BC "Prometey" continues active preparation for the new season. About the early finish of the last season, the war in Ukraine, the revival of the club, participation in the EuroCup, the team's composition, the playing qualities of the newcomers and goals for the season - all this is in the big pre-season interview of BC "Prometey" head coach Ronen Ginzburg.

 

— Coach, first of all, thank you for your time and for joining us. The first question is quite obvious: the end of the previous season was, to put it mildly, abrupt. For you, for us, for the players, for everyone. 4 months have passed since then. Can you take us back to those days? What do you remember from those days, what were your emotions at that time in March? What, basically, happened: what was your initial reaction and what do you think about it now, when some time has passed? Was the decision, made by the club's managers, right? What can you say from you prospective?

 

- Before the start of the war, to be honest, I had a feeling that nothing like that would happen, and everything would be fine. Since I am from a country that has had wars in the past, I know what it is. And when I communicated to people in Ukraine, no one could believe that this was possible. When it did happen, it was a shock to all of us. And then, I remember, we were sitting in the hotel in the Czech Republic, I saw that our players were very nervous for their families in Ukraine, it really affected their emotional state. We continued to play, but I could see that the players' minds were not on basketball. So, when the president of the club decided to stop our season, I understood it. At that time, basketball was not the main issue, no one understood what would happen tomorrow in Ukraine.

 

 

From a basketball perspective, we had the feeling of a very strong season. We haven't lost a single match in the SuperLeague, we've won the qualification for the Champions League, we've played well in the BCL regular season. The team has a very good chemistry between Ukrainian players and foreigners. The feeling was wonderful, and after that I saw how upset the foreigners were that we couldn’t play, we couldn’t even be together. About a week or two before all the events, I told the guys that it's not often in basketball that players like spending time with each other. And that was exactly the kind of team we had at that time. But happened what happened.

 

 

Since that, I was constantly in contact with the club, team employees, and the president, asking about the situation in Ukraine. Of course, my family and I followed everything every day. This is life — sometimes you can't predict what will happen next.

 

— From your point of view, as a person living outside of Ukraine, how do you feel about what is currently happening in our country?

 

— From the first day I said: it was some kind of madness, I could not understand how something like this can happen in 2022. I don't want to go deep into politics, but in my opinion, this is a mistake of the big countries - they underestimated the scale of the madness of this... I don't want to say bad words... Putin. But I have also faced similar times. For example, in 1967, when I was a child, the war was very close to our home. Then in 1973 - I was older, but we were really afraid that tomorrow would not come. The last time it was in 1991, when Iraq launched rocket attacks on Israel, then there was a war with Palestine...

 

 

I know these feelings: I know what it's like to run to the shelter, what it's like to hear sirens. I can only understand what is going on and support you. I think that some countries, for example, the USA, do not understand the feeling when someone fires rockets at your house. I understand the situation and sincerely sympathize with the people of Ukraine. It is very bad for the whole world that this is happening in 2022.

 

- Thank you for your words. Let's go back to basketball. When did you find out - did you get a call or a message from the president, from anyone else from the club - about the plans to restart the project, to give it a second birth? When did it happen? What did you think at that moment?

 

 

— It happened probably 6-7 weeks ago. Before I corresponded with the president every 2-3 weeks, to find out if everything was fine with him, with the team manager, with Pavel. When he told me about the plans, I was a little surprised that the club has recovered so quickly and that the club's leaders want it to live on. At that time, I had 2-3 good offers for the next season, but I told Mr. President: I am stopping all other negotiations. Because we started a very weighty project, but I had the feeling that we didn’t complete the task. We had a certain goal when I came here a year and a half ago, we were on the right way... So, I stopped other negotiations and gave the club management time to solve all the difficult questions related to the playing in the next season. The news that Prometey wants to continue its own existence was very joyful for me.

 

 

— Don't you think that diving into such a project is risky? Of course, together with people you know, who you trust to, who you have had a lot of success with. But it is happening during the war, when Prometey cannot play international matches in Ukraine...

 

 

- Of course, this is a risk. But I trust the president, his words that he will support the team, that this is very important to him. This is life: sometimes you think you made the best decision, but it didn't work out. And vice versa: a risky decision becomes the best one. The same things happen on the court when you are running the game.

