"I wanted to see Goran. He's an extremely important part of our team, especially this season. We've become very close in the two years we've been working together. I wanted to see his homeland and how he plays for his national team, where he's from, and to learn more about him. At the same time, this was a great opportunity to see this beautiful country. We like to say in Miami that our players are our family members. This is why I wanted to see Goran in his home environment. I've watched his matches for Slovenia before and I've seen how proud he is of playing for Slovenia. He wasn't able to play last year due to specific circumstances and signing a new contract, but this year he really wanted to play. We've supported his with this decision, and we've also wished to prove this by coming for a visit," revealed the 45-year-old basketball expert about the intentions of his visit.
Great expectations for Dragić in new season
"We've been through a lot together already. We did not manage to make it into the playoffs this past season. We had fulfilled a year before, by qualifying for the second part of the playoffs, but we lost after seven matches. We really care about Goran and we know how much it means to him to be able to play for the national ream. I wanted to see Slovenia, which he mentions often. It is a small country with a rich and long history," explained Spoelstra, adding that it is clear from talking to Goran how much Slovenian basketball means to him – he also spoke about the team and how much he could help Slovenian basketball during a dinner they had together here.
The captain of the Slovenian team has been playing for the famous Florida-based franchise for a season and a half. The team is facing a new eras. Dwyane Wade recently left the team after 13 years, making "Gogi" – as Dragić is nicknamed – the team's key man to lead the Heats: "We have great expectations for Goran this season. [We'd like to see] something similar to what he showed at the All Stars Weekend. I think that was when he fully connected with the team and started to feel confident on the court. It takes some time to get used to a new team. Some may not understand it, but this means new co-players, new organisation of game, new duties. It takes a while to get used to. After the All Stars Weekend, he undoubtedly became one of the League's best game organisers. We played in a way he is comfortable with. He has made our team and his co-players better. Goran plays for his co-players, he does everything for the team, and the coaches appreciate that. He's a very good team player. He'll have bigger responsibility in the coming season. He'll get a lot of play time."
Goran already ready for NBA season
Spoelstra, who has already won two rings as a head coach, when leading Miami with its mighty trio LeBron James-Chris Bosh, and helped win the championship as Pat Riley's assistant once, is being hosted in Slovenia by Goran and Igor Kokoškov, the Serbia-born head coach of the Slovenian national team who also works in the NBA League. The two coaches had started building their careers at the same time and had already known each other back then. According to Spoelstra, they used to be in contact quite often, they spoke on the phone as – both being incredibly lucky, he emphasizes – they learned from the best, from members of the Hall of Fame – one from Riley and the other from Larry Brown.
The two coaches have been keeping in touch a lot this season, when Goran is back to playing for the national team. The Ljubljana-born player could not participate at the EuroBasket championships in Croatia and France for various reasons last year, but he's back now: "U.S. basketball players are also on the national team, so it would be hypocritical of us not to support other players if they want to help their national teams. The circumstances were different in 2015, but this year we've all known he would play. We had already discussed this last year. When you see how much basketball and the place they come from means to a person, and when you bring these two things together, it is impossible not to be supportive."
As Dragić explained to MMC, last year's absence from the national team events resulted in poorer preparedness for the NBA season. His current level of preparation, on the contrary, has already been praised by the head coach. "It is already obvious that Goran is extremely well prepared. It looks like he could start the NBA season tomorrow if needed. There's no better way to prepare for the season than to have the player on the court, they get into the right shape this way. I prefer this to the players taking the summer off."
Tilen Jamnik, MMC; translated by K. Z.
