Interview with Nachbar

Question: As a player who proved himself at all levels, what attracted you to join Efes Pilsen and Euroleague (other than money)?
Nachbar : It is a very well organized team with very high goals, great players, very good coach and it is in one of the best european cities.

Question: Before signing what was your opinion about Efes Pilsen and Turkey?
Nachbar : I heard good things. the team is proffesional, they have great fans. I hope I can help this team reach even higher.

Question: Some people have called Euroleague a perfect combination between the NCAA and the NBA: the very passionate crowds and team basketball of the former, with a skill level that is always getting closer to the latter. Do you agree with that? What is your opinion?
Nachbar : I agree. Euroleague is definetly getting better and more competitive year by year. Every year you have more teams that are better, have better rosters and better, new arenas. I think it's a great league. The only thing I dont like is the system of the season, but as a player, you must adjust to that.

Question: Here is the Efes roster for 2009-2010

p.g. kerem tunceri, ender arslan
s.g. igor rakocevic, charles smith
s.f. bootsy thornton, sinan guler
p.f. boštjan nachbar, kerem gonlum
c. mario kasun, kaya peker, dusan cantekin

Can this roster reach final 4? Which position do you think is the weakest link in the roster?
Nachbar : I think so, but it will not be easy. I hope we have as little weaknesses as possible.

Question: You are a versatile player. You are tall and strong enough to play in pf. Besides you shoot well and your ball handling is good enough to play sf position easily. You will probably play as a power forward in Efes. Maybe you can switch s.f position depending on strategies of the coach? Which position do you prefer most in terms of both defensive and offensive side? Will it be difficult for you to play as a power forward? Or do you prefer to play as a s.f?
Nachbar : My original psition was always small forward, but I am versatile player, so I can adjust to power forward. In the past I also played some shooting guard, so changing positions for me is not a problem.

Question: in our league we have a foreign player rule: a team can only play with 3 foreigner on the court and 2 on the bench. How do you see this rule? most probably foreign players get low minutes in the league and much more minutes in the euroleauge games? How does it effect you?
Nachbar : I have played with the same rule last year in Russia with Dynamo and I didn't have any problems.

Question: We know your basketball style but we don’t know how do you see your basketball style? Could you define your basketball style? What are your stronger sides and your weak sides?
Nachbar : Probably shooting and open court basketball are my strenghts. Also the versatility. I will never speak about my weaknesses, I just work on them inj practice, to become even better player.

Question: you will play with top players like Rakocevic and Kasun as well as top turkish and american players. Considering the playing style of them especially rakocevic and kasun; what kind of a team do you think we will watch? (technically; defence oriented? Offence oriented or transition game?)
Nachbar : That is up to the coach to decide. I am sure he will find the right combination, so our team can win as many games as possible.

Question: As you know your ex head coach David Blatt's career was at the high when
he was coaching the champion Russia in the European Championship. However,
he was unsuccessful with Efes Pilsen and Dynamo Moscow. What do you think
is the main reason for the failure of Blatt in Moscow?

Nachbar : Blatt is not the only one to blame for failure of Dynamo. Problems started when financial situation started getting very bad and players started leaving. Coach can not control that, so you can not blame him.

Question: Slovenian national team has high level players such as Lakovic, Smodis,
Nesterovic, Lorbek, Vujacic and you of course. However, there were no any
significant success of this bright generation. What could be the reason
for this?
Nachbar : Many reasons. But we don't like to look back. We want to look ahead and we hope to make a big success soon.

Question: Last question: We know a lot about your basketball style. But we know little about your personality. I know it is a very challenging question but, can you describe yourself?
Nachbar : I am a positive person, passionate for basketball and fans. I can be stubborn sometimes, but I turn it into a good thing. I also like to laugh and joke a lot, so I hope I will have a lot of fun with my new teammates and the fans.