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Croats Abroad 2008/09: Roko Leni Ukic

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  • #16
    Originally posted by jugoplastika View Post
    Ukić replaced starting point-guard Anthony Parker off the bench in 91-89 victory vs Spurs. He scored 22 points (FG 9-13, 3P 2-3, FT 2-2) including a couple of clutch shots down the stretch,
    They praised him on SportsCenter, ESPN's daily highlight show. They said "Roko Ukić took over in the fourth. Roko Ukić. Gotta' love that name." Sounds like it was a great performance. He had one really pretty highlight where he shot a floater over Tony Parker and Tim Duncan. Very nice stuff.

    I really hope Ukić continues to play well. He does OK when he has minutes, but normally he only plays 5 minutes a game.
    Ukic scores career-high 22 points for Raptors - AP Sports, February 12, 2009

    ...Roko Ukic scored a career-high 22 points, Andrea Bargnani had 23 and the Raptors overcame a 32-point effort by Ginobili to beat the San Antonio Spurs 91-89 on Wednesday night...

    Ukic, a rookie, made two of the biggest for Toronto, following his 3-pointer from the corner with a running jumper in the lane to put Toronto up 90-89 with 20.8 seconds left.

    “I really like those situations when I have the ball on top and I just think of scoring,” Ukic said of his go-ahead basket. “I feel pretty comfortable in this situation. I didn’t feel much pressure, I saw the lane was pretty much open and I just tried to go all the way to the basket.”

    Ukic’s poise was no surprise to Toronto guard Jason Kapono.

    “He’s a confident kid,” Kapono said. “He’s been playing pro since he was 6 years old. He’s been collecting a check for 20 years now. His experience is vast.”

    Spurs guard Roger Mason said Ukic likely felt more comfortable knowing Calderon wasn’t available to replace him.

    “For a rookie point guard, he took some big shots and made some big shots,” Mason said. “It’s like that sometimes when guys are injured and you don’t look over your shoulder, you just go out and leave it out there. I think his confidence improved every shot he made and he hit the biggest shot of the game.”

    ...
    Looking Past Parker
    Driving to the Lane
    "I really like the attitudes of eagles. They never give up. When they grab a fish or something else, they never let it go. It doesn't matter. In a book, they write they find a skeleton of [an] eagle and there is no fish. It means that the fish beat him and killed him, but he didn't let go." -- Donatas Motiejunas

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    • #17
      Roko Leni Ukić scored 22 points on 9-13 shooting in 30 minutes off the bench, all career highs, in Toronto’s unlikely 91-89 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

      And to make Ukic’s career night even sweeter for the Croatian rookie, his point total included hitting a couple clutch shots against not only one of the NBA’s better teams, but against an internatioal superstar point guard in Tony Parker... more
      http://www.interbasket.net/news/986/2009/02/12/roko-leni-ukic-scores-career-high-22-points-in-jose-calderons-absence/

      I love this quote from the always-sarcastic Jason Kapono (whom score 21 of his own points): “He’s a confident kid. He’s been playing pro since he was 6 years old. He’s been collecting a check for 20 years now. His experience is vast.”

      Stuart
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      • #19
        Construction worker Valentino Vidić better than Roko Ukić!

        Half-court shot offers more drama than Raptors

        Mar 26, 2009 04:30 AM

        DAVE FESCHUK

        A Toronto construction worker had a chance to win $500,000 at the Air Canada Centre last night for putting a basketball through a hoop from NBA half court, 40-some feet away.

        And for more than a moment – the only moment that approached the level of nail-biting human drama last evening, not counting the halftime log-on to Charlie Villanueva's Twitter feed – it looked as though Valentin Vidic might make that improbable heave fly true.

        Before the big shot, after all, Vidic had a chance to warm up from closer range with some money on the line. They gave him 30 seconds to make a layup for $1,000, a free throw for $2,000 and a top-of-the-key three-pointer for $3,000.

        He made the layup and the free throw on the first try, then swished the three-ball on his second go. Right there, in 20-something seconds, his night's work had out-earned some of the NBA players in the gym.

        The NBA rookie minimum runs about $5,400 (U.S.) per game. And Nathan Jawai, the Raptor reserve who earned that rate for 35 seconds of on-court work last night, will presumably submit to paying taxes on the lucre.

        If you'd seen Vidic practise in the two weeks since he found out he'd been selected as the winner, you might have possessed serious confidence that he was going to make the half-court bomb. In a pre-game warmup session on the Raptors' workout court, Vidic canned, by one count, eight half-courters in a brief shootaround.

        "Dude was on fire in practice," said Cabral Richards, better known as The Score's Cabbie, who was the contest's promotional face and Vidic's on-court moral support.

        At the very least, Vidic made a compelling case that he was the best Croatian shooter in the gym last night, and, as the Raptors continued to play out the string with a 115-106 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, certainly the only one playing with something on the line.

