Branislav "Bane" Ratkovica im Interview

Der 25-jährige Spielmacher Branislav "Bane" Ratkovica ( Geb. 27.07.1985, Serbien), wechselte zur Spielzeit 2008/2009 von den EWE Baskets Oldenburg zu den WALTER Tigers Tübingen. Er ist ein Spieler mit sehr viel Potential, ein exzellenter Verteidiger und Playmaker auf dem Spielfeld. Den Spitznamen "Bane" hat er übrigens von seinem ehemaligen Mitspieler und Freund Miladin Pekovic von den EWE Baskets Oldenburg erhalten.

Mit 7,3 Assists pro Spiel ist er der beste Passgeber der Liga in der laufenden Saison. Er beschreibt sich selbst als eher"ruhigen" und manchmal sogar ein bisschen "schüchternen“ Menschen. Sein Coach Igor Perovi schätzt die Qualitäten seines verlängerten Armes auf dem Feld. Bane ist sehr agil und schnell, hat eine hervorragende Spielübersicht, findet immer den freien Mitspieler und hat einen guten Wurf.

Als kleine Besonderheit gibt es die Antworten von Bane sowohl in Englisch, als auch in seiner Landessprache.


Photo: Bane Ratkovica Fanpage 1. Bane, there is not much information available on the internet about your bio and your past. Where and how did you grow up and why did you start playing basketball?

How come that you at a pretty young age decided to play in Germany?

- I started to play basketball with my 9 years in a small club in Serbia. My first coach was Predrag Krunic who now leads Oldenburg. He also was the main reason why I was so young came to Germany.

Ja sam poceo da treniram kosarku sa mojih 9 godina u jednom malom klubu u Srbiji. moj prvi trener je bio Predrag Krunic koji sad vodi Oldenburg. ujedno on je bio glavni razlog zbog kog sam tako mlad dosao u nemacku.

2. You are one of the very few "classic", pass-first point guards in the German league. When comparing yourself to other players who play the same position, would you say that there is a difference between how players are being developed in former Yugoslavian countries compared to everywhere else? Would you say that a player like you is something very typical for what is called "yugoslavian" basketball?

- Sure that the Yugoslav Basketball School is one of the best in the world. our advantage is that we have a lot of talented players who are eager to work and proof. I was very lucky that I worked with excellent coaches when I was young and I learned a lot from them. one more very important thing is that young players get a chance to play in the first team very young,with 16, 17 years old and formed themselves as a players lot earlier.

Sigurno da je jugoslovenska skola kosarke jedna od najbolji na svetu. nasa prednos je sto imamo dosta talentovanih igraca koji su zeljni rada i dokazivanja. ja sam imao srece da sam radio sa odlicnim trenerima dok sam bio mlad i sam tim sam mnogo naucio od njih. jos jedna vrlo bitna stvar je sto mladi igraci dobijaju sansu da igraju u prvom timu vec sa 16, 17 godina i sam tim formiraju sebe kao igraca mnogo ranije.

3. Even though you still lead the league in assists, your assists average decreased compared to the first half of the season. Is it because the other teams now are better prepared when it comes to finding a way to guard you or is there a different reason why?

- I would not say that opponents defend me otherwise from the first part of season. All teams know that my best weapon is pick / and / roll game and each team tries to prevent me from it as much as possible. In the second half of the season I miss a lot Kenne Williams with whom I have had excellent pick and roll cooperation.

Ne bih rekao da me protivnici drugacije cuvaju u odnosu na prvi deo sezone.svi timovi znaju da je moje najjace oruzje pick/and/roll igra i svaki tim pokusava da me spreci u tome sto je vise moguce. u drugom delu sezone mi mnogo nedostaje Kenne Wiliams sa kojim sam imao odlicni pick and roll saradnju.

4. In the media, its often said that the success of the Tuebingen team stands or falls with your performance and that the team almost entirely depends on you. What do you think about such statements?

- I do not agree that the team depend only on me. we all season trying to play team basketball and not to depend only on one player, or from individuals. certainly that is my role in the team large but there still has plenty of players who have an excellent season.

