By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
Sonny Weems, Eurohoops no1 in the Top10 list of US players in Euroleague, talks about Madrid, CSKA Moscow, the past failures of the team and the big ambitions of this season. Read what he has to say about the CSKA jinx, Ettore Messina and Dimitris Itoudis, his possible return to the NBA, the changes of 2017 and his Top5 of Euroleague players.
-Are You ready for the semifinal vs Olympiacos? The last three seasons you didn’t manage to win the title. Two times you lost to Olympiacos and the previous season to Maccabi. How do you feel about the upcoming Final Four?
“I am really excited about this. All the previous years we had to win and I think this time we really, really have a chance to bring a championship back to CSKA and the city of Moscow. I know that we didn’t do so well in previous ones, but I am really comfortable about this one. My family will be there to see us, so…”
– CSKA seems to be more balanced team this season capable to adjust to all types of game. What is the key to prevail over Olympiacos and in general to bring back the title to Moscow after seven seasons? You know the last one for CSKA was on 2008 at the same town and arena, even at the same hotel that you are staying now!
“Well, I actually didn’t know all that. But I think this year the team is, like you said, really balanced. We have great players in every position, we can rebound, defend, score. I think we are a more complete team, than we were in the past. And I think we demonstrated this, specially in the regular season. This year it’s going to be a really exciting Final Four”.
– You played under many coaches, but you said good words about Dimitris Itoudis a couple of days ago in comparison with coach Messina. Which is their main difference in coaching and approaching the players?
“The difference is… I think that Messina is a great coach, I actually loved playing for him, he taught me a lot specially on the basketball court as far as being patient and being very decisive on what you are doing, be aware on the floor at all times. Itoudis I think gives to my teammates a lot more confidence than previous coaches had. As you have seen in any given night, anyone of our team can put up great numbers. He is giving us this confidence. He lets us be basketball players instead of going out there and coaching every possession. I think that this is a great characteristic he has and he is holding averyone accountable for what they are doing. I think that’s the biggest difference”.
– How easy is to handle all the jinx and the bad energy out of the previous Final Fours when you get to the floor in order to battle in this Final Four?
“Those previous ones are behind us. The happened last year. Now it’s 2015, it’s a new year for us. We have new players, we have a new coaching stuff, we have a lot of “new” everything. I don’t really think about the previous final fours. It’s great to have those in your mind, to also have something to look forward to. I really don’t pay attention to the past ones because everything is new. So I am taking this year as being my first year in a Final Four”.
– You won the slam dunk contest in the college but now you are considered as one of the most accurate shooter from the perimeter in Europe. Which is of course result of much work. What do you think you must also improve in your game? Is it possible for a player at your age to improve season by season different aspects of the game?
“Of course! Definitely it’s one of my goals to constantly improve my game. I still have room to improve. I still have a goal to achieve, win the Euroleague. I obviously I am not going good enough. I want to win Euroleague and like I said I have many things to improve as far as being mentally focused all season. Now I am just waiting for the Final Four. That’s what I am really focused right now”.
– After a very good season with the Raptors you decided to leave the NBA and continue your career overseas. Have you ever thought that you should have stayed there? Do you have in mind coming back?
“I have two more seasons here. Hopefully we can win a couple of Euroleagues titles, but that was always my dream. I think that every kid, every kid’s basketball dream is to play in the NBA. Hopefully when I will have a really successful career here, I can go back and play in my home country”.
– Euroleague is trying to become a better organization in every aspect the last seasons. In 2017 everybody expects to see a huge increase in the limits of the NBA Salary Cup. So, we suppose the financial gap between two worlds will become even bigger. Do You think that after this change it would be very hard for players like you to come to Euroleague and at the same time all the young talented European players will be travelling overseas immediately after they are getting drafted?
“I think it’s going to be really, really tough for Euroleague once the NBA impliments the new salary cup. That means every contract is going to go up and even the NBADL is going to go up. So you will see a lot of American players staying at home a lot more to play basketball and I think this is going to really hurt European basketball. If they don’t find a solution to this, they are going to lose a lot of players. Specially if you are an American and have the chance to stay, make more money and play at home. And also a lot of European players want to play in America. That’s going to be really tough and we will have to wait and see what Euroleague would do”.
-You are a Euroleague member for several seasons. Can you give us your Top 5 or if it’s hard Top10 of the competition?!
“Top 5? Man! Right now? I would say me of course, Teodosic, Spanoulis, Kirilenko and Nando”
-Eurohoops selected you as the no1 of Top10 Americans in this season’s Euroleague. Give us your Euroleague Top5 with players from your country.
“I don’t even know a lot of players from my country! I would say Andrew Goudelock, me of course, I would say Kyle Hines, he has two Euroleague titles, Aaron Jackson and Taylor Rochestie”.