        Watching Roko Ukic, Toronto's Croatian-born point guard with the notoriously wobbly jump shot, it's sometimes easy to forget that Ukic hails from the country that brought the game Drazen Petrovic, one of the NBA's all-time smoothest strokers of the ball.

        Vidic seems to have the same gift of some of his country's great exports, even if he never played basketball at a high level, summing up the extent of his experience as "backyard stuff."

        It goes to show there are some things you can't teach. Vidic's release looked a lot more economical than that of Ukic, who went 1-of-4 from the field last night. And that's not hyperbole.

        Said Richards of Ukic: "Is he even allowed to shoot?"

        Said Vidic, shrugging matter-of-factly at his knack for draining buckets: "Natural."

        Last night, Richards was asked what percentage of the jackpot he would have pocketed had Vidic made good.

        "At least one good night out," said Richards. "If he won the big one, I hope the kindness of his heart would have taken us to a place that rhymes with the glass rail."

        Alas, six grand doesn't always go very far at places of that ilk, and Vidic said he'd likely use the cheque for a vacation.

        As for his half-million-dollar heave, it was a frozen rope that had the rim in its line. It hit backboard. It hit back rim. It hit front rim. And then it hit the floor to the sound of an en-masse sigh.

        Said Richards: "I thought it was good."

        Said Vidic: "It looked like it had a chance. But I missed, and that's it."

        That's not it. They're sending him the cheque for six grand, tax free, next week.


        Author is Dave Feschuk. Again. Why it doesn't surprise me?
        Comments on article say all.
        To attack an player because of a halftime promotions, that is disgusting.
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        • #20
          ukic 10asists +8points vs oklahoma
          Jordi Bertomeu sucks!

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          • #21
            I just saw an interview with Roko Ukić on a local TV channel. So...

            It was hard to him (his wife and little daughter are with him) to replace Split, Vitoria, Barcelona and Rome with cold Toronto and even more professional NBA league where you are almost nobody as a newcomer. Totally different world - climate, club, relations on and off the court, etc.

            He couldn't define what was the crucial moment in his career to achieve what he did (and succeed in basketball). Favorite (own) shot is the one vs Zadar in final game of Krešo Ćosić cup, 2004, which was worth a trophy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtM60n_2ggk

            Also, he praised coach Petar Skansi, he sees him as a God's gift to basketball players.
            He considers his shoting abilities as the worst part of his game, so his idol since the childhood is Reggie Miller; he appreciates him a lot.

            When asked about Andrew Bogut (he's of Croatian origins), just told Andrew has had hard pain in his back during the current season all the time, and expressed a wish to see him back in action healthy in 6 months so we can judge what he is capable of, and judge his game.

            On NBA rookies, contracts, hierarchy: some (!) of them (and older NBA players) have atendency to become overweight or fat.
            The NBA is a great opportunity to players from USA because they don't get paid in college, so it's more aeasier to them (than to Int'l players) to accept money offer (I mean rookie contract) from an NBA club.
            Triangle club's president-general manager-coach is very important to him.
            He mentioned Barcelona (most beautiful city to him so far) as an example where hierarchy had a big impact on player's performance and coach Ivanović, two seasons long.
            Those days GM, Zoran Savić (settled by president), acquired few players which were not Ivanović's wish. So, he was basically forced to play them. The result? They underperformed - only one Copa del Rey and nothing else in two seasons.

            Talking about current and next season, he admitted to Toronto Raptors having a bad season. There will also be some changes (trades) during the summer holidays. That is for sure, he said, but didn't mentioned names.

            He explained basic things about draft, picks, etc., but we know that already, right?

            This is all important what I remembered...
            Well, it is just me - I am learning slow, forgetting fast!!

            (Sorry for my english in case something's wrong written)

            Another interview with Ukić (speaking in Croatian), Croatian national TV, January 2009:
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            Last edited by jugoplastika; 04-20-2009, 05:55 PM.
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            • #22
              Najnovije vijesti dana iz Hrvatske i svijeta. Pratite i kometirajte politiku, sport, show, lifestyle, biznis na najvećem portalu u Hrvatskoj.


              Goran Suton: "Playing for Croatia is acomplishing my drems" ...


              So I guess we can count Suton as Croat and now we have 2 bench wormers in NBA
              Jordi Bertomeu sucks!

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              • #23
                So I guess after few years negative tradition of not haveing NBA player is about to end?. Media reports Bojan Bogdanovic signed with NETS 3 year contract?

                Well I can only hope he will be able to translate his game to NBA and he defenetley have some questionmarks (defense, abity to create in NBA, mental toughnes) and won't stuck on bench like Mirza. But it will be hard, Nets are overloaded at 2-3 spots. Well atlest he will play for contender
                Jordi Bertomeu sucks!

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