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PAOK online interviews Stojakovic (recovered)

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  • PAOK online interviews Stojakovic (recovered)

    (originally posted by Virtuoso, 09-04-2004, 12:33 PM)

    PAOK online interviews Stojakovic
    This is an interview he recently gave to his former team in Greece, PAOK BC and its official site. Peja touched upon his NBA career, trade demands he made, the Greek national team and possibility of having played for it, as well as the Olympic games which had just ended.

    Q: Are you happy with your NBA career?
    A: I am. The way my career is going, I think everything is good and I don't have a reason not to be happy. I believe I am at the prime age for playing basketball and will be for 4-5 more years.

    Q: Did you ever believe you could be the league's 2nd leading scorer?
    A: I didn't believe it. The way my career was going, I believed I would eventually be in the top ten, but the top two? I never thought that.

    Q: It's well known that the Kings do not want to trade you as they can't find a player of equal value as you. What are you thinking of doing from at this point?
    A: Becasue I have a contract with my team, and they have the final say, I will honor whatever they decide if I'm not traded by October 1st.

    Q: Will you insist on a trade even if it doesn't happen?
    A: Yes, I will. There are still opportunities for something to happen during the regular season.

    Q: Which team would you like to be traded to? On which team would you like to play?
    A: There isn't any particular team in my mind, but I would like to go to ateam that is on top, on a team that has the potential to be in the play-offs and win a championship. There are few teams with such potential, and usually
    when you ask for a trade from a Western conference team, you end up in the East. It would be best for me to go to a city I like and one that has a very good team, but on the flip side, basketball is my job and that is what's most important to me.

    Q: After the end of your NBA career, would you like to return and finish off your career with PAOK?
    A: I don't have any problem returning to finish my career with PAOK, this I think you all understand. However, I don't know when this moment will come, at what age and in what condition I will be then.

    Q: What is your ideal team, with Stojakovic at the 3?
    A: Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd. I don't think they'd have any problems beating any opponent without me.

    Q: Which player do you admire?
    A: I don't have any particular player in mind, but I have had an opportunity to see almost all the great players from Yugoslavia. I also had the chance to be teamates with some of those, or face them as opponents.

    Q: Would you like to play for the Greek national team?
    A: That is a topic that I had discussed in the past. They had asked me years ago, and I had said I wanted to, but when the league and Players' Union didn't want me, that was the end of the discussion. I don't think we need to say anything else. I don't think there is any reason to insist, because since I've played for Serbia (formerly Yugoslavia), we've won the European and World Championship. That topic is done now.

    Q: Who is the tougest opponent that you face?
    A: I think that Bruce Bowen is very tough. He's very smart, he studies and learns the opponent. He knows how to guard him and he prepares himself very well before each game.

    Q: Did it bother you that you didn't play in the Olympic games?
    A: I would have wanted to play, but the reason I didn't is well known. I watched quite a few games on TV and I was sad to see Serbia finish so low, but I can't do anything, nor do I want to say anything further on the matter.

    Q: How do you analyze the disappointment of the US team in the Olympic games?
    A: If all the good players had come, such as Garnett, Shaq, Kobe, do you think Argentina would have had a chance to win? Simply put, Argentina was lucky, just as we were in Indianapolis. It was on a bad day, it's one game and this result came. I feel the Europeans feel more loose, because many play in the NBA and they've gotten used to the game and players they will face.
    Translated by flyingvee @ RealGM

    Some slightly interesting stuff, I was surprised what he said in the last answer, very American, no?

    Source (Greek) (w/ a pic of Peja at a computer )
    http://www.facebook.com/interbasket
    http://www.twitter.com/interbasket
    http://www.interbasket.net
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