Fantasy Challenge winner interview: Paulius Norkunas
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 Among the more than 16,000 fans from around the world who lived through a thrilling Final Four experience at state-of-the-art Sazka Arena in the beautiful city of Prague, one in particular had a truly special reason for being there. Paulius Norkunas of Lithuania was the 2005-06 Euroleague Basketball Fantasy Challenge winner and as such earned his way to Prague as the grand prize winner. The boss of the best Fantasy Challenge team out of almost 50,000, Norkunas was the Euroleague's special guest during the weekend, winning a trip for two to Prague and VIP status for the all games. Paulius was also an honored guest at the All-Euroleague awards dinner at Prague Castle, where his achievement as Fantasy Challenge champ was honored on stage before a crowd of world basketball elites. "Going to the Final Four in Prague was the best trip I ever had," Paulius told Euroleague.net in an interview. "I made a lot of new friends. This event was simply the best in my life."
Hello, Paulius. Now that you are back home in Lithuania and can think about what you experienced in Prague, can you give us your overall impression about the event?
"What can I say? Going to the Final Four in Prague was the best trip I ever had, and the best part is that I didn't buy it, but I won it with my own efforts by winning the Fantasy Challenge. I made a lot of new friends. This event was simply the best in my life."
You had the opportunity not only to come with us to the Final Four, but to do so as a VIP. How was the experience of seeing the whole event with that status?
"The Final Four was extremely well-organized. The organization was wonderful. I had been to a Baltic League Final Four before and it was organized by mainly Lithuanian people. What I found out during my visit in Prague is that the Euroleague has a lot of different people from different countries working together really well, and that is amazing."
The highlight of your weekend has to be when you were called to join Anthony Parker on stage and he signed a Euroleague Final Four basketball for you. Was it a moment you will never forget?
"Yes, of course! Meeting Anthony Parker on the gala dinner stage and having my Euroleague ball signed was, like I have said to people over here in Lithuania, 60 seconds of honor. I was dreaming about meeting Anthony Parker but I never thought that I could meet him, and that's what I did at the gala dinner. It was one of my dreams, it came true and now I have his signature."
Speaking of dreams coming true, one of the famous guests at the gala dinner was Arvydas Sabonis, a Lithuanian icon. Did you run into him?
"Well, I also had the chance to meet Arvydas Sabonis and that is special for every Lithuanian. We met him on the bus going to the Junior Tournament final. I thought the best thing was not talking to him, because he is very famous and I was a little afraid to talk to him, for what he means for Lithuanian basketball."
Speaking a little bit about the games, what is your expert opinion about what you could see in Prague?
"I said before the event that CSKA would win the Final Four and this is what happened. All games were fantastic. Maybe Maccabi had too much pressure with so many fans in the stands and being the defending champion. That was the main factor: I think Maccabi was not able to handle the pressure. I think CSKA played more relaxed, they have a really good defense and they showed it in the Final Four. Maccabi played really well in the semifinals against Tau and it is very difficult to play that well in two consecutive games, and so the final was for CSKA."
The Euroleague Basketball Fantasy Challenge just finished its second edition and it got great reviews all over the continent. From your point of view, which is the best part of this game?
"The Fantasy Challenge is a really exciting game because it makes you feel like a real manager, a part of your own team. The most interesting thing is that you can get a trip to the Final Four. I think that is one of the most exciting sports event in Europe and in the world."
Has the Fantasy Challenge helped you to learn a bit more about the Euroleague and its players?
"Absolutely. The game helps you to learn a lot about Euroleague players and European basketball. If you want to win the Fantasy Challenge, you have to pay attention to what players do in their domestic leagues. You get to know a lot of websites from national leagues and the domestic coverage on Euroleague.net. The game makes you pay attention to players you wouldn't know otherwise."
Well, Paulius, now that you are the defending champ, you know what they say: Getting to the top is tough, but staying there is tougher. Can you do it?
"I will try to repeat next year, even when the game grows every season. Every team that wins the Euroleague starts the next season with the ambition to repeat, so I will try to do the same. For me it will be more difficult, obviously, as there were about 50,000 teams in the Fantasy Challenge last season. I will try to do my best and the goal is to win the contest and try to be in Athens just the way I was in Prague this year."
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Friday, May 26, 2006
Javier Gancedo, Euroleague.net
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