Question and answer with Hedo conducted in Serbian language(translated)

[ball junkie 277]

quote:

To help bridge the international gap, this interview was conducted in Serbian, a language Hedo's parents learned in their native Yugoslavia and had taught Hedo in his childhood.

 

 

 

Chances for the playoffs?

 

"I have no idea. We have chances, but we have to play better. We are there right now, but I don't dare think about the playoffs, It will be hard being that good for that long."

 

 

 

You personally have always been inspired by playing against good teams. Who knows, if you make it into the playoffs you might be inspired by the competition and make it far...

 

"We have talent, but first we have to make it into the playoffs and then we can talk. I am just afraid to talk about it before the actual end of the season, I dont have that confidence, you understand what i mean? We have to wake up and take a look at ourselves and make us believe we are a good team. My biggest issue is with losing against teams that are not better than us. We have a lot of young players, that is the first lesson they should learn."

 

 

 

You can't stop talking about your young players. When you first made it into the NBA I remember your first dinner with Peja Stojakovic and Vlade Divac...Vlade was there in Sacramento to help teach and lead the young players. With all the young players you have now, who is Orlando's Vlade Divac?

 

"We don't have him. They made a team behind Dwight Howard, and he is a kid. This team was built for him. We of course have Grant Hill, and he sometimes has great games, but we are not consistent. If we can teach that to our kids, we would be ok. Its hard to play without Divac on your team, but its not easy to find something like that. They made a team for Howard and Nelson, and since i have been in this league for a while, I sometimes really want to take that roll of a leader."

 

 

 

 

Is Orlando OK with that idea? Are they going in that direction to let you be more of a leader?

 

"I have been in the league for a while. They are telling me they want me to show up everyday and they want the kids on the team to look up to me and my work ethic. That's what they are saying."

 

 

 

Compare the Magic to the Kings?

 

"It is different then how it was in Sacramento, We were a really good team, it is different now. We have a lot of kids that still need to learn a lot. We will be real good one day, we have talent."

 

 

 

What would you do if you were the Orlando coach for a day? Darko told me jokingly he would shoot 30 three pointers. How would your starting five look like?

 

"That's not easy to say. There is no answer that I can really officially say, but I'll say this: if players are tired, lets get them off the floor and lets let some other players get in."

 

 

 

2010 World Championships in Turkey. Yes or No?

 

"I am thinking about the playoffs, no room in my brain for the worlds championships. As long as the NBA season is going on, I don't think about anything else. This team is the only thing on my mind."

 

 

This interview was done by Nikola Olic.

 

As you can see Turk laments more than once about the Magic's youth. I wish Hedo would be more consistent himself. Be a leader if you have too Turk!

 

I figured you guys could use something to read while waiting for tonight's games.(lol)

 

http://www.hoopsworld.com/global/article_21332.shtml

[ball junkie 277]

quote:

To help bridge the international gap, this interview was conducted in Serbian, a language Hedo's parents learned in their native Yugoslavia and had taught Hedo in his childhood.

 

 

 

Chances for the playoffs?

 

"I have no idea. We have chances, but we have to play better. We are there right now, but I don't dare think about the playoffs, It will be hard being that good for that long."

 

 

 

You personally have always been inspired by playing against good teams. Who knows, if you make it into the playoffs you might be inspired by the competition and make it far...

 

"We have talent, but first we have to make it into the playoffs and then we can talk. I am just afraid to talk about it before the actual end of the season, I dont have that confidence, you understand what i mean? We have to wake up and take a look at ourselves and make us believe we are a good team. My biggest issue is with losing against teams that are not better than us. We have a lot of young players, that is the first lesson they should learn."

 

 

 

You can't stop talking about your young players. When you first made it into the NBA I remember your first dinner with Peja Stojakovic and Vlade Divac...Vlade was there in Sacramento to help teach and lead the young players. With all the young players you have now, who is Orlando's Vlade Divac?

 

"We don't have him. They made a team behind Dwight Howard, and he is a kid. This team was built for him. We of course have Grant Hill, and he sometimes has great games, but we are not consistent. If we can teach that to our kids, we would be ok. Its hard to play without Divac on your team, but its not easy to find something like that. They made a team for Howard and Nelson, and since i have been in this league for a while, I sometimes really want to take that roll of a leader."

 

 

 

 

Is Orlando OK with that idea? Are they going in that direction to let you be more of a leader?

 

"I have been in the league for a while. They are telling me they want me to show up everyday and they want the kids on the team to look up to me and my work ethic. That's what they are saying."

 

 

 

Compare the Magic to the Kings?

 

"It is different then how it was in Sacramento, We were a really good team, it is different now. We have a lot of kids that still need to learn a lot. We will be real good one day, we have talent."

 

 

 

What would you do if you were the Orlando coach for a day? Darko told me jokingly he would shoot 30 three pointers. How would your starting five look like?

 

"That's not easy to say. There is no answer that I can really officially say, but I'll say this: if players are tired, lets get them off the floor and lets let some other players get in."

 

 

 

2010 World Championships in Turkey. Yes or No?

 

"I am thinking about the playoffs, no room in my brain for the worlds championships. As long as the NBA season is going on, I don't think about anything else. This team is the only thing on my mind."

 

 

This interview was done by Nikola Olic.

 

As you can see Turk laments more than once about the Magic's youth. I wish Hedo would be more consistent himself. Be a leader if you have too Turk!

 

I figured you guys could use something to read while waiting for tonight's games.(lol)

 

http://www.hoopsworld.com/global/article_21332.shtml

[Marc Acres 3:16 418]

This one is already posted over in the links section Junkie. Sorry about that, you can hate me for what I am about to do.