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Final Four interview: Bozidar Maljkovic, Tau Ceramica
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When one of the most ambitious teams anywhere needed a new head coach to continue its already stellar Euroleague season, Tau Ceramica did not hesitate to call on Bozidar Maljkovic. He was not only the most successful coach available, but also the second-biggest winner of the entire Final Four era. Maljkovic practically put the Final Four on the map when he coached Jugosplastika to back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990. He returned in 1993 to take underdog Limoges to France's first and last European crown. Then he gave Greece its first, too, by capturing the crown with Panathinaikos in 1996. After a Final Four absence of 10 years, Maljkovic arrives to Athens carrying the best winning percentage of any coach with multiple appearances at the event: four titles in six tries. Apart from the fact that victory in Athens would tie him for the most continental titles by any European coach ever, Maljkovic feels like he's back where he belongs. "There is no bigger basketball party than the Final Four," Maljkovic told Euroleague.net. "I participated in six before, and now will be my seventh, and I couldn't be happier. Within my profession, it's like going home again."
Hello, Coach. First of all, congratulations for returning for the Final Four after so many years. How does it feel to be back at an event that you helped make famous?
"I am very happy, because for various circumstances, I was out of basketball for four or five months. But all this whole time I was out, I was always following games, traveling a lot to give clinics and talks, but always keeping track of what was happening. I didn't lose a day. When Tau called me - one of the great clubs of Europe and Spain - I was happy, first, just to be here and, second, to become a part of something so important in the world of basketball. There is no bigger basketball party than the Final Four. I participated in six before, and now will be my seventh, and I couldn't be happier. Within my profession, it's like going home again. I am just very happy with all the cooperation of the people here at Tau. It's a great organization, with great internal discipline. This club has a great future."
You were there almost at the very beginning of the Final Four era, with those legendary Split teams, and have been in the Euroleague almost constantly since then. How do you see the evolution of the competition and this event?
"I was happy winning the titles then, when it was FIBA, and since this is my first Final Four since then, I can't say much about this one. The organization by FIBA was certainly a little conservative and in need of modernization. Now we have a Euroleague that offers tough competition - very tough competition - but also has good investment and puts more money into the game. And it's full of teams that want to win this title, which means winning it is not easy. The downside now is that there are less good players every year because many good ones go to the NBA. That is worrisome especially when young players lacking definition and skills start going there too early. So we are losing young talent because the players are not playing there and not playing here. It's a little bit of a shame and it's a difficult situation for them. Also for us, because they are not playing here and we are not able to help them progress. They have talent, but without playing, it's not good for young players. The situation should be solved as quickly as possible for the benefit of everybody. There needs to be some agreement with the NBA to keep this from happening so much."
 Of your four titles with three different teams, is there any that stands out as your strongest memory or favorite moment?
"The first one always stays the strongest, I think. With that Split team, we had won the Yugoslav League already, which was very important at the time. But then we won the 1989 Final Four, and it was unforgettable. When it happened, however, we weren't very conscious of what we had done. I remember my birthday was around that time and some people from Belgrade came and we had a whisky to celebrate. Then when we flew into Split after, the captain of the plane asked for the meteorological conditions in order to land, but they told him to forget it, because there were 200,000 people at the airport and there was no place to land. At that moment is when I realized what we had accomplished. We won a tournament with a very young group and no one had bet on us, but at the time, we didn't celebrate, because we were unsure of what a big thing it was. That was the first time with Split, but later there was the miracle of Limoges, the first European club title for any club in the history of all sports in France, and then with Panathinaikos, which was the first European title by a Greek team in any sport from that country. They, too, were unforgettable, together with Split."
In the semifinals, you will face Panathinaikos, the team you led to its first Euroleague title in 1996. Does going against that team make this return to the Final Four even more special for you?
"No. I love Panthinaikos, but in my mind, it's another important game to me. I have great memories of the fans of Panathinaikos and the Giannakopoulos brothers and everything, but really it's just a game."
What impressions do you have of Panathinaikos from having watched them at a distance this year? What challenges do they present?
"I follow all the teams, big and small. I dedicated my free time to that. But Panathinaikos was included, so yes, I know their style well, their manner of playing, and I know the style of Zeljko's teams. His is a very, very good team, too. For many years, Panathinaikos has always been playing Final Fours. I have a lot of respect for the club. If you have fear, you can't beat anyone, but my respect is there for the Giannakopoulos family and the coach, for sure."
Zeljko Obradovic of Panathinaikos and you are, respectively, the most successful coaches in European basketball. That adds a lot of interest for the fans and media, of course. For you, is there any extra motivation because of who the coach is on the other bench?
"Well, for me, it doesn't add more, because I am motivated already by the event. Even if it was another coach and not him, I would want to win just as much, and so would he. Together, I think our titles are great for Serbian basketball. And not just him and I, but also Pesic and Ivkovic and others. Winning titles is important for our basketball, but otherwise there is nothing of extra motivation between us. We're not kids. We have played a lot of games against each other. I don't put down which ones my teams have won or lost against any coach in particular, and neither does he."
Tau Ceramica is playing its third consecutive Final Four, is full of players with Final Four experience, as you also have. How much will all that experience mean when you have to play in a fully-packed OAKA?
"My experience isn't so important. The players are the protagonists. They put the ball in the basket and defend. I can't do that: I can only train then. The decisive things will depend on the players. Finals are never won by coaches, only by players."
After taking over for Velimir Perasovic and Natxo Lezcano late in the season, what have you tried to change or preserve in order the get this team as ready as possible for the Final Four?
"Those two guys deserve a lot of the credit for this, first Perasovic, because he was running the team from the beginning, and then Lezcano, who did a good job when he took over for five or six games. I have only tried to change or improve a few things. It will only be possible to say if we have actually done anything beneficial after we have our big exams, like the Final Four."
 Basketball is a team game that often makes room for star performances. You've coached stars such as Toni Kukoc and Dominique Wilkins, and now you Olympic gold medallist Luis Scola. How important are star players for success at a Final Four?
"You hope that one of your stars is decisive, but I think that team play will win this tournament. Without team play, but with one player who has a great day - only one - you can't win. If Michael Jordan came here with our rules and our defense, it would be very difficult for him to win and to dominate everyone. The team always wins, mostly on defense. But if someone breaks out and 'celebrates his birthday', as we say in Serbia, by making all his shots - well, I would take that, too."
We mentioned Tau and Panathinaikos, but you were also the coach recently of a third Final Four team, Unicaja. With all your background with the other teams, do you feel a bigger part of this particular Final Four than any?
"No, I wouldn't say that. Unicaja has built its own road to the Final Four. I was there for three or four years, trying to form a great team. We were able to win the Korac Cup, the first European trophy in any sport for a team from Andalusia. I had Berni Rodriguez and Carlos Cabezas and others, so I am very happy for them now. That club, the sponsor bank and those fans deserve to be here. They belong. Just like the other teams at the Final Four, they are very deserving."
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Friday, April 27, 2007
Frank Lawlor, Euroleague.net
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