mahinmi interview - failed to qualify for Playoffs

[JUUOT]

In this interview he also talks about his position as a 4 or a 5. He still hopes to join San Antonio this summer

Ian Mahinmi came back on a difficult year for him ponctuated by a surprise qualification for the euroligua top 16 and a french cup final still to be played. His club failed to qualify for the french championship playoffs and it took pretty much all year for Ian to adapt to a more demanding and compe ive environment, especially the level of play in euroligue. This past month and a half he is finally settling into a rythm and played his best basketball.

I will not translate everything at once but here is the first part:

From http://lequipe.fr/Basket/breves2007/...153207Dev.html

"question:What is your state of mind with the end of the season approaching?
Ian: But the season is not over yet. We still have to compete for the French cup final. We have to stay focused and try to finish on a high note. It is not worth going to the final with heavy legs and our minds elsewhere. After all, we had a reasonably good season, with good things, so we need to try and close it with a le.

question: How do you explain the championship failure?
Ian: I don't know...We could not adapt our style to the league that changed a lot. We had some really big games but never settled into a rhythm. We had an inconsistent season. We had a good start in euroleague and i think we gave a lot of pleasures to our fans. Even in the french league we had a good start but we were missing something to keep the momentum. We tried to react... We have a good group, it's too bad. I really regret...I feel that if we had qualified for the play-off, we could have done really well.

question: What do you mean by the league style really changed?
Ian: With 4 american players authorized by team, each team became a lot more compe ive. It is impressive. No team was easy to play. It is really more balanced.

question: Is it still possible today to build a compe ive group for both euroligue and french league despite the style difference?
Ian: In euroleague, the style is way more physical and tactical, whereas in France it became smaller and more athletic. In france a lot of guys playing 4 are actually natural 3. The game is more open with less tactical constraints. Our team failed to adapt to it. (sounds familiar ;-)

To come: comment on gordon hebert. Ian personal season. He talks about his position, 4 or 5. His contractual situation and his plans.......

[JUUOT]

Part 2 of 2

Question:From the outside Gordon Hebert's style seems a really cold and harsh. How is it felt by the players?
Ian: With both me and the other players it went really well. He managed to keep us together and made us play the best basketball possible. It is true that from the outside it looks cold and harsh but it's not really the case. It easy neither for him nor for us, everyone has a share of responsability.

Question:Personally, it took you time to find your place in an interior rotation that was more crowded than last year in Le Havre. Are you satisfied with your season?
Ian:It was a difficult season with ups and downs. It was not easy at the start cause i had to raise up to the euroleague level of play. I was not expecting it. (sounds like euroleague is WAY more demanding than summer league lol).
My teammates and my coach did not leave me behind and helped me keep my hopes up. i was finally able to find my rhythm. At the end of the season i was feeling good, but it was also the team as a whole playing better.

Question: Your position was never well defined between Power forward and center. With the strong compe ion this year, do you know more?
Ian: It really helped me. In le Havre i was playing both 4 and 5, but the game was going through/ built around me. Before getting this king of status in a powerhouse team, it can take time. I need to feel comfortable. I love playing away from the net, moving without the ball, back door cuts (i can already see the French connection halleyhoops raining on opponents), but i also like playing around the net. I love dunking and contact.
Actually i don't really have a preferred position even if i play more 4 than 5.

Question: What is your contract situation? Do you talk to the spurs?
I have a 2 year contract with Pau, but we did not talk about it yet (1 year left). I can not tell 100% what will happen this summer. My objective is still to go to the nba at the end of next season ( does he mean this summer or next? ) We keep in touch with San Antonio, i have them on the phone every week.

Question: playing in another european league before moving to the nba does not tempt you?
Ian: It is not as big of a dream. I grew up with the NBA whereas spain or italy it's further, i don't know much about it. For me, moving means the nba. Media created this."

[ducks]

this relationship seems alot different then scola's

[Bruno]

Pop has too said that Mahinmi's future in nba was more as a 4 than as a 5.

[timvp]

We've been hearing that Mahinmi planned to come this summer. Now it's next summer?

[Mr. Body]

Maybe the Spurs finally got around to looking at the draft board and realized they want the roster spots for other players?

[JUUOT]

We've been hearing that Mahinmi planned to come this summer. Now it's next summer?

I had the same reaction. The article seems to imply he would try this summer, but then they talk about european leagues and quote hime saying next season. It could be an error or not.

The way i see it is that he wants to come as soon as possible. However he understands he had a bad year. If he does not make the nba this summer he willl stay in france and not go to another league. I thought i remember Bruno saying it was highly improbable that Pau would want to keep him.

If Oberto can play 5 ian could...But he is a 4 a la duncan

[Bruno]

I still don't think that Mahinmi will leave Pau for SA this summer because it has been said in a very high number of articles. BTW, Ian says that nothing is sure for the moment.

If Ian stays with Pau, the situation will be far from perfect :
First, Pau will likely have a new coach next year and having a new coach each year isn't the best thing for a young player.
Second, Pau won't play the euroleague or even the Uleb cup next year (it's the two best compe ions in europe). Pau will at best play the fiba cup if they win the last game of the season sunday. The fiba cup is a crappy european compe ion because it's with average teams and because teams can't have more than two american players per team. If Ian stay with Pau, he will play in jeagues with a quite low level.

[Mr. Body]

I'm for Mahinmi coming over to learn the ropes, since it looks like we'll need him the following year (Oberto and Elson expire).

It's a bind, with roster slots a premium, Butler and White taking up slots without it being clear how much they can play and, I believe, two more rookies coming in via the draft (one poss. being Scola). I believe Mahinmi has as much promise as any big guy we could find late in the draft, but I'd be disappointed if the Spurs wind up drafting only one guy in order to bring Mahinmi in.