, they doubted us, they didn't understand that there was something special in the character of these players. We went through quite a few ups and downs throughout the season, but we believed that we would find the way to turn it into something good. Yes, there was We are lucky that the Russian teams were removed because of the war, because all three were good, but that's life. Of course, it was very special for me to win the cup in my own country."
- Larkin told here in the past that you had a hard time coming back from the corona shutdown.
"We were thinking about what would have happened if the atmosphere was not good, and it was difficult to find the energy and restart," he said.
"Everyone reacted differently to the situation. Some of the players felt empty, others were angry. It was out of our control, and at some point we realized that we needed to move on. For me, this was a key period. I am one who believes in a lot of personal work, and I finally had time to do the It's as it should be. For six months I went through personal training and dedicated myself to preparations for the next season. When we came back, I was the MVP of the Euroleague."
"I was a basketball encyclopedia."
During his days in Zalgiris, with his role model Ronas Jasikvicios (Photo: GettyImages)
- You know that the month of January is approaching, and with it will surely come the annual headlines about your expected move to the NBA.
Micic laughs.
"Oh, right."
- How has it not happened yet?
"I don't know, I don't have a smart answer. I'm more than ready to go there, and I want it. That's my ambition. So far it's been down to details, and the time that has passed only increases my expectation. I'm investing to prove that I'm at the appropriate level. But it has to fit to both sides".
- Could it be that in the NBA they doubt you, because of one or another disdain for European basketball?
"I don't think I'm being doubted, but maybe they're not sure that I'll be ready to accept the position they've assigned me there. I don't expect promises about status or anything, but only that they'll trust me. I believe that this time, things are moving in the right direction."
sport
basketball
Euroleague and European basketball
Tags
Vasili Micich
Anadolu Zero
Maccabi Tel Aviv in basketball