Mulalić: "The most important shot of my career!"

Not only in Dolenjska or Slovenia, Mirko Mulalić was the most often used pair of words over the past few days amongst basketball fans in whole former Yugoslavia! Not surprisingly, taking into account his amazing shot, made with the buzzer in Pionir hall.

When the buzzer went on at the game against Partizan NIS, Mirko Mulalović made a shot attempt from Krka's half. Some would say it was a desperate attempt, others would say that he tried his luck, while Mirko insists that he believed in the shot. One thing is certain - he scored the most spectacular shot of the season so far. He spoke about the amazing moment, which already reached almost 200,000 views on YouTube and some other things in the interview for our website.

Over the past few days, your three point shot was the main basketball topi cof Balkans, if not wider. How is it to be a hero of the week? Are you still receiving congratulations for this winning shot?

"The feeling is truly special. After the game I received a lots of compliments and I realized only the next day what a crazy shot I had hit. And I did it against the team like Partizan NIS, in the middle of Pionir, in amazing atmosphere."

What appeared in your mind, when you received the ball with 3 seconds left and became the one, that needed to decide the game? Did you believe that you would make it?

"To be honest, I was thinking about the last shot already when they were executing their last free throw shots. I believed that they would intentionally miss the second one, but since they did not, I knew that I have to win as much space as possible when I get the ball, get as close to their basket as possible, and shoot. I believed that the ball would go in, but of course I am aware of the fact that it would not end the same way even if I tried for another hundred times. But this is the beauty of basketball - sometimes things, that are impossible at first sight, happen."

You are well known as a great three point shooter. But have you ever scored a similar three pointer? Is this the most important three pointer of your career?

"When I was younger I scored something similar. It was a buzzer beater at the end of a quarter, but it was not important, since we were winning with a huge margin. I have been scoring important shots before, but never with the buzzer for victory. So yes, this is the most important shot of my career."

With this prestigious victory you escaped from the bottom of the standings after several games, that did not go your way. Is the atmosphere in your locker room positive again? How do you see the remainder of the season?

"I think and believe that this victory will become a positive turning point for our team, since it has connected us even deeper. We all are considering this shot as a reward for hard work and relentlessness, that we have demonstrated before, during this season. We are striving towards the commong goal and now we are aware of the fact that the result will come, but only if we do not give up and always play until the end."

Unbelievable three-pointer by Mirko Mulalić:

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Mulalić: "Najpomembnejši koš moje dosedanje kariere!"

Ne le na Dolenjskem ali v Sloveniji, med ljubitelji košarke na področju celotne nekdanje Jugoslavije, je bila v zadnjih dneh najbolj pogosto izgovorjena besedna zveza zagotovo Mirko Mulalić! Niti malo presenetljivo, če imamo v mislih neverjetni met, ki ga je zadel z zvokom sirene v dvorani Pionir.

Ob zvoku sirene je Mirko Mulalić na tekmi s Partizanom NIS sprožil projektil s svoje polovice. Nekateri bi rekli iz obupa, drugi da je preizkušal srečo, medtem ko Mirko pravi, da je v ta met verjel. Nekaj velja zagotovo - zadel je najbolj spektakularen koš dosedanjega dela sezone. O izjemnem trenutku, ki si ga je na uradnem YouTube kanalu lige ABA ogledalo že skoraj 200.000 ljudi in še čem drugem je spregovoril v intervjuju za našo spletno stran.

V zadnjih dneh je bila vaša trojka glavna košarkarska tema celotnega Balkana, če ne celo širše. Kako je biti junak tedna? še vedno prejemate čestitke za ta zmagoviti koš?

"Občutek je res poseben. Po tekmi sem prejel ogromno čestitk in komaj naslednji dan sem se šele popolnoma zavedel, kakšen nor met mi je uspel, in to proti ekipi, kot je Partizan NIS, sredi Pionirja v odličnem vzdušju."

Kaj se vam je pojavilo v mislih, ko ste 3 sekunde pred koncem prejeli žogo in postali tisti, ki mora odločiti tekmo? Ste verjeli da bo zletela skozi obroč?

"Po pravici povedano sem o zadnjem metu razmišljal že ob izvajanju njihovih prostih metov, pričakoval sem sicer, da bodo drugič namerno zgrešili, a ker niso, sem vedel, da moram ob sprejemu žoge osvojiti čim več prostora, priti čim bližje njihovemu košu ter sprožiti. Verjel sem, da bo zletela skozi obroč, a se vseeno zavedam, če bi ponovil isto stvar stokrat, se definitivno ne bi končalo s košem za zmago. A ravno to je lepota košarke, da se tu in tam dogajajo na videz nemogoče stvari."

Poznani ste kot odličen strelec za tri točke, toda ali ste jo kdaj že dosegli na podoben način? Je to najpomembnejša trojka vaše kariere?

"Ko sem bil mlajši, mi je že uspel podoben met, sicer ob koncu četrtine, a ni bil pomemben, saj smo zmagovali z ogromno razliko. Zadeval sem že pomembne trojke, a nikoli še nisem zadel ob izteku igralnega časa za zmago. Zato je ta met v moji karieri zaenkrat daleč najpomembnejši."

S prestižno zmago ste se povzpeli z dna lestvice po nekaj tekmah, ki se niso odvile po vaših željah. Je vzdušje v garderobi spet pozitivno? Kako gledate proti nadaljevanju sezone?

"Mislim in verjamem, da je ta zmaga neka pozitivna prelomnica za našo ekipo, saj nas je povezala še globlje. Vsi gledamo na ta met kot na nagrado za trdo delo in nepopustljivost, ki smo jo nekajkrat letos že prikazali. Stremimo k skupnemu cilju, in sedaj nam je jasno, da bo rezultat prišel, a le če se ne predamo in igramo do konca!"

Neverjetna trojka Mirka Mulalića: