Thanks to his playing in the national team last year he had started the new season fully prepared.
Goran Dragić confirmed he would play at the World Championship. It will be his third participation at the competition of the best world national teams: "I said I would play, and that's what counts. I am already looking forward to the action."
The best Slovenian basketball player, who this year excelled in the NBA League and won the Most Improved Player award for the season, at first hesitated regarding his participation at the World Championship in Spain in September, mostly because of the very gruelling year he had. But after a month of rest, after careful consideration, and a meeting with the selector Jure Zdovc he came to the final decision which made the basketball fans very happy: "The decision is made; actually it was made a week ago at the meeting. We took some time to make arrangements with my club. Now everything is in perfect order. The club supports my decision. I also discussed it at home with my wife, and we decided I would play. I am already looking forward to the action. The only instructions the club gave me was that I should train according to an adjusted programme; this still has to be finalized with the KZS (Basketball Federation of Slovenia) – e.g. I probably won't travel to China. But I said I would play, and that's what counts the most."
Agreement regarding a special training programme
"I had decided even before meeting with Zdovc, but I was not yet hundred percent sure. I had to wait for the meeting, for Jure to present his programme, and I had to explain my standpoint – regarding my ankle, and the training. The KZS had to agree with that, otherwise an agreement would have been difficult to reach, as after all I need to consider my health. The KZS showed correct regard, they were open to my suggestions. Obviously I can't disregard my club's request for a modified schedule. We will try to find common grounds and make everybody happy, both the club and the national team," added Dragić, who excelled at the last European Championship and made it to the tournament team.
The Phoenix Suns had advised the first playmaker against participating at the championship, rumour has it that they had planned to do everything in their power to prevent "Gogi" from playing there, but the 28 year old basketball player from Ljubljana said that the club respected his decision, and supported their greatest star: "Their concern is understandable due to my injuries. The season was very gruelling, just as the summer before. I have explained the situation. The world championship is shorter, the number of matches is smaller, and the preparations a bit shorter as well. At the most we will play nine matches at the championship, and the strain ill be lesser than last year. Almost two months are left until the start of the preparations, and I don't expect any problems."
Hornacek supports his decision
The outstanding playmaker, also the best Slovenian shooter at the European Championship held at home, will train according to a special programme which will be defined jointly, by his club and the national team, and most likely he will not travel to China where the national team will play a preparation tournament. "For June, when we will have a camp in Treviso, the general managers of Phoenix, his assistant, and coach assistant have announced their arrival. It would be a good idea to agree on a meeting with KZS, and to define the final details regarding my training."
Dragić also talked with the coach Jeff Hornacek, under whose leadership he proved himself in the strongest league of the world. The previous excellent defender supports Goran's decision: "On Monday I spoke with Hornacek. We talked about the national team. He is only worried I might come to the club preparations completely drained. He sees no problems, only we have to agree on the training programme. He also believes the national team helped me come to Phoenix maximally prepared, as I had enough matches behind me. I agree with him. The matches I will play at the championship can have only a positive impact, except in case of injuries."
His ankle demands attention
The Suns basketball player had additional examination of the ankle, after it was sprained five times during this season. The scan showed he would be able to join the preparation from day one. "My ankle is fine. There are no problems. Everything is healed, it only needs strengthening, and the easiest way to do it is by training. In Belgrade I had the scan of ligaments, and they checked whether the strained ligaments have healed. And they have, as I have been resting for a month. One is torn, but eight out of ten basketball players would tell you the same. It shows that the ankle lacks strength. I will have to strengthen it. We'll see how it will react at the preparations, under stress. Definitely it will have to be bandaged for training as well; until now I did it only for the matches. As a kind of prevention."
"For these two months I will give up my time with my family, but it won't be a holiday – it will be work. Regardless of who will be in the team, I believe in our quality, and in the young players, and I think we can reach a good result. The group is pleasing. Lithuania and Australia will be a hard nut to crack, but we can play against anybody. We have a nice opportunity to advance, and get the stronger teams, like the USA, only in the quarterfinals, if it turns out all right. We will try to win every match, and we will fight. We'll see about the centre, where we don't have many choices. But we can adapt our play, as we did last year, and excel in speed, which cause quite a lot of problems to our opponents. But that depends on the trainer," he explained his high expectations before his third world championship. "Gogi" has played at all the big championships, and the first was the 2006 world championship in Japan, when Slovenian entered the basketball WC for the first time.
Will Beno fit within the system of Zdovc?
Every year quite a stir is caused about the national team and Beno Udrih. The second Slovenian NBA player this year supposedly »even considered« his participating. The last time he played in the year Dragić played for the first time, but Goran hopes that this year Udrih will (finally) help with his experiences, and his undisputable quality. "I asked Jure about Udrih. He said they haven't spoken with Beno yet. At the end of the season, when we played against Memphis, we spoke about that. He said he would come to play, but it is his turn now. I consider playing for the national team my duty. I can act as a kind of bridge between players and KZS, they can count on me, but it is not my job. KZS has to approach the players and discuss the situation. Personally I don't know whether Jure sees Beno within his system. It is a question you have to address to Jure. I never had any problems with Beno, nor with any other player. I will be happy to see him in the national team, and I do hope his decision will be positive."
"I hope Erazem will come, and Domen as well. Then there are the Murić brothers, if Dino joins in. We are the only national team where one half of the team consists of brothers (laughter). And with Klobučar one half of the team will be left-handed, another peculiarity! We are a phenomenon. It makes us an even more closely connected unit," he ended on a humorous note, jokingly commenting the Slovenian phenomena of brotherly connections in the national team.
Tilen Jamnik
Translated by G. K.
