After the convincing basketball win of Helios Domžale over Union Olimpija in Slovenia's championship Telemach League, we talked to Zmago Sagadin, the head coach of the team from Domžale. Earlier in his career Sagadin spent 17 years in Olimpija. In Helios he has taken upon the task of producing young quality players. But the club still hasn't issued any paychecks this year and for the last couple of months Sagadin's biggest problem has been how to motivate his players. In the interview we also touched on the regional ABA League, and the sad fact that both Krka and Union Olimpija were far from making it to Final Four Tournament of the league.

Was Saturday's win against Olimpija especially sweet?
Sure was. Players go into these kind of games especially motivated. It's a big thing to beat a team like Olimpija. It's the result of long-term work and not just one practice session. I have mixed feelings though as I consider Olimpija my child. Once it ranked very high in European basketball. Now we can all see where it is. But we have difficulties as well. Due to our club's unresolved financial situation its very existence is under question. The chances for survival are 50:50.

Helios will be taken over by Austrians. The long-standing Chairman of the Board, Uroš Slavinec, had to say farewell. Will there be money for basketball?
I'm not a board member in the company and I don't know anything. It is a tragedy though that another good company will be taken over by foreigners. It's a fact that the basketball club did function normally until mid-December. Since then nobody has received any pay. We've been in a vegetative state for three months now. Players aren't concentrated and it's hard for them to practice. They don't have clear heads. We won't be able to make it if this state continues. I hope that the new leadership of Helios shows the intention to continue financing local sport. They've kept this club alive all these years and we have to give them credit for that. It really is a well organized club which does good work with its youth categories and has great infrastructure. The cadet team is among the best in Slovenia (note: on Sunday it lost in the state championship final against Union Olimpija 75:67).

How do you motivate players in these kind of conditions?
I try to convince them that practice is essential for their development. Otherwise they won't progress and won't have the chance to go to a bigger club. I am a little fed up with the constant struggle and need to always negotiate with them whether they have to come to practice or not. I try to bring them up with the idea never to throw in the towel at the very beginning. But of course the situation we're in is not good, not for the club and not for Slovenian basketball.

Have any of the players already expressed their wish to leave the club? Considering the financial situation some players will have to be sold...
Helios is like a center for production. It plans to cover some of next year's budget by selling certain players. It is very likely that the club's management will sell two of our players. I don't want to talk about names. However all our boys know that by going through Zmago Sagadin's program they are moving in the right direction.

However it is difficult to find a good offer in Slovenia. The conditions in the country are not rosy. Krka is maybe one exception.
Laško's financial situation is also normal. Maribor has set up a consortium and in Rogaška, where the mayor runs the club, things are under control. Things are well set up in some places. In others sadly they’re not.

What was Helios's budget for this season?
I don't know. The club's financial operations are unknown to me.

When you were in Olimpija many remarked that you often interfered in the club's financial operations...
As if I dealt with finances and not with players! A coach has no clue. He only works in the gym.

Being one of the founders of the ABA League, it would be interesting to hear your opinion about the mandatory 150 thousand euro fee that the third Slovenian team will have to pay to enter the league next season. That third team could very well turn out to be Helios, but it probably isn't capable of paying the amount!
The main idea behind that was to allow only well standing clubs to enter the league, while those not so well-off would play in the state championships. But Slovenia's league is also expensive. You have to cover the costs for transport, referees, hotels. Everyone would rather play in the ABA League. Due to the difficult economic situation, we are talking about dropping the registration fee. It would be much smarter for the club to invest its money in the team.

The ABA League final tournament will be held this week. Once again Slovenia's clubs didn't even get close to the top four...
I am upset. Krka was in an excellent financial state this year. Olimpija's situation was also solid. However it was Croatia’s Cibona that made it to the Final Four, although penniless. It's a tragedy.

Two months ago Toni Cahunek was a guest in our chat room. He's the author of the documentary The World of Betting. He shocked everyone by saying that the ABA League was formed with the intention to manipulate sports bets and that many of the games are rigged. Your comment?
That's crazy. The fact that the last team in the standings gets relegated from the league means that decisive games were played until the very last round. Four teams fought hard not to be relegated and all the games in the bottom part of the standings were very important. Among other things country's also compete against each other for the national coefficient. In the last round six out of the seven games decided about something. So in short, statements that games are rigged are ludicrous.

Cahunek emphasizes the unbelievably big number of games with complete turnarounds (one team leads at half-time and the other team wins at the end). Far more than in other basketball leagues in Europe.
That's the kind of sport basketball is. We have the biggest problem when we lead at half-time by 20 points. You're still far from convinced that you'll win. Young players don't know how to maintain that kind of lead. They play better in the second half if the lead is not so great.