 

 

I hope everything will be fine, no more surprises. Also, I really hope that one day - for example, in a year - Prometey will return to play in Ukraine. I really liked the activity of our fans last year. Yes, it's not 4-5 thousand on each game, but it can be in the future. And now it will be sorely missed. So sometimes you must take risks. I hope everything will be fine.

 

— Obviously, Promethey will play in two new for them competitions next season. Let's start with the EuroCup. It's a switch for you, for the players, for the club - because last year you played in the BCL, and you had a great season. Now it's the EuroCup: someone says that this tournament is better than the BCL, someone considers the tournaments equal in class. What was behind the decision to make a switch? Because as far as I know, and we talked about it with the president of the club, the transition to the Eurocup was mainly your initiative. What are your feelings about the switch of the Euro-tournament and what is your attitude towards the EuroCup in general?

 

— If things go normal, I would like to stay in BCL. The Eurocup used to be a much better competition than the Champions League. Now it's just better if we're talking about basketball. There is no doubt about the progress of the Champions League. If everything is fine, we would play in the BCL. But the situation is that we are not playing at home - that is, we are not playing in the Superleeague, and no one has promised us or the federation a direct place in the regular season of the Champions League.

 

 

I don't want to use the word "scandal", but it is at least unfair to us. Because Ukraine has been showing good results lately, they saw that Prometey is a serious club and they had to give us a place in the group right away. This did not happen. Let's imagine: we are playing a qualification, in it we see 4 very strong teams, like Bamberg, Tofas, Unikaha, and everything is done so that in the end they qualify for the season. We are not given a place in the group stage.

 

 

We play in Latvia and Estonia, it's not our home championship, we play 3 qualification games, we don't make it - while our managers invest a lot of money in the club - and we only play in Latvia and maybe in the FIBA European Cup, but maybe it’s not the case.

 

 

In my opinion, and this opinion is shared by the president of the club, in a similar situation, to play 18 guaranteed matches of the EuroCup + playoffs, and have, albeit a small one, but a chance of getting to the Euroleague is much better for us. We will definitely play a lot of good matches, plus the Latvian and Estonian leagues - from a professional point of view, this is a decision that every adequate coach will make for himself. The club supported him because FIBA did not give us anything.

 

 

Even now I see that the Romanian Cluj has also followed this path. And they also had a good season, even better than us. So what? Probably because the Romanian federation is not as strong as the others, they didn't get anything from FIBA either. And even without a war, they decided to switch the competition. I guess this option was not the best one for us and I hope that one day we will return to BCL. But now we have chosen this way.

 

— Of course, there is still the league of Latvia and Estonia. These countries support Ukraine very significantly, they were very interested in Ukrainian clubs joining this competition. Have you thought about approaching this tournament as a national championship? How will you balance team life with participation in the Latvian and Estonian Leagues?

 

— This is not our league, that's for sure. We must thank the Latvians and Estonians for the invitation. We will approach every game with the goal of winning. That's our job, that's my job, that's what I'm going to convey to the players. They have some strong teams, which is also good for us. If we win this tournament, of course, we will be happy, but not as much as the championship in Ukraine. But we will definitely not approach the matches in this league just as a warm-up before the EuroCup matches. Every player, every coach wants to win every game. Even when I play chess against my son, I want to beat him. Therefore, the attitude towards this league will be also very serious.

 

— But there will probably still be a championship of Ukraine. If it will, of course. As far as I know, Prometey should field a team for the Superleeague, if it does start. What do you think or even know about this?

 

- Do you know, what it will look like?

 

— There are certain ideas, but it's all unofficial...

 

- That's what I'm talking about. Anything may happen the next minute. Of course, if there is a national championship in Ukraine, Prometey will play in it. Where, how – we will see when it’s time. I hope that peace will come to Ukraine soon and everything will change for better. Of course, we will find a way to play in Ukraine. But now it's a much bigger issue than our club and us.

 

— When will the team start preparing for the season? We are interested as the summer is unusual - there is a European championship, for both - you, as the coach of the Czech national team, and for the Ukrainian players. What are your plans?

 

— By the way, this question is connected to your previous one very much, regarding the switch of the European Cup tournament for us.

 

— Because in the BCL, qualification is already three days after the end of EuroBasket, yes.

 

-  Exactly. We have about 6 players of the National team of Ukraine, I coach the Czech Republic, Gian Clavell will play for Puerto Rico, maybe we will sign someone else. It is very difficult to play qualification after 3-4 training sessions with a full team.

