Ante Tomic: "Over time you get used to being whistled. Ten years later they still do it"
Ante Tomic (Dubrovnik, 1987) will meet again with Real Madrid, his former team, this Thursday, in the second game of the ACB semifinals. The first match was taken by the Joventut center, who reveals to EL MUNDO how, ten years later, the whistles from the white fans have made him feel and what it would be like to face Barça in a hypothetical final, a team in which he was eight seasons.
How do you face this Thursday's game after the victory obtained on Tuesday? Obviously it is much easier to play knowing that we have won the first game, but it is also more difficult because now we know that Real Madrid have to win and that they have to play a lot better than tuesday. A very tough game awaits us. They face Real Madrid of comebacks. How have you seen the season of the white team? Madrid is very Madrid. When everyone gives him up for dead, he rises up and wins major trophies.. The team has shown this year that it can play at an extraordinary level and that it can beat anyone. They have won the Euroleague, and the players are very confident and very calm knowing that they have a big trophy in their pocket. It has been seen that the Real Madrid fans have not forgotten their move to Barça. How did the whistles fit in? The first years after I left I took it badly, because I hadn't done anything “wrong”, but over time you get used to being whistled. It's like that, I can't change it. Ten years later they continue to do so. It is possible that they will face Barça in the final. What would that match be like for you? It would be ideal because it would mean that we would play the final. Every game against Barça is special. I have been there for many years, I have very good memories, just like Madrid. Playing a Catalan final would be special. But we don't worry much about Barça, we are focused on ourselves, on how we are going to play. This is his third season at Joventut. How has the transition from Barcelona to this team been? It has been easy. When a player changes club, his entire life changes, and not only his, but that of his family as well.. For me it has been easy because I have not had to move, all my life I have stayed in Barcelona and for that reason, the entire adaptation phase has been easier. At the club level I am very happy, because there are very good people and it is a very good club. He once commented that one of the things that made him sign for Joventut was precisely not having to change his life much. What has Barcelona given you? In this sport, it is normal to change clubs every season, or every two or three. I was very lucky to be with the same club for several years. When you’ve been in the same city for so long, you end up being like a local. In the end, my daughters were born in Barcelona and go to school there. You also said that one of the first things you were going to do was to find your place in the team. Three seasons later, have you found it? I found my place from day one. Above all to help the youngsters and the coaches to get their message across. Everyone knows what Penya is all about, it’s very much about youth, young players and every year we have taken a step forward. Speaking of the team’s growth, with Joventut you have been close to qualifying for the Euroleague, a title that has eluded you. Do you see yourself with a chance of winning it someday? In the last three years, every season we have taken a step forward, and this year we were very close. We’ll see what happens next year.. I would be very happy if I could play in the Euroleague with Joventut, but it is very difficult to win a European trophy. There are many factors, it does not depend only on us. The season is very long and you have to get to the decisive moments well.
Against Tomic, Joventut Badalona center MUNDO He had two chances to go to the NBA, what happened to keep him from leaving? Every time I had the opportunity, something always happened in my life. The first time my eldest daughter was born, and at that moment we decided that it was not the right time to move, and the second time my second daughter was born. Things happened in life that, I don't want to say you didn't expect, but they are there and you have to make a decision. Throughout my career, what I try is not only to look out for myself, but also for my family, so that we are all together and well.. And it was an easy decision to stay in Barcelona all these years. Do you consider yourself a soft center? I think that in my game there are days when if I score points or grab a rebound everything seems fine. What happens is that when I don't get it, even though I do everything exactly the same way, the ball doesn't go in, it seems that either I don't want to or I'm soft. I think I'm not and if you ask any of my former coaches or teammates I think most would say I'm not.. Something happens with the media and with social networks that as soon as they put a label on you it is very difficult to remove. He also tells me that I don't like the media, or give interviews, because it's the truth, because I think they are the ones who label you in a way that you don't deserve.. In conclusion, I don't think I'm soft, I'm playing my game, there will be those who like it and those who don't, but I'm like that. He has a contract until 2025, do you think it will be his last contract? I don't know, it depends on health above all. After these years, we have to see if they still love me and if so, maybe I'll stay for another year, but right now I don't know. Do you see yourself returning to Croatia? Not right now. The idea is to stay in Barcelona, especially for the girls, so that they have a unique opportunity. I don't want to compare the two countries, but I think that in Spain they have more opportunities for everything. He has managed to be one of the great figures of the ACB, exceeding 500 games. Did you imagine something like this in your early days? No, because in the early years you don't pay attention to these things, how many games am I going to play, what am I going to win, are you not aware?. Over the years you realize that it is a large and important number, and the truth is that I am very happy and proud of all these years in the League. Luckily I have not had serious injuries. I have been able to play most of the games and that has helped a lot to reach 500 games. Who has been the toughest opponent you have had to face? Tavares, for example, is a decisive player, one of the centers most dominant in Europe, it is always difficult to play against him. Looking further back I would say Sofoklis Schortsanitis. It has been one of the difficult. Nikola Pekovi would be another. We are talking about big and very strong centers who, compared to me, who am a completely different player and with different characteristics, have obviously made me suffer. Despite the fact that there are rivals who have made him suffer, he has never had any serious injury to throughout his career. What is your secret? There is no secret. Like every athlete, you try to live a normal, more or less healthy life and that's it.. You have to prepare well and take care of your body, because it is the instrument for you to play and function, but it is also luck. Looking back, what is your assessment of your career as a basketball player? Between one and five, I I would give it a four. As we discussed before, I'm missing one more big trophy, a Euroleague or some other award, but I think I've had some success over the years and overall I'm pretty happy. To what extent do you think your position on the court has evolved since your beginnings up to the present? I think there will always be centers that play with their backs, who play pick and roll, traditional centers. Of course, each player has to shoot well and pass well, but that starts from the quarry. This cannot be learned with more than 30 years. This evolution began two decades ago, looking now at Joki and other centers that play in a line of three. But I think that traditional centers are never going to disappear, although if you can add something else to your game, so much the better.Finally, yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the death of Drazen Petrovic. What did this figure mean to you?He has had little influence on my career because I was very young when he died, but watching videos, listening to people talking about him and knowing that in the first years of Croatian independence he played an important role, I know that he has been a very important figure in the history of the country, not only as a sportsman, but also as a person.