INTERVIEW: Wright – “In ABA League it’s a dogfight every night”

Union Olimpija have kept improving their performances since the New Year"s and so far they reached their peak with the last round"s win against playoffs bound Mega Leks. We made a chat with one of their key players from the past period - Zack Wright.

The American spoke about the season, important victories over the past period, young Union Olimpija team and the ABA League in general, as the foreign players see it. Read more in the interview below.

You have been in trouble in the ABA League a few rounds ago, as you have been fighting to avoid relegation. Now after 3 wins over the recent period, do you think that you have reached the safe zone?

The game against Mega Leks was important. We did not start it very well, but we did our job in the second half. Now we have won some tough games that we were supposed to win. We have played a lot better since January. Even against Cedevita and Crvena zvezda Telekom we were close and we could have won, but this game was exceptionally important for our position in the standings. We are trying to reach European competitions and wish to finish as high in the standings as possible, our goal is still the fifth place. Now there are only two games remaining, many teams are close, so we have to win as many as we can and nothing is impossible."

As you pointed out yourself, after the New Year, your team has improved its performances in both competitions, even though it wasn't so clearly visible from results due to tough schedule until now. What was the key for your improvement in almost every aspect during this period?

"We clicked as a team, after the arrival of Robinson. You know, some teams are just like that. We are a new team and it took us a bit longer. We were playing well in the Eurocup since the very beginning and so-so in the ABA League. In the second half of the season, we continued playing well in the Eurocup, but it was a lot tougher to win games due to excellent opponents, while in ABA League the victories also came. Our team chemistry came together. We started trusting each other and started sharing the ball and now everyone find their roles. It"s easier now."

You have a pretty young team - do you believe that the progress of the whole team could be linked to the progress of those youngsters?

"Of course. Our young guys work hard and are very talented. Actually, for such a young team we are playing pretty well. These young guys practice a lot with the head coach individually. They are improving a lot and are still going to throughout the season. As well, they are pretty confident and so it is not a surprising fact that when they play well, we play better as a team to."

This season is the first in the ABA League for you. What is your opinion about the competition and how would you compare it to the other competitions where you have played before?

"I tell everyone that it is just different. You have got your top teams that are really good and then there is a lot of farm teams, so there is a fight every night. When you look at one team you may not know anyone on their roster, but when you step on the court, everyone is playing tough. ABA League is for me one of the toughest leagues. Everyone is fighting, hustling. I am confident in saying that. It is an own league and cannot be compared to anything else. When I was considering my move to Union Olimpija I spoke about it with Alex Stepheson, who used to play here. He told me: "Man, it"s a dogfight every night there.” And that"s how it - even teams that are not too talented play tough. All of them are tough and tactically smart."

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Zack Wright: "V ligi ABA se vsako noč bojujemo na nož”

Union Olimpija je stopnjevala kakovost svojih predstav vse od novega leta dalje in za zdaj lahko govorimo o tem, da so njene predstave vrhunec dosegle v zadnjem kolu na tekmi proti Mega Leksu. Pogovarjali smo se z enim njenih ključnih igralcev v minulem obdobju - Zackom Wrightom.

Američan je spregovoril o sezoni, pomembnih zmagah v zadnjem obdobju, mladem moštvu Union Olimpije, pa tudi ligi ABA na splošno, kot jo vidijo tujci. Več si preberite v spodnjih vrsticah.

V ligi ABA ste še pred nekaj koli bili v težavah, ko ste se krčevito borili, da bi se odlepili od dna lestvice. Zdaj, ko ste v kratkem času zmagali na kar treh tekmah, pa se zdi da ste zajadrali v mirnejše vode. Se strinjate?

"Tekma proti Mega Leksu je bila izjemno pomembna. Nismo začeli dobro, a smo opravili svoje delo v drugem polčasu. Uspeli smo slaviti zmage na nekaj tekmah, kjer smo enostavno morali zmagati. Veliko bolje igramo že vse od januarja. Tudi proti Cedeviti in Crveni zvezdi Telekom smo bili blizu zmage in bi lahko tudi zmagali, a tekma v Sremski Mitrovici je bila izjemno pomembna za naš položaj na lestvici. Trudimo se uvrstiti se v evropska tekmovanja in si želimo končati sezono čim višje na lestvici. še vedno nismo obupali nad našim ciljem po osvojitvi petega mesta. Zdaj ostajata le še dve tekmi, veliko moštev je izenačenih in nič ni nemogoče."

Kot ste sami omenili, od novega leta dalje igrate precej bolje, četudi to ni bilo od samega začetka vidno zaradi zahtevnega sporeda tekem. Kaj je bilo ključno za vaš vzpon v tem času?

"Enostavno je nekaj kliknilo znotraj moštva s prihodom Robinsona. Veste, nekatera moštva so pač taka. Smo na novo sestavljeno moštvo in zato je trajalo nekoliko dlje. V evropskem pokalu igramo dobro že od samega začetka, medtem ko smo se v ligi ABA lovili. V drugem delu sezone smo v Evropi nadaljevali z dobrimi predstavami, a to ni bilo tako dobro vidno zaradi zahtevnih tekmecev, medtem ko so zmage prišle tudi v ligi ABA. Ustvarili smo pravo kemijo. Začeli smo zaupati drug drugemu, žoga zdaj dobro kroži in vsak je našel svojo vlogo. Zdaj je vse enostavneje."

Imate precej mlado moštvo. Verjamete, da bi lahko bil napredek moštva povezan z njihovim individualnim napredkom?

"Seveda. Mladi dobro delajo in so nadarjeni. Pravzaprav za tako mlado moštvo igramo zelo dobro. Mladi veliko trenirajo tudi individualno s trenerjem. Močno napredujejo in še bodo do konca sezone. Prav tako so precej samozavestni in nobeno presenečenje ni, da ko igrajo oni dobro, igra dobro celotno moštvo."

Letošnja sezona je za vas krstna v ligi ABA. Kakšno je vaše mnenje o tekmovanju in kako bi ga primerjali z ostalimi tekmovanjih, kjer ste do sedaj nastopali?