 

 

We will start a little later than others. Those who will not go to the National team will start on August 23-25. The National team players and I will join the team as soon as we finish our performances at EuroBasket. It's not an ideal situation, but I've faced the same before, when I was in charge of Nymburk. Of course, we will not have the traditional 6-7 weeks to prepare for the season - it will be 2-3. We will go from day to day. In the beginning, of course, everything can’t be perfect, but I hope that we will build a strong team and overcome all obstacles.

 

— Due to the war, Prometey was forced to terminate all contracts with players and re-sign them. Some players have already signed new contracts, many of them already played for the team in the previous season — Illia Sydorov, Oleksandr Lypovyy, Slava Petrov. But there are also complete beginners. Let's start with the Ukrainians: Ivan Tkachenko and Issuf Sanon have never played for Prometey before. Why did you choose them for this season? This is especially true of Sanon, one of the most interesting Ukrainian players, who, as I know, you really wanted to see in the team last season as well. It didn't happen last year, it happened now. Why exactly them?

 

— Ivan has great potential. I saw it while he was playing for the Cherkaski Mavpy. I can also see that coach Bagatskis has invited him to the Ukrainian National team, where he even begins games at the start. He is making his debut at a similar level, for sure, he will need some time to adjust to the rhythm at this level, but he definitely has a big future. I am glad that we managed to sign him.

 

 

Regarding Sanon. His main problem, as you said, is potential. I'll say it out loud, and I don't care if he hears it or not. Indeed, his main problem is too high potential. But he really has it. However, he must understand, games are won by the team, together, and only then he will achieve success. You can't focus only on yourself. We have already talked about this with him. If he starts focusing on winning, he will develop into a very strong player.

 

 

I've seen a lot of players like Sanon in the past - when everyone around you talks about your potential. However, in 5-7 years, they are talking about something else - how you missed your own career. For him, it is time to take a step forward, first of all, mentally. I really wanted him last season, now I was also insisting that we make him an offer. He's really talented, as you've already said, but now he's at that stage of his career when you have to understand: basketball is played as a team, basketball is played to win. When the team wins, he himself will be successful. If he does everything himself, he will never achieve anything.

 

 

Indeed, he needs to add in certain professional things, but he has a base. I hope we will succeed; I really believe in him. Time will tell.

 

— Let's also introduce three other newcomers to the team. Foreign newcomers. Ukrainian fans, of course, know who Gian Clavell is, although his last season ended very early due to surgery. Dustin Hogue played against Prometey in the Champions League: he is not so familiar to Ukrainian fans, but familiar to those who watch EuroCup matches. Now there's Caleb Agada. Why them?

 

— Dustin Hogue is the kind of player I like. Very energetic, plays at position 4, plays at 5, defends well, aggressively goes for rebounds on opponent’s backboard, strong character. We decided not to continue working with Sean Evans, although I love him a lot, he was one of my favourites here. Hogue is very similar to him, only a little younger. I think he will strengthen the team.

 

 

The second player is Caleb Agada. In the morning, everyone found out that we made a deal with him, although all this time the media wrote about his transfer to Hapoel from Tel Aviv. He played in Israel 3 years ago, was the top scorer of the championship and left a strong impression there. He is a very tough player, can play in positions 3 and 2, even 1. Aggressive, very strong, good personality, which is also very important.

Now no one can understand how he came to Prometey, with all our problems, and not to Hapoel, also a EuroCup team. However, I am very glad that we managed to convince him. I told him about the club, about the president, about Pavel, about our entire team. And he agreed. He will help us a lot through aggression. A strong player.

 

 

Clavell. As you already said, people in Ukraine know him. He had a very strong season. I knew him from playing in Greece. He is a good guy, charged for victory, he is a strong scorer - I think it goes without saying. There was no need to prove that this is a strong player.

 

— As far as I can count, you currently have 5 Ukrainians and 3 foreigners in your team. What are the further plans for the composition of the team? It is obvious that it is not complete.

 

— We plan to sign one or two Ukrainians. Also, two or three foreigners. Together, it will be a team of 12-13 players plus one or two young players from the second team. I hoped that this season the guys from the double would go to the weaker teams of the Ukrainian league to gain playing experience and confidence, but, unfortunately, they have nowhere to play there now. Therefore, they will be with us.

