 The chance to question last season's Euroleague Basketball MVP brought Fan Mail in droves from Euroleague fans this week. CSKA Moscow forward Ramunas Siskauskas was only too happy to answer as he and his team prepare in Orlando, Florida for the 2008 Euroleague Basketball North American Tour to start on Friday. Despite jetlag and coming off a hard practice, Siskauskas gave fans his answers with the same calm, deliberative manner that he shows on the court. Most tellingly, he said that even after being named MVP, he doesn't consider himself CSKA's only team leader. "For opponents, it's very difficult to understand who is going to be our leader on a given night," Siskauskas said. "This is is an important part of our success, to have such talents playing like a team and not have just one leader play every time."
Dear Ramunas, I am a big fan all the way from Spain. Not many small forwards have that ballhandling you have. Is it natural or did you have to work really hard to get it! I am a kids' coach and I show them your games all the time! All the best!
Carles Prat, Barcelona
"I'd have to say that mostly it came naturally, because I didn't go to any sports school as a young, young kid. I started late. So it came from playing on the street with my friends. Of course, in practice you try to improve on everything, every time, but there were no special drills for dribbling. Everything is about paying attention to the details, but I am talking about everything - shooting, rebounding, defense - not only dribbling in particular."
Hi Ramunas. CSKA is a group of excellent players. I'm curious as to who is the team leader? Say hi to Smodis and Lorbek for us in Slovenia.
Klemen Kodrca - Ljubljana, Slovenia
"I think it's the coach. In this team, you know, it's difficult to say because we have so many good players. One game it's Langdon, another it can be Smodis, another it can be me or somebody else. Everyone can have a great day, a great game. This is good because for opponents it's very difficult to understand who is going to be the leader on a given night. This is is an important part of our success, to have such talents playing like a team and not have just one leader play every time."
Hello Ramunas. What would make CSKA's tour of North America a success for you?
Meir Feinstein - Israel
"It's not so important to win or lose these games. You can see how your team looks at this moment, but after this trip and the time difference and everything, you can't show your best. We feel now like we're somewhere in space. It's difficult, but anyway it's a very good chance to play against very good teams and see what you can do. Of course, we will play with NBA rules. It's good to see and compare us against them, but on the other side, this long trip can break your rhythm. We start the Russian League two days after we return and the Euroleague the next week. I wonder how the effect will be. I know Panathinaikos did this last year and went back to difficult games in the Greek League and the Euroleague. So there are two sides to the coin. One is good, because these games are interesting and nice to play. The other side is the long trip: If it was somewhere in Europe, this would be very good. But now we'll just see how we do here."
Dear Siska. We still love you in Athens, even though you went to Moscow. Can you please spot the differences between Zelimir Obradovic and Ettore Messina? All the best for this year as well,
Dimitris Georgopoulos - Greece
"First of all, they are two of the best coaches in Europe and all the world. Both of them are strict. As for differences, honestly, I don't like to compare players or coaches, but Messina is maybe more of a defensive coach, I think. Everything starts from defense in this team. I can't say Obradovic didn't take care of defense, but the game was more free I think in Athens. You could improvise more, perhaps. You can do that here, too, but let's say the biggest difference here is that it's always defense, defense and defense again."
 Hello Siska. I am a big Panathinaikos fan. We miss you here, man, especially since you now play for CSKA! How important was playing for us and winning your first Euroleague in 2007?
Stavros Manolopoulos, Athens
"As I tell everyone, it was a great year, and after the year I spent with Benetton, it was my biggest step forward. I had a great season and the whole team did. We won everything. I played for one of the great teams in Europe, great coaches and players. I loved Athens and the fans. The Greek fans are like nowhere else. They can die for their team. It was very nice, but this is basketball and it happened that I had to go."
Hello Ramunas, as a player you opened at Lietuvos rytas and before leaving Vilnius and going to Treviso in Lithuanian media you said that someday you will come back. Is your promise still standing?
Edvinas from Vilnius, Lithuania
"You know, honestly, I don't remember that I said it. And, for sure, I always remember what I said. Maybe I said probably or maybe. But it was not a guarantee or a promise. So, all I can say, again, is that maybe I will return to play in Lithuania someday."
Hello, Mr. Siskauskas. I have been following your career since the Sydney Olympics. I didn't have much chance to see your games until Euroleague TV showed up. My question is about your former teammate David Andersen. How does it feel to play with him and how is he in the locker room. Good luck - unless you play against the Boomers!
Craig Bradshaw, Sydney
"It was great to play with him, even for only one year. He's a very good person and also as a teammate. He's a good player who can post up and make shots from the outside, so he was very important for our team chemistry and for me also. It was just nice to play with him and to get to know him."
Hello Ramunas. You just retired from the national team. Do you think that you can extend your career in clubs. After all, I am your biggest fan and want you to play for many years!
Gediminas Rinkevicius, Vilnius
 "Of course, playing for the national team is a big honor, but also it takes a lot of energy, health, and everything. You don't get enough rest in the summer after a long, difficult season. You only rest three or four weeks before joining the national team, and you can feel tired after you finish with it. When you are young, it's no problem, but with the years, you feel in your body that you need to rest more and more. Maybe it will extend my basketball career, but I feel that I gave everything for the national team and I need to rest more at my age. It's difficult to keep going without the rest in the summer."
Ramunas, who do you think is the best player of these 50 years of Euroleague?
Jonas Urvakis - Lithuania
"I cannot say one player; that's for sure, because I didn't know so many players from the past. The kind of guys who are coaches now - Ivanovic, Obradovic - and of course the legends like Korac - all I know is that I have heard that they were great players, but of course I didn't see them. From all the players I know, there are so, so many good ones. Of course, you have names like Sabonis, Bodiroga, Danilovic, Petrovic, but there are so many players, it's impossible to say one. It also depends how you look at players from different positions. It's hard to compare a center and a point guard, for instance. So I'd say that is a very hard question."
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