“Being a younger team, we bet on it a little. It worked out for us and I hope that we will play another match on Friday (in Opava from 18.00 – editor’s note).”
Dominik Heinzl, after three seasons in Ostrava, headed to Olomouc and Ústí nad Labem for an experience the year before.
“I gained some experience, got to know other guys, other teams, a different game,” Heinzl said. “However, when I left, I agreed in Ostrava that I would return after a year, and I succeeded.”
How did the Ostrava team change during that year?
We are more combative, we have higher goals, more desire to win, I would say. That’s the big change. Adam (coach Choleva) tries to work with us, to improve us individually. It is visible.
And now you have caught Opava by surprise.
Definitely. If not for that, we don’t have a 3-1 series lead. (smiled) We surprised a lot.
You won all three matches with Opava thanks to better endings. What happened that you suddenly manage the endings of the match?
At the beginning of the season we had a bit of a problem with that, which was also due to the fact that we are a younger team. But the whole season, the fact that we played a lot of close games and lost a lot in the end, taught us how to play them. It’s showing now. The whole season has led to where we are now.
Dominik Heinzl from Ostrava and Šimon Puršl from Opava are preparing for the jump. Referee Jan Baloun holds the ball.
But in Tuesday’s home game, you almost lost. Michal Svoboda arranged the extension with a three-pointer at the last moment.
In the second quarter we ran out of steam a bit, we didn’t play as well as we would have liked, but then it was a scramble and in the end Mike – a great three. He supported us incredibly, we all thank him. And in overtime it turned out that we still have enough strength.
You push yourself a lot under the basket. Do you believe in fighting against a championship team?
I believe. I never go into a fight expecting to lose to him. No, it doesn’t exist, you always want to win it, so I go for every rebound. I try to. And you can see it. Everyone on our team feels the same way.
Will it be most important to keep a cool head before the next duels with Opava?
Yes, that’s always the hardest.
Aren’t the matches with Opava too hard and full of aggression?
Sometimes it doesn’t look like basketball, I have to say it straight, sometimes it’s a fight, like we go into the ring and beat each other.
Fighters who played fifty years ago would probably be really surprised, wouldn’t they?
A lot, basketball is a lot more physical than it used to be. The referees are trying to correct the game, but they have a hard time with how hard basketball is… When they whistle too much, people get upset, and if at all, that’s it. I understand the referees, they really don’t have it easy.
Ostrava basketball players rejoice.
For this, the matches take a bite by watching the video frequently, correcting the time. Don’t the constant pauses throw you off your pace?
I do not think. We train every day. To do this, we try to keep up the pace, for example by stretching and jumping. We don’t fall out of it.
What will decide Friday’s duel in Opava?
Deployment. And we must not underestimate anything. As long as we don’t win game four, it doesn’t mean we’re leading the series now. We will go into the next game as if the series is 0-0. But we will go there to grab the victory.
Even considering you’ve convinced yourself that you can beat Opava several times in a row?
Yeah, it’s good, but it doesn’t mean anything at all. If we don’t win for the fourth time, we won’t win anything.
Your fight with Opava is accompanied by an excellent atmosphere in the auditorium. How do you cope with the fact that Tatran was completely full and the spectators were almost on the pitch?
We are used to it in Tatran, here the auditorium is close to the deck and now during the matches with Opava the hall was even more crowded. The atmosphere is great though.
