E.J., are you satisfied with the preseason preps with your new team?
“I don’t know about satisfied but I think we are getting better we are doing as expected in preseason. We have many new guys in the team and the guys joined the team late. Not everyone is together but we are trying to figure out how coach wants us to play, build our chemistry and knowing how each other want to play and finding our identity as a team. I don’t know if satisfied is the right word but I think we are heading into the right direction”.

Our team had many friendly games and all of them were different. How did you like them?
“I mean this was a preseason. Some teams are further ahead another teams. Some teams start their training camps before other ones. In Spain ACB has already started and many teams had to be ready before us. Justin [Carter], Nobel [Boungou-Colo] and I joined the team late. Alexey is still out. In addition, we have another player coming. We just had a different stage of our preparation than some other teams. They might have had a little bit more games than we are at this time but it’s good because we played with other squads and struggled in certain cases. We realize we have to work on things to get into the right shape. This is how the preseason supposes to go”.

How do you feel on the court and what does coach Ivanovic demand from you?
“Our coach is very demanding for everybody, as expected. I knew my role of being a point guard. It’s demanding as well but it’s something what I wanted. I wanted this challenge to be in a serious team with serious aspirations that want to accomplish great things. I become feeling more and more comfortable around the guys. I’m starting understand how the guys like to play, their personalities. I feel like things are progressing as they should”.

How do you feel right now? What is your physical condition?
“Game shape is always different. I did some stuff in the summer to keep me from being too far away but also like met some injuries and small things like that. Obviously, playing for Dusko you have to be at another level of shape. Maybe I was in a game shape in another team but how I need to play for Khimki and Dusko I’m getting closer and closer to the shape I need to be in”.

What did you do in summer? How did you spend your vacations?
“I went to the Dominican Republic, to Punta Cana but the main event was my marriage. My wife and I went to the Turks and Caicos Islands. That was the biggest vacations for my honeymoon”.

This week we play first official game with your ex-team VEF Riga. What do you expect form it?
“This is our first official game and everyone is gonna be really excited. It’s a very serious game and I expect us to do the things we’ve been working on. As for VEF, many people are out when I was there. Obviously, it will be special because I had a great year there. I’m really excited about starting with Khimki. For sure, it will be a great game to start”.

“I loved my time in Riga. We had a really good year, a great group of guys I played with. Our chemistry was very good on the court. People looked at us before the season and didn’t expect much. They didn’t think that all this is the most talented team wherever but we competed with everybody. We had injuries and bad times but I loved my teammates. Everybody is going on to better things. That was a special season to me”.

That season [2012/2013], you played five times vs. BC Khimki. Do you remember that games?
“Yep, Khimki has always been a strong team. We didn’t play really well with Khimki that year. We had Khimki as a matchup and of course, we could have played our best. I think Kavaliauskas got hurt and then I got hurt because I didn’t play a home game. We knew it would be tough but we had to do it at a very high level to challenge them”.

This season will be special for the club as it celebrates its 20th anniversary. What do you expect from this year with Khimki?
“One I know is we are going to compete. Dusko is gonna have us very prepared and just not going to bad down from teams. I think we have talent and the players who complement each other. It’s really about how fast we’ll get our chemistry together and we gonna reach our full potential. We have very high potential. Hopefully, everyone stays healthy and we get on the same page. I hope that we’ll reach our potential”.

How do you like your new team and teammates?
“Everybody seems like good people. Everybody seems like they care about the team, which is important. That is exactly what I asked for. After my last season was finished, I wanted to go to a serious team that aspires to win. This is it”.

How do you think, how much time will you need to find the perfect chemistry inside the team?
“I mean it’s different every year. Sometimes teams get it from the start and sometimes teams take a while. The key is playing the best at the right time. We’ll see. Once the games start, you’ll learn more about each other and how people play under the pressure situations. I hope we’ll get clicking from the beginning”.

Let’s speak upon you career. You played in many teams and lived in many countries. How did it happen that practically each year you have a new team?
“I think this is about aspiring for more and better situations. I started low in Australia and then I moved to Barons Riga. I was climbing to my way up. Then I got to the EuroLeague with Unicaja Malaga and it was just a crazy year. We had a good coach and a lot of stuff going on. Then I went to VEF Riga and had a very great year. I wanted something better and bigger and then I signed with Banvit where I played for couple of years. Then they have had some money issues and had to let us go. One to be in a good situation every year but how Europe is nowadays is constantly changing. Some people are lucky if they find a team and stay there for a long time. Like Keith Simmons and Chuck Davis in Banvit who were in Banvit for six or seven years. In addition, it’s different if you are a high-level player in your native country. We are Americans and it depends on some teams. Sometimes they put money into the teams; sometimes they don’t. Sometimes teams have money issues; sometimes they don’t. It has to change and that’s all it is. Just it’s about balance of being in a good and competitive team but also dealing with things that happen in the market”.