 

— Probably, the final question from the point of view of the composition. Fans, of course, want to see their favorites from the previous team in this year's team. Obviously, Miro Bilan, Chris Doe and DiAngelo Harrison will not be in Prometey - they are under contracts for next season. You have already mentioned Sean Evans. Are there any chances that we will see DJ Kennedy or DJ Stephens in Prometey’s colours again?

 

-  Perhaps. We are still in the market. I really like these guys; Stephens played a lot for Prometey before. But this is business: they have their offers; we can offer what we can. If it suits them - very good. If not, at least we have Ukrainian players familiar to fans. I think the newcomers will not disappoint them either. We always say: players and coaches may change, but the fans will always be there. Time will tell how it turns out in the case of these guys.

 

— Of course, changes in basketball are a constant process. The draw for the EuroCup took place yesterday. Of course, the draw here is not as important as in the Champions League, where there are only 4 teams in the group. Here, the regular season is longer, ten teams in a group, everyone plays with each other twice. But at the same time, it was very interesting to see which teams Prometey would play with. Your opponents have both very historic clubs (Hoventud, Venezia), and newcomers (like Cluj). What is your impression of this draw, are you satisfied with it?

 

— I have never seen a coach in my life who was satisfied with the draw. Even if we were to play against second league teams. The group is balanced, many strong teams. There are many teams with names - Hoventud, Cedevita, Brescia, Bursaspor last year almost beat Partizan and almost qualified for the Euroleague. It's a balanced tournament, it's a long season of 18 matches. I think, except for a few teams, everyone can beat everyone.

 

 

Of course, we cannot play in Ukraine. I really hope that our fans will be present at the matches. I really hope that Ukrainians in Latvia will support us. Playing without home court advantage is not very good. Last year, it was the great support of the fans that allowed us to win several important matches in the Champions League. In general, there are many strong teams in the EuroCup.

 

— Another portion of fresh news — national team matches took place. Some players of your team played for Ukraine and played well. Gian Clavell played for Puerto Rico. Well, you yourself, of course, coached the Czech Republic and won two matches. Have you had time to watch your boys'  from Prometey matches? What kind of impressions did they leave?

 

— Of course, I watched the matches of the National teams. As for Ukraine, I didn't see only the first game - we flew to our match. I always say that Ukraine has a very strong National team, even now, when several important players were missing. For example, Sashka Lypovyy, who was injured. Ukraine played very well against Spain. It's a pity that they lost - most of the game was under the control of the Ukrainian team. They played powerfully. I think Ukraine can become one of the surprises at this EuroBasket, I have this feeling. You have 2 NBA players, there is a player of Euroleague caliber in Pustovoy, there are our guys from Prometey. This is a strong team. I really enjoyed it. I was especially glad to see that Tkachenko got significant minutes. It's good.

 

— Tell us about your games. The Czech Republic beat Lithuania on the road - this is a huge victory.

 

- It was a fantastic victory. It is very nice to beat Lithuania on the road, few teams have managed to do it at all - I immediately remember only Slovenia. This is a very basketball country; you play in a great atmosphere.

 

 

We came into this window with only one win - the previous windows were played without 8-9 main players. We didn't have high hopes for the World Cup, but we beat Bosnia and Lithuania, there are chances. Yes, insignificant, because there is only one place left. If we can get to Asia, that will be very good. If not, there will be no particular disappointment, because we perfectly understand that at the start of the selection, we gave several victories to other teams. We will see what mat come out, but we are satisfied with the current situation.

 

— What are the team's goals for the season? And yours personally, and perhaps from management? What to expect from Prometey in the next season?

 

— If you talk to our president about goals, he always has one and the same goal - the Euroleague. He always runs forward. Our first priority is to be safe. That everything would be fine, to finish the season in full, and not like last year. Of course, we want to reach the EuroCup playoffs - anything can happen there, in one match. You can have a bad season and win one match; you can have a good season and lose. So, we have to go to the playoffs in the Eurocup.

 

 

In Latvia and Estonia, we would like to be in the top 4 or even in the top 2. These are our goals for the season.

 

— Are there any last wish for our viewers and fans of Prometey from you.

 

— Yes, I will address to our fans: we miss you very much. I really hope to see you in the stands of our matches, we really miss your support. I hope we can give you joy either in the hall or through TV. I am sure that one day we will meet you again.