Slovenia: Becirovic Back To His BestSlovenia guard Sani Becirovic insists he is once again the player who dazzled on courts in Italy before he suffered a knee injury which threatened to ruin his career.
Now the 24-year-old has the perfect stage to prove it as he will represent his country at EuroBasket 2005.
Becirovic had hardly had time to celebrate his selection in the second round of the 2003 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets when he crashed to the court in agony and was told he needed an operation.
Becirovic, who had been voted the top guard in Italy's Lega A by the country's journalists, was told by doctors that he would never be the same player again and all but said his dreams of playing in the NBA were over.
Two years later and Becirovic is busy proving those doctors wrong.
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"For me it's a personal satisfaction to be part of the EuroBasket," said Becirovic to PA Sport.
"Especially because it will be played in Belgrade and lots of Slovenian fans will be there to support us..
"I hope to show them that I am fully recovered from my past injuries."
Becirovic admits the initial part of his comeback was difficult.
"At the beginning, the important thing was to get over the physical barrier and it's hard because you can't do the things that you were able to do before," he said.
"Then you have to get past the mental problem, as you are afraid of contact, of getting hurt again.
"Right now, I can tell you that I'm 100% perfect mentally and phsysically."
Becirovic, despite the gloomy prognosis from doctors at the time of his injury, has never wavered in his pursuit of the NBA.
Slovenians have become prominent in the world's elite league with two, Rasho Nesterovic and Beno Udrih of the champions San Antonio Spurs, among the contingent in North America.
"Of course, I think of the NBA every day," said Becirovic.
"Sooner or later, I know that I will be there."
Another San Antonio Spur will provide Becirovic with the opportunity to show NBA scouts how far he has come since his recovery.
Tony Parker, the San Antonio point guard, will represent group opponents France and go head-to-head against Becirovic. And it won't be the first time this has happened.
"I played against him when we were young, in the European Junior Championships in Bulgaria," recalled Becirovic.
"We beat France.
"Since then, a lot of things have changed, he became twice an NBA champion and a big superstar and I had some problems.
"It's a great feeling knowing I will play against Tony again."
Parker is not the only top guard he will come up against in Group C.
Damir Mrsic is the tough-as-nails playmaker for Bosnia and Herzegovina and will test Becirovic to the limit.
"It's going to be a big challenge for me if I can compete against the best guards in Europe and Damir is one of them," he said.
"For us the most important thing is that we go to every game 100% ready, that we don't think too much about the past.
"If we do this, we can go a long, long way."
France, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Greece will be difficult opponents.
"It's a very tough group," said the 1.94m guard.
"All of the teams in our group are capable of winning the group and if we want to make a step forward from the last EuroBasket we need to be the best of our group and reach the quarter- finals.
"We need to show them we mean business."
Nearly everyone agrees that the Slovenians have under-achieved in recent EuroBaskets, particularly two years ago when they let a huge lead slip against Israel in the elimination round and crashed out of the tournament.
"I think we have an excellent squad on paper," he said.
"We need to prove this on the court.
"In the past we haven't shown all our talent when it really mattered."
Slovenia's aspirations were not helped by a knee injury which has knocked out guard Saso Ozbolt. The Olimpia Ljubljana star will have an operation on his left knee after damaging ligaments during workouts with the national team earlier this month and will miss at least six months of action.
Roma forward Marko Tusek is also unavailable through a back injury while Los Angeles Lakers point guard Aleksandar Vujacic has decided to concentrate on his NBA commitments this summer.
"It's a big shame," admitted Becirovic.
"Especially for Saso, who got injured here with the national team.
"And for sure would have helped us in Belgrade."
Becirovic would like to have his club situation resolved before the tournament tips off. Any general manager would have to admire his perseverance.
"If I didn't care so much about basketball I could have quit," he said.
"I think I've proved that basketball means everything to me."
