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Shaquille
O'Neal: "When you are 60, hang out with 60-year-olds, not 20-year-olds.
That is all I got to say about Jerry Buss."
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HoopsHype.com Interviews Eduardo
Hernandez-Sonseca: "There is a 50 percent possibility that I declare
myself eligible"
You were playing in the Spanish lower divisions one year and a half ago and you have already made your debut with the National Team. How are you handling all these changes? Eduardo Hernandez-Sonseca: Very well, notably because of the support of my team [Real Madrid]. For those out there, these might have looked like very big and fast steps, but decisions [about my development as a player] have always been thoroughly taken. Every aspect has been taking into consideration, from the personal to the physical point of view. Don't you feel it has all gone too fast? EHS: No. It might has been seen that way for those out there. We've seen all this more calmly. You see things from a different angle inside. It has not been such a progressive thing, anyway. Last year I was playing in the EBA team [Spanish lower divisions], but the year before I was somehow already linked to the senior team of Real Madrid. Maybe people have not noticed that. How was your recent experience with the Spanish National Team? EHS: Very good. I was treated like another player, not like a rookie or a junior. I was one more guy there, one more teammate. Besides, the moral support and the support from the coaching staff have been impressive. Many people have started to draw comparisons between you and Pau Gasol. What do you think about that? EHS: We play very different games. Maybe people are drawing comparisons because we are both young, tall players that reached a high level very soon. But those comparisons are just words. Once there are facts and I prove that I can be like Gasol, I'll start giving some credit to those comparisons. I guess you are aware that you are already projected as a high pick in the NBA Draft. Do you check websites to see what's your stock in the Draft? EHS: Not really. Why should I? The only thing I have in mind, to what I'm completely devoted and I see in a near future, is Real Madrid. That doesn't mean that I'm not going to declare if it is the more convenient thing. But the really important thing to me right now is the current season with Real Madrid. When I have free time and I don't have to care about what the season with my team involves, then I'll start visiting those websites or whatever, reading newspapers or magazines. In the meantime, I'm only interested in Real Madrid. Is there a good chance that you will declare yourself eligible for the NBA Draft this year? EHS: You never know. I can't tell you because I don't even know that myself. I can't say 'Yes' or 'No', cause I don't really know. One thing is for sure, Real Madrid has made a lot for me and I'm not going to leave a club that has made such a strong bet for me over the past eight years in the lurch. I don't want to leave them in the lurch. The next step I take will come from an agreement between player and club. What is everything going to depend on? EHS: In the end, the decision is always going to be mine. But not in a way in which I leave in the lurch a club that I love and that has made such a strong bet for me. If you had to give a percentage of possibility... EHS: 50 percent possibility. I'm not going to say I'm not going to go, because I still don't know. Maybe they want me and... It's something I don't really think much of. There is a lot of people asking me that question, but I'm not going to start thinking about things I should not. Let's put this scenario: you declare eligible and you are selected in a good position... Would you go to the NBA right away or would you rather stay in Europe and keep developing as a player? EHS: It depends... If I had a good position and have something guaranteed and the decision the club had taken would be supporting me... I have something clear, I want to go there [to the NBA] to stay. I don't want to go one year and return the following one. I want to be there and have something for real. I don't want to just tryout to see if I can stay. That way [going to the NBA], would be a step forward. If it's going to be a situation in which I have some chances of staying and also some chances of not staying for long, I wouldn't walk that road. Any team in especial you'd like to play for? EHS: No. Everybody wants to play for a winning team. However, in a worse team (with not so many stars like the Lakers or one of the kind) you can learn more, you can play more, you are taken more into consideration and you are going to spend more time on the floor and get more experience. Winning a ring is great, but if you don't play... It's something you have there, but it doesn't belong to you, you have not earned it... I want the opposite -- to play a role for a team and fight for a playoff spot. That's the best thing: to reach the goals of the team being a real part of the team. Is there any part of your game you have to improve in particular? EHS: Maybe the question should be 'Is there anything I don't have to improve?' I'm just a 19-year-old guy. Maybe some people is saying, 'Hey, Sonseca is doing great'. But those in the know are aware that I have to improve physically, that I'm still lacking intensity... On the defensive end maybe I need to be more of a cornerstone for my team. Little by little, starting with my defense, I can make all the way through the offense. In my opinion what I have to work at first is not my offensive game. It's my defense. It's defense that wins games. It's the most important thing, even when it has not such a big presence on the stats sheet. If you had to compare yourself with an NBA player, who would you choose? EHS: I don't follow the NBA much, I don't know... What I'd like to be some day is a seven-footer like Tim Duncan. Not because he grabs 20 rebounds or scores 20 points, but because he is the reference, the one that carries the team on his shoulders. It's not because he scores 20 points per night -I could choose Shaq, who scores 30 points every day, for that matter-, it's because he is a reference in his team. He is the soul, the leader, the player that pushes the team. That's the kind of player I'd like to be some day. Jorge Sierra is the editor of HoopsHype.com Tell us what you think about this interview. E-mail us at HoopsHype@HoopsHype.com _____________________ |
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