From relegation to the top of the EuroLeague: The success story of Roman Sorkin
Avi Even told "Double Dribble" about the Maccabi Tel Aviv player's path to the top: "They tore me apart when we signed him, but it's crazy potential."
In the latest episode of "Double Dribble," the panel members — Roi Zuckerman, Dror Hoffman, and special guest Avi Even — discussed Roman Sorkin's transformation into a true EuroLeague star.
"Roman's story is very simple — I wanted to bring him to Maccabi Tel Aviv before he went to college," said Even, the former sports director of the yellow team. "He didn't really want to, he went to college, great, wonderful, and when he returned, I continued to watch him. When I saw him in Haifa, I said: 'Listen, there is something here, there is an event here.' We signed him, and I was torn apart for bringing a player who was relegated from the league to Maccabi Tel Aviv, how could that be. But Roman is crazy potential."
Even added:
"His path was not easy, there are processes that need to be gone through, sometimes these processes take longer than you want and sometimes they don't happen at all. Things don't always go hand in hand with what you see now. Nikola Vujcic had a saying — players would come to him and say, 'The coach doesn't believe in me.' So he would say, 'And do you believe in yourself?' Like, what did you do for that? He doesn't believe in me, he does believe in me, what did you do for that? What did you show him that you should be on the court?"
"As a club, Maccabi took a player who was relegated from the league, and today he is one of the best big men, when his contract is extended for another five years, right? There is a story here that, in my eyes as a club, is a success story. It is exactly a success story."
Roi Zuckerman wondered what Sorkin's position was, and Even replied: "I had the privilege of working with David (Blatt) as well, and every time a player asked him, 'Coach, where is the best position for me?', he would tell him, 'I don't care. Find your spot like,' be in the place where you contribute the most to the team. So what does it matter. What does it matter if it's 4 or 5? If you provide an advantage at the 4 and can later provide an advantage at the 5 as well, you simply become more formidable for the other team."
