Gordan Giricek Mini-Interview
By InsideHoops.com / Oct. 31, 2004
Utah Jazz guard Gordan Giricek is entering his third season in the NBA. He was drafted by Dallas, quickly traded to Memphis, traded by Memphis with Drew Gooden to the Orlando Magic for Mike Miller, Ryan Humphrey and draft picks, and then traded by Orlando to the Utah Jazz for DeShawn Stevenson and a pick. All in the span of two seasons. Giricek's career average is 11.8 points and 3.10 rebounds per game. He nails outside shots consistently, hitting 36.2% from three-point range. InsideHoops.com met with Gordan in Madison Square Garden at the end of preseason for an exclusive mini-interview.
InsideHoops.com: How'd preseason go?
Gordan Giricek: Preseason is preseason, so, we lost some games and won some games. But the real thing is coming. First game is November 3rd. We didn't play as a team, we didn't play hard. When we win games, then we play hard. So, we have to continue to play hard. We have to learn a lesson that if we don't play hard enough, we can't win.
InsideHoops.com: Talk about the strengths of the Jazz this season.
Gordan Giricek: We have a lot of players who can play, and depth on our bench. It will be a very interesting season, because we can rotate a lot of players. That's something we didn't have last year. So, now we have to bond with each other, and see it works.
InsideHoops.com: Andrei Kirilenko, talk about how he's grown and how good he is.
Gordan Giricek: It's always good to have him on the team, because he's doing all kinds of jobs. He's scoring the ball, scoring points, but also doing a lot of things that sometimes you can't see, like helping the defense, block shots, a lot of steals, deflections. He's a good player.
InsideHoops.com: Do you still pay close attention to overseas basketball, in Europe, in Croatia?
Gordan Giricek: No, not really. I have to be honest, not really. I don't have time. We travel a lot, playing on the road and stuff, and I'm not the type of guy who will sit on the computer so much. I go out and hang out with my friends and relax. Old school. I like to have all these gadgets around me, but I don't like to use them.
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