In a press conference held at Nokia Arena Sunday, Jon Scheyer declared, “I’m very excited to start and I feel I have a lot to prove”
By Amy Samin
Jon Scheyer, who successfully passed cardio-pulmonary stress tests earlier on Sunday, addressed the media at a press conference held in Nokia Arena. The event was attended by the management of the club, president Shimon Mizrahi, David Federman, and Oudi Recanati. Also present were team manager Gur Shelef and former Maccabi player Tal Brody.
At the start of the press conference, Mizrahi said a few words to the young player. “Welcome, Jon. You are not a guest; you are now part of the Maccabi family. You are here with your agent, and I can tell you that you made a good choice; he’s an excellent agent who takes good care of you. It’s not a big secret that we were after you as a player already last year. Our coaches were examining all of your games and the injury that you had, and thank God everything is okay. We’re really happy to have you here with us.”
“First of all, I want to thank everybody in the organization for having me,” said Scheyer at the start of his remarks. “This is my first time in Israel and it’s been a great experience so far. I’ve heard nothing but great things from the people in my area back home who have been here many times…I’m very excited to start, and I feel I have a lot to prove. I’m playing for a great organization with a lot of great history and tradition, and that’s something I feel very honored to be a part of. I’m looking forward to getting to know my teammates and learn from Coach Blatt… I feel confident and excited, and I just can’t wait to get out there and get started.”
Scheyer also shared his impressions about the warm welcome he received from dozens of fans at Ben Gurion Airport upon his arrival in Israel: “I’ve never seen anything like that. I’ve heard how supportive the fans are, but to see that first-hand…to see how many people showed up at the airport…it means a lot to me.”
In response to a question about the pressure on Maccabi players, Scheyer said, “Clearly, Maccabi has always had high expectations; I think that’s something I’ve been used during college at Duke. I understand that, and it’s something I just need to learn. It’s one thing to have an expectation, but I think until you experience it, it’s a different story.”
“Obviously I haven’t played for him yet, but Coach Blatt is a great coach, from everything I’ve heard and from talking to him. He just knows the game really well. I watched a little last year and they played so well as a team, they played tough defense…that’s why they went so far. Obviously, you can’t have expectations just based on what they did last year; it’s a different team despite how many guys are coming back. The opportunities I had to watch them, they were great.” Scheyer was asked if he would rather shoot or pass at the end of a tied game; the player responded that he would follow “whatever play was called…whatever is the right play to do in that situation is what I’d do.”
When asked which position he preferred to play, Scheyer replied, “I’ve played 2 for most of my life, and I played 1 in the last part of my college career… I think it’s more about what players I’m playing with. I think at certain times I’m better playing at the 2 with whoever’s on the floor, and other times I feel I can bring the ball up and initiate offense…So, I feel really comfortable playing both.”
