Podcast: Interviewing NBA Draft prospect Dario Saric, San Antonio Spurs writer Matthew Tynan; also Forgetting Paris

June 6, 2013

(Dario Saric image courtesy Draft Express)Episode #38 of the BallinEurope/heinnews co-produced “Taking the Charge” podcast series is now available online or via iTunes. Hein and yours truly zip through a roundup of rolling-on European league tournaments, including brief commentary on what’s happening in the VTB United League, Germany, Turkey, and those French playoffs guaranteed to be giving Jordi Bertomeu nightmares already…

Thereafter, Taking the Charge presents a chat with Dario Saric, a.k.a. The Next Big Thing Out of Croatia. Saric is surprisingly frank about his plans for the immediate future with regard to the NBA Draft and possibility continuing on with Cibona Zagreb. And by the way, yes, he expects his fully-loaded Team Croatia side to take the gold in the upcoming FIBA U19 World Championship – and honestly, BiE’s gotta side with the wunderkind on this one.

Also joining the show this week is Matthew Tynan of the San Antonio Spurs-centric ESPN TrueHoop Network site 48 Minutes of Hell. Tynan weighs in on Tony Parker’s awesomeness, Tim Duncan’s legacy, Tiago Splitter’s recent emergence as a key factor in San Antonio’s success and the bittersweet difficulty of having to interview Gregg Popovich. Tynan offers us his own Official Fearless Prediction for the NBA Finals, as does Hein himself – and BiE must say that both are surprising, really.

Finally, the movie of the week is a gem of a basketball-centric romantic comedy from the 1990s, Forget Paris. This one was directed, written and co-produced by that no. 1 Los Angeles Clippers fan Billy Crystal in an apparent attempt to get the sports-obsessed guys out there to check out what might be otherwise considered a “chick flick.”

Check out the entire podcast here or to subscribe from this episode ad infinitum, enter http://heinnews.com/feed/taking-the-charge/ into iTunes or any podcast aggregator.

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This post was published on June 6, 2013
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Comments: 3
  1. Erik
    9 years ago

    Vassilis Spanoulis sets the record straight about Jeff Van Gundy and why he didn’t play with the Houston Rockets in the NBA.

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    http://www.eurohoops.net/2013/06/one-on-one/26907

    “Coach Van Gundy didn’t know me”

    By Nikos Varlas / varlas@eurohoops.net

    Vassilis Spanoulis has won Euroleague three times, the last two in a row, three Final Four MVP awards, and one season MVP award. After all this success, the question posed to him by the Spanish magazine “Gigantes” in June’s edition was why he didn’t have a solid career in the NBA. “Eurohoops” helped in getting the answers, and despite this being a really old story, since he played in Houston back in the 2006-07 season, here’s what he had to say:

    “I believe that I was at the wrong time in the wrong place. Unfortunately, I had never spoken with coach Van Gundy before signing with Houston. I only had conversations with the GM, who was really interested in me.

    When I arrived, the first thing I was told was that I am a rookie, so I will not play at all and they are not counting on me! I wasn’t in the plans of the coach. I was left on the bench. It was just a bad situation. The team leader was T-Mac, there was also Rafer Alston, and the coach didn’t believe that I could have some minutes in the rotation. He didn’t know me as a player. To be exact, the coach didn’t have the slightest clue about European basketball and European players. I felt really bad, like I was tricked. I was already a pretty good player in Europe. The first thing the coach said to me in my very first day in Houston was: “I don’t know you, you will not play, you are out”. I felt let let down. The next summer, coach Adelman came to the team. He called me three times, and we had some good conversations. I appreciated his gesture”.

    Spanoulis elaborated on the details of his NBA misfortune by talking to “Eurohoops”.

    – Do you consider going to Houston a bad choice?

    “I had just won a silver medal with the Greek national team in the World Championship, and I decided to play in the NBA. It turned out that what I had agreed upon, never happened. Coach Adelman wanted me, he asked me to stay, to cooperate with him and start playing. I said to him that I appreciated this, but my decision was already made. The rest was easy, the adjustment to the American way of life and the NBA lifestyle. When I don’t feel good on the basketball court, then everything is wrong and everything is bothering me. When I am full of basketball, then I can adjust, no matter the environment”.

    – Would things have been different with another coach?

    “They definitely would be. Coach Van Gundy didn’t know who I was. As I said before, coach Adelman called me and tried to be supportive. But at that point, I had lost my trust. I was angry, I was enraged, and I said to myself that I will not allow myself to be involved in such a situation again”.

    – Your rights were traded to the Spurs, before you were released and signed with Panathinaikos. What happened with the people of San Antonio?

    “I had met Tony Parker in a pre-Eurobasket warm up tournament in France. We know each other pretty well, since we were really young and competing with the junior national teams. He said to me that it would be good for me to stay with the Spurs and play together with him. However, I was not in the mood to think about it. I had decided that I wanted to play again in Europe. Coach Popovich called, and he seemed sincere about believing in me, but my mood was fixed and my gut was telling me to return”.

    – Would you consider a second chance in the NBA?

    “I don’t know under which conditions I would try my luck again in the NBA. For sure, I would like to play for a team with lofty goals. At this point, I am not thinking anything about it, but you can never say never! I am not closing the door to the NBA, but until the season in Greece is over, I am not allowing myself to think about anything else”.

    ReplyCancel
    • mike
      9 years ago

      Finally, something real and honest on Vspan. You know it’s really a shame because I really would have wanted Vspan to succeed in the NBA. I like rooting for underdogs, and I consider most internationals playing in the NBA as underdogs. I also like when they can teach Americans something about the roots of the game and it’s fundamentals which has been lost with too many American ballers.

      I hope Vspan takes up the challenge and signs with an NBA team, even as a backup. As the saying goes, “you can’t keep a good man down” too long. Eventually, the cream comes out on top. If he is really that good, there is absolutely no way that an American coach would not let him play. The jury is still out on Vpsan in the NBA, but if he prioritizes the NBA over his fame in Europe, it could happen.

      Anyway, what else can he prove in Europe? Nothing.

      ReplyCancel
      • mike
        9 years ago

        I would like to add regarding the interview though is that JVG did say in interviews later on that just because(I am paraphrasing) Vspan is not playing now, it doesn’t mean he won’t play in the future. He added, “we’ll see. we”ll see.” In retrospect, he(Vspan) allowed his emotions to overcome him, which is a sign of immaturity, and had he stuck it out, who knows what? Could he be in the NBA Finals today with the Spurs?

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