por nyknicker »
27 Sep 2018, 17:52
Interesantes declaraciones de Hezonja, de como tocó fondo en Orlando, y como curiosamente, cuando sabía que le echaban a él y a Vogel fue cuando finalmente se sintió respaldado y con confianza.
Mario Hezonja wrote:
“I’ve seen it, I’ve seen the worst,” Hezonja says in an interview with the Daily News. “This is my three years in Orlando (motions an up-and-down rollercoater). It was unfortunate. If you would ever say back then when I was drafted, ‘Mario, this is what will happen.’ I’d say, ‘Hell no. I’m the guy here.’
Mario Hezonja wrote:
“But it happens. And it’s about who you are as a person. You can’t act like an ass and like, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ You have to work at everything. And that’s the beauty of the NBA. A lot of stuff happens.”
Hezonja, much like Kristaps Porzinigis, doesn’t fit the stereotype of the European player. He plays with flamboyance. He talks trash. He believes every place on the court is his sweet spot. He’ll remind you his nickname is “Super Mario.”
But Hezonja’s confidence shouldn’t be
with arrogance. The reason why he wasn’t buried by the Magic last season was because he humbly earned an opportunity. He convinced people who had no stake in his career that his role should increase, despite that being against the franchise’s direction.
Mario Hezonja wrote:
“I was supposed to be in Jahlil Okafor’s situation (in Philadelphia), like, ‘We’re not going to play you, and you’re just going to sit on the bench,’” says the Croatian, who averaged 14 points and 5.6 boards on 46 percent shooting in his 30 games as a starter last season. “But because I was not an a--hole, I was not b---tching to teammates, I worked hard, they played me.”
For the better part of his three years in Orlando – before he was thrust into the starting lineup – Hezonja spent his post-games simulating real playing time. He found a very willing workout partner in Orlando’s video coordinator Cory Verjaska. His efforts were poured into practice.
Mario Hezonja wrote:
“I wasn’t playing, but at practice you better be ready because I’m going to bust your ass,” he says. “And I’m probably not going to play in the game but I can help you.
Mario Hezonja wrote:
“It wasn’t about me. I’m going to go out and practice. I’ll get mine later. I’ll come back. Don’t worry about me. But I want to raise the atmosphere, raise the level.”
Still, the Magic was a mess. The GM, Rob Hennigan, completed one awful move after another. Hezonja had three coaches in his first two seasons, not counting an interim. The second coach, Scott Skiles, kept Hezonja on a short leash. His relationship with the third coach – Frank Vogel – didn’t blossom until both knew they wouldn’t survive in Orlando.
Mario Hezonja wrote:
“Frank changed a little bit with me. Once he put me in the starting lineup, our relationship went to another level,” Hezonja says. “We always had relationship of person-to-person, but once I became his starter and he had trust in me, he was like, ‘Okay, this is my player No. 1,’ and it became a close relationship. I loved it but the timing was a little bit off. We were losing. Everyone was looking up stairs like what’s going on. It was weird things going on.
“And he felt it. I was looking at the assistant coaches, too. It was not easy for them.”
Mario Hezonja wrote:
“I was just talking to K.P. (about playing for so many different coaches). He had the same situation. And I was talking to him like, ‘Damn, sometimes it’s bad. But sometimes it doesn’t really matter,’” Hezonja says. “Everybody who comes, they know who you are as a player. They’re just trying to figure out who you are as a person so there shouldn’t be much problem adapting to a new coach.”
Mario Hezonja wrote:
“There is no ceiling for me. And you know that,” he says, smiling. “I know that but I’m not going to be rushing, I’m not going to be skipping steps. I’m not going to be thinking about it. It’s going to come. I just have to go step-by-step. Practice-by-practice, game-by-game. Especially here. I have no rush for anything. Especially in New York. Everything is going 100 miles per hour. But I’ve got my own pace.
“When I play, people know what happens. I’m so thankful I learned from such a diverse situation, such an up-and-down situation.”