By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Roko Leni Ukic at his 31 years of age is one of the most respected veteran guards in Europe and he is ready for more. Speaking on OTE TV he explained his future ambitions, returning to Euroleague and winning a medal with the Croatian national team.
As he said: “I think that Croatia has a good chance to win something. That’s why I am always in the team and I still want to continue playing. I don’t believe that we need to do something special in order to achieve this goal. I think that we can do it because we are really good”.
And for him personally, a return to Euroleague will be the ideal way to close his career which included also the NBA: “I think that I can still play in the highest level and that means the Euroleague. I am in a great situation with AEK this season and in a strong league in Greece, but I believe that I can still play in the Euroleague and I want to”.
For the moment AEK and Ukic compete in the FIBA Champions League and the goal is also high: “There are 4-5 teams with the same bugdet and quality like us. Every one speaks about being in the Final Four and I would say that it’s a reachable goal but we need to play good basketball. The Greek league is a different story. There are two teams above us. We need to be optimistic, we need to look forward and try to win the games against Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. But we also need to know that those teams are on the top of European basketball and they want to win the Euroleague. We have to be realists”.
And of course he does not forget his connection with Panathinaikos and Dimitris Diamantidis: “I am greatful to Panathinaikos because I have played with Mitsos (ed.note: one of the nicknames that Diamantidis has). If I didn’t play those two years with Panathinaikos and see how you can play with your mind and not only with your legs, I would not be able to play basketball after my 30s”.