Por Alex Molina / info@eurohoops.net
KAUNAS, Lituania – There were many people related to the world of basketball today at the Vilnius airport. Former players like Patrick Femerling and Sofoklis Schortsanitis, promising youngsters who played for Adidas NGT and also relevant figures in the NBA.
Jordi Fernández, assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings and who has already been in the mix on several occasions as a potential head coach of an NBA franchise, was also there. Before boarding for Germany as a stopover to San Francisco, he spoke to Eurohoops.
The first question was clear, his impressions after a final that will go down in history. “Real Madrid is a very resilient team. Yesterday, for example, they were always behind but close enough and competing. When they had the chance to get ahead, the old guard appeared, with Sergi Llull above all. He finished with two points but those are the points that they made you win. But it was also a collective effort since everyone contributed. The veterans finished the match as they did with Barça: Sergio, Rudy, Tavares… they finished the match strongly. It is a team that has always competed very well, they’ve won many titles. It’s a very nice end to the end of the cycle, what they’ve done has a lot of merits, it’s a historic final”.
His presence in Kaunas was not only due to his passion for European basketball, as there was someone very special in the Final Four for him and the Kings.
The Sacramento team owns the rights to the Euroleague MVP, who shone as always in the final but was unable to win the title.
“I watched Vezenkov closely. Throughout the Final Four and the playoffs, he has had a great performance. He is a player who produces score very easily, he makes everything look very easy. He plays very well without the ball, cuts very well, he can shoot, is always well-positioned, and rebounds well… His productivity yesterday was beastly, he needed to finish off the game. With the zone defense, especially in the last quarter, he did not have as many shots. He tied the all-time best performance in a final with 29 points, it was a very good match, a pity they didn’t win”.
At this point, the question was more than obvious. Was yesterday Vezenkov’s last game in the Euroleague?
“I can’t answer this because I don’t make contracts or take care of it. The only thing I can tell you is that we have his rights and I came here to see him. Mike Brown went to see him in the playoffs, Jay Triano went to the Greek Cup finals, and I have come to the Final Four… Following him up because it is part of our job, but we are very far from the matter of contracts. He is a player who intrigues us and interests us, but now it is important that he does his job, that they win the Greek league, and that he continues to compete.”