You had many coaches in your career. Who influenced you mostly?
“There’s been a couple. I think Trevor Gleeson when I was in Australia. Now he is an assistant coach in Australian national team. He was one of the first people who let me go and showcase myself a little bit. Then when I moved to Europe, it was Gundars Vetra. I didn’t play for several months but he let me really play. I didn’t understand Europe at all and what was needed from me. He gave me confidence and let me play. Then I would say about Chris Fleming when I was in Artland Dragons and we won German Cup. However, that was more trying to figure out what is demanded from a European point guard. I was just athletic and didn’t quite understand the game. They continued to build my confidence and that’s what I can figure out and be a high-level point guard over here just playing with high-level players and bigger teams. I knew I could do that. Then we jump to coach Itoudis when I was in Banvit. Now he is in CSKA. That was kind similar what Dusko is. They are different personalities and I will learn more about Dusko but Dimitris was also very demanding, especially on his guards, I mean on me. He allowed me to make decisions on my own. We watched many films; he showed me many things; showed me how to balance myself and my other teammates. He showed me all the stuff like that. I think trying to become a high-level point guard I grow a lot that season playing for him. Just because he was so demanding. Some people don’t like to be coached but I want to be coached. It gives me the best. I’m excited about this year and playing with Dusko. I accept the challenge”.

What country was the best one for you to live?
“I loved living in Italy because of food and people. Spain as well, because the people were warm and the weather was nice. Israel that is similar to California. The weather was nice and I could find any kind of restaurant. The people were very welcoming and helped my wife with the groceries when she was walking home from the groceries store. In Australia, it was my first place I lived. It was the best for me being my first place because everyone spoke English. Both places you can go wrong living, for sure”.

What do you do at your free time?
“I watch a lot of TV shows and movies. It depends on the weather and how much time I have. I like to explore the city and do tourist things. My wife also likes to see new places and countries. But here it will be cold. We’ll see how much we get to see this year. I embrace living in different places and I want to experience the culture and experience living in Moscow”.

Maybe learning Russian?
“It’s gonna be very tough. Even just talking and not even just alphabet. That’s a whole another thing. I could see guys who are here for three or four years and they started to pick it up. I always wanted to fully get a language and as soon as I’m picking something up it seems like I have to lead. That is hard. Russian sounds harsher. The alphabet is different and it looks completely different to me. And when you hear talk, it just sounds like harsher. It doesn’t sound what we used to”.

But you also have a Bulgarian passport and Bulgarian alphabet has the same system of signs and letters.
“Yes, it’s the same thing. I’ve only been there couple of summers and I don’t speak the language”.

How did you get Bulgarian citizenship?
“After my year in Baskets Bonn in Germany when I was playing well Pini Gershon who coached the Bulgarian national team was looking for a point guard to naturalize. He watched the film with me and liked my play. He brought me and Andre Owens out there and really gave me a chance. He liked me game and saw potential in me. He selected me to represent Bulgaria. It was another thing that kept me moving forward”.

Do you visit Bulgaria now?
“I went back and played there in 2011. I don’t think I’ve been there since. I remember I played with the Bulgarian team Lukoil in the EuroCup a few years ago. I don’t have many days off and enough time to go to another country. But I’m still in contact with a couple of people from the team and those who work for the national team”.

Do you like playing NBA 2K?
“Not as much now but I used to play a lot. For what team to play is depending on whom I like at the time. I haven’t really played NBA 2K for a few years but it was always good to play with the athletic players because it’s easier to get to the paint. I mean LeBron and Westbrook, some other guys”.

So if we speak seriously, what team do you like in the modern NBA?
“Cavs, Warriors. In addition, I like Clippers and Chris Paul who is my favorite point guard for a long time. Every year I expect them to take the next step. Last year they had injuries but I want him to have a chance to win the championship. I like OKC but it’s different now without KD. I’m curious to see what Westbrook does with fully his team. It’s gonna be interesting: if he gonna take another step forward or really be tougher because the team’s gonna focused more on him. I’m curious also to see what Damian Lillard is going to do because he is one of my favorite guards as well. He takes a big step forward every year. Last year was unfortunate to him because Kobe [Bryant] took his spot at the All-Star. Kobe is Kobe. He was selected to All-NBA second team last season. However, I expect he will take another step. It will be interesting”.

By Sergey Khodyachikh