Ne bih se slozio da tim zavisi samo od mene. mi cele sezone pokusavamo da igramo timsku kosarku i da ne zavisimo samo od jednog igraca ili od pojedinaca. svakako da je moja uloga u timu velika ali ima tu jos dosta igraca koji imaju odlicnu sezonu.

5. How do you want to develop your game over the next few years? Could you possibly think of focusing more on being a scorer one day or would you rather want your style of game to stay exactly the same in future?

- I am a player who lives for the team. My role is tantamount to organize the game,animates teammates, make open shots for them, take responsibility in the decisive moments of the match .. I'm not someone who will at any cost looks to score... So that is how can I see my game in the future ..

Ja sam igrac koji zivi za tim. moja igra se svodi na to da organizujem igru, razigravam saigrace, pravim otvorene sutve za njih, preuzmem odgovornost u odlucujucim momentima utakmice.. nisam neko ko ce po svaku cenu gledati kako da da kos.. sto se mene tice ne moram uopste da ga dam samo da moj tim pobedi. tako vidim i moju igru u buducnosti..

6. What would you say is the reason why Tuebingen again, like it happened the season before, most likely will not participate in the playoffs this season, even though the team did show many good games?

- I think our main problem is that we have a small fund players in the rotation and thus fail to play a whole season on a high level. Several players played for 35 minutes and more and after a while came to fatigue and fall of form. This year we had a lot of good games against top teams in the league but that performance we failed to show against teams of similar quality as we.

Ja mislim da je nas osnovni problem sto imamo mali fond igraca u rotaciji i samim tim ne uspevamo da odigramo celu sezonu na visokom nivou. nekoliko igraca igra po 35 minuta i posle nekog vremena dodje do umora i pada forme. ove godine smo imali dosta dobrih utakmica protiv top timova u ligi ali tu igru nismo uspevali da pokazemo protiv timova slicnog kvaliteta nama.

7. You already spent a few years in Germany without getting too much game minutes before at Tuebingen, you finally became one of the best playmakers in the league. What did go wrong in Oldenburg back then and what did work for you at Tuebingen later on?

- First year in Oldenburg I dont have much chances to play. That was my first year out of Serbia, I was relatively young player and it took me a while to adjust to the league. with all that I had one of the best players in the league in my position. in Tubingen things are different .. I have full support of the club and coach that means a lot. I've progressed a lot with coach Igor Perovic and thus improve my game.

Prve godine u oldenburgu nisam dobijao mnogo sanse da igram. to je bila moja prva godina van srbije, bio sam relativno mlad igrac i trebalo mi je vremena da se prilagodim na ligu. uz sve to imao sam jednog od najboljih igraca u ligi na mojoj poziciji. u tubingenu su stvari drugacije.. imam potpunu podrsku kluba i trenera sto mi mnogo znaci. puno sam napredovao uz trenera igora perovica i samim tim unapredio svoju igru.

8. How do your plans look like for the next season? Would you consider to renew your contract with Tuebingen that is running out this summer? Also, how would you like your career to develop over the next 4 or 5 years?

- I'm not yet thinking about next season. I want to play even better at the end of the season and to help the team to achieve more victories. then I will sit down with people from the club and talk about my future. my ambitions is to play in Euroleague and to be in the club that fights for the trophies.

Jos nisam razmisljao o sledecoj sezoni. zelim da odigram sto bolje do kraja ove sezone i da pomognem timu da ostvari jos neku pobedu. posle toga cu sesti sa ljudima iz kluba i razgovarati o evenualnom produzenju saradnje. sto se mojih licnih ambicija tice voleo bih da zaigram euroleague i da budem u klubu koji se bori za titule

Das Team von Lee's Corner bedankt sich bei Bane Ratkovica für seine Zeit und die ausführlichen Antworten und wünscht ihm für seine weitere Zukunft viel Glück und Erfolg.

Das Interview darf ohne schriftliche Genehmigung des Autors, bzw. Lee' s Corner, weder vollständig noch teilweise kopiert, veröffentlicht oder in anderen Medien wiederverwendet werden.