|
Tony, you have just looked at the new
NBA calendar, what are you thoughts?
It isn’t bad. We start on November 3rf at the SBC Center
against Sacramento. I am a little
disappointed at the fact that we play on December 31st in LA against
the Clippers. This means I will spend
New Year’s on the plane…. Every season,
as soon as the schedule comes out, I look at the important dates such as
Christmas and New Year. I also make a
note of our road games in Atlanta for Bobo (Boris Diaw) and Chicago to see my
family.
You arrived in France Tuesday morning and went straight to
Eurodisney…
Eurodisney is the ideal to gather my family and friends. For three days we have spent some great
moments together. I often go there
since I am a kid and it was very nice for Eurodisney to take care of us like
they did. We spent two wonderful
evenings. We had great laughs with my
brothers. We jumped from trees to trees
at the accrobranches….
After your loss in the platyoffs,
what have you been doing?
I went back to France for two weeks
and went back to San Antonio to train.
I worked with Boris Diaw, Thierry Zig and my brothers. In mid-July I took some holidays in Tahiti. After a two weeks break, I left for
Paris. I am here for the Bouygues
Telecom NBA Basketball and the Nike Battleground.
Do you keep on practicing on the side?
I spent
the morning at Coubertin. I
have schedules to be back there on the 12th, 13th and 17th of
August. I am little out of shape but I
have only been back on the courts for 10 days.
It will come back, I am not worried…
With Shaq going to Miami, we can say
that San Antonio is once again a favourite for the title in 2005.
The road has cleared a bit with the transfer of Shaq in the East. The competition is still there but not as we
have known it before as the Lakers have changed their team. It is true that we become sort of favourites
and in addition to that, San Antonio has not had major changes.
From a personal standpoint, you are
starting to negotiate with San Antonio?
Yes but nothing will be done before September.
As it is a fairly big contract and coach Popovich prepares for the
Olympic games, we will have to wait.
What are you thoughts about this US team ?
It will be difficult for them. Many
players have decided against playing, therefore making a bit tougher for them
to dominate as they have done so in prior games. The only player to dominate the NBA and who is on the team is Tim
Duncan… European teams have made a lot of progress and teams are stronger. If the US want to dominate, they will need
to send the best players they have.
Otherwise, they could encounter some difficulties against teams such as
Italy or Germany.
Everyone remembers the 1992 Dream Team en 1992 with Magic,
Jordan or Bird. Why does the new
generation does not play the game?
In 1988, the college team that played in Seoul clinched the bronze
medal. The NBA then decided to send
their best player to get the gold and to show the world that the US was the
boss of basketball. At the time,
players were proud to represent their country.
Nowadays, players only think about their big contracts and want to relax
before they start the next NBA season.
In all honesty, I do not see the US win in Athens. With such a results, they will see that
European basketball is not that bad after all.
Who can win the gold?
The US is not at their best at the moment but we need not underestimate
them. They have a great interior
strength with Tim Duncan. I place them
in my top 3 alongside Argentina and Lithuania.
|
