Goodyear League :: Adriatic Basketball Association

In the city of basketball, in Zadar, players who are the most under the microscope are those who grew up in the city. Even if you won five trophies in as many seasons, even if you have only 23-year-old and even if you are one of the key players, nothing helps avoiding being the target of critics either due to lost ball, a missed shot or over-weight. That is why we spoke with a player who gets along very good with such an atmosphere - Jakov Vladović.

He is a player who never skipped any step while improving during his career, a player who changed many head-coaches (Popović, Vlašić, Pulja, Jusup, Jugo, Vanjak) but never a club, a fighter who always came from somebody else's shadow and marched toward the capitain's posistion with a great courage. His status hasn't changed since he became the capitain, he still has to deserve every minute on the court, he is without any credit or privilege, everything he has is his heart and knowledge.

You won three national cup trophies in Croatia, the national championship and also the Goodyear League’s ring in 2003. Which trophy do you prefer the most?
Definitely the one I won in the Croatian national championship last year. It is a great honour to be member of the team which returned the national trophy to Zadar after no less then 19 years. After the last game against Cibona in the final series I put the shirt Ante Matulović was wearing during the 1985/86 season on. Therefore I wanted to remember how long Zadar has to wait for the domestic celebration.

Does the name of Ljubljana brings any special memories?
Yes, because we won the Goodyear League in the Slovenian capital in 2003. We qualified for the tournament as total outsiders, then we reached for the stars. We defeated Crvena zvezda and Maccabi, which started to dominate the European scene shortly afterwards. Fans have been of a great help at that time too.

You have to prove yourself every single season since the club is signing new players at your position all the time, one there was Kyle Hill, then Dean Oliver, tomorrow there will be somebody else. As it looks you do not lack any motive.
Every game is a challenge for me. If many players compete for a place in the team, that helps every single one among them as it helps the whole team.

You were facing problems with the foot injury lately. How do you feel now?
I renew the injury during the national championship’s game against Zagreb but now I already feel better and I am sure I will be totally fit for Partizan.

Zadar caught the train for Sarajevo in the last minute but things will start from the beginning now. Three steps are required to make for reaching the final. What do you expect from the quarter-final against Partizan?
We are leaving for Sarajevo to play as good as possible and we will try to win the trophy. We know Partizan very good, we dominated when we met for the last time but then we were defeated after the tied result in the final minutes of the game. We are talking about a quality team and I do not see any reason why we couldn’t defeat Partizan.

But memories about the 2005 Final Eight Tournament are not very nice …
That is true, Partizan destroyed us in the quarter-final at that time. But this is another motive for us to revenge, to show that we are able to play better basketball.

Josip Sesar will not play at the F8 because he was not registrated for the Goodyear League and so you will miss Julius Johnson, who is injured. But if we consider the game against Hemofarm, you proved you are very strong also without them.
Games we played so far in the Croatian national championship have shown how important Sesar is for this team and so is Johnson. But yes, we are able to play very good also without them and why shouldn’t we repeat that.

Do you see any club being a strong favourite for the Goodyear League’s trophy in Sarajevo?
Partizan, Crvena zvezda and Hemofarm maybe posses a little more quality then other teams but Bosna will be also very difficult to defeat with the help of all fans from the stands. But answering your question I would say there are no clear favourites.

Skenderija will be full but Zadar is used to play in such an atmosphere, isn’t it?
It is fantastic to play when so many people are following the game. That is one of the biggest motives for every player.

What are Zadar’s chances to qualify for the Euroleague for the next three years by your opinion?
It is long since we have been participating in the biggest European club’s competition. That would’ve meant a lot for the club and for the whole city. We won’t give up.