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Jakub Niziol, Slask: 'I'm pretty confident in my skills'

Jakub Niziol, Slask: 'I'm pretty confident in my skills'

Interviews

10 January 20239 Mins read

Jakub Niziol, Slask: 'I'm pretty confident in my skills'

Slask Wroclaw was the last team to record a win in the 2022-23 7DAYS EuroCup. In Round 9, the Polish champs thrashed Dolomiti Energia Trento 80-57 to improve to 1-8. Three of those eight losses were by 4 points or less and Slask's players now have some experience in the competition, which should help in the remaining games. One of the competition's most notable newcomers is forward Jakub Niziol, who has been helping Slask in many ways throughout the season. Niziol has averaged 9.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and a PIR of 12.2, thrilling fans with his energy plays and high-flying dunks. Off the court, Niziol is an easy-going person who likes to interact with fans through his Twitter account @jniziol4, as he told EuroCupBasketball.com in this interview. "People come to see us and interacting with us, for them, it's like almost a reward for coming to the game," Niziol said. "So I really feel like interacting with fans, especially the young ones, young kids who want to be like us on the court, who want to play basketball. We have to help in any that we can."

Hello, 'Kuba', Happy New Year! How exciting is it to face a new year full of opportunities for you and Slask?

"Thank you. Happy New Year, too! Yeah, it's definitely exciting. We've got the second round of the EuroCup [regular season] ahead of us. Unfortunately for the team, we only won one game in the first round. We had a couple of close calls, but we definitely will look to turn it around in the second round."

Slask grabbed its first EuroCup win of the season by a 23-point margin. What changed in that game not just to win, but to do it by such a wide margin?

"It was a tough game as well. No game in EuroCup is easy for us because we know we have to give 120% in every game. And fortunately for us, we came out with great energy. The fans were there and we just kept the lead the whole game and that's what really separated us in the second half as well. We just kept being aggressive, driving to the rim, and that's what really helped us."

"We have to do everything as a team and are still learning... I think the second round will be way better for us than the first round."

This is your first EuroCup season but you are playing like a veteran. What's allowed you to play so well right away?

"I think the biggest thing was the confidence. When I signed for Slask, I knew it was a big club in Poland. I knew that people expect a lot out of you and I was ready for a challenge. I didn't step down. I took the role that Coach gave me, I think overachieved, at least in his eyes, and that's what really separated me from the rest of the guys. We started the year off with four guards and that gave me a big chance to show my skills. And I think I definitely took advantage of that."

Was playing the EuroCup a goal of yours? What do you think about the competition's playing level and competitiveness?

"Oh, of course, it was. I think every professional basketball player plays basketball to be at the highest level possible. And for me, coming back from the United States, it was first Legia Warszawa, then Astoria Bydgoszcz and now Slask, that competes in the EuroCup. And for me, as of right now in my career, it's definitely the biggest challenge. But as I said, I'm pretty confident about my skills. I'm pretty confident about my game, and I think I bring good things to the table. As you can tell, in the Polish League, we have 14 wins and zero losses, but the EuroCup's definitely been tougher. The competition is a little better. The guys are more skilled, the guys are more athletic, and that's where the biggest difference is. I think we're still adapting. We still have a lot of young players and that's the biggest challenge for us. We are not as experienced as the other teams are. We don't have superstars. We have to do everything as a team and are still learning. Like I said, I think the second round will be way better for us than the first round."

How does it feel to work for an experienced coach like Andrej Urlep, a Polish basketball legend?

"I think the best quality of Coach Urlep is that he gives you a lot of confidence if he sees you can do different things. For me, the biggest challenge with him was adapting to his intensity on defense, but I think we are doing pretty well on that end. Unfortunately, we weren't able to score a couple of games, but Coach Urlep is definitely one of the coaches who helped me elevate my game to the next level."

It is a great time for Polish basketball. Do you feel that Slask is representing Poland in the competition?

"I definitely feel so. We have three guys on the national team - myself, Dziewa and Kolenda, who were part of the fourth-place finish in the last EuroBasket, so I definitely feel like we have a really good Polish roster finished with really solid international players. And I definitely think that Slask really represents Polish players really well. We have another newcomer to the EuroCup this year, Golebiowski. We have a lot of young guys like Adamczak, who had a couple of good games in the EuroCup as well, and I think Slask does a really good job of including Polish players in the mix."

Your next two EuroCup games are against Gran Canaria and Buducnost, which beat you by 40 points in Wroclaw. How much are you looking forward to these games against two of the best teams in the competition?

"I think the very first game of EuroCup, when we went to Gran Canaria, we played very good as a team. As everybody knows, Gran Canaria is one of the best teams in the EuroCup right now and they ended up beating us but I think we showed how we can play, what we can do on the court. It was a really good game, unfortunately, Buducnost came to our place and beat us by 40. We'll try to forget about that game and I think we did a really good job of bouncing back. Even though we didn't get the wins, we still played better as a team. We have been together for four or five months now and those next two games against Gran Canaria and Buducnost will show us where we at, where we need to improve and which are our strengths."

You seem to like Twitter a lot, managing your own account. What do you like about it so much, and how important is it to interact with fans?

"Yeah, for me, it's very, very important. I went to the United States for college and I kind of saw the American way of the game where players are really involved. They chat with fans, they are really involved with social media. And I kind of like that way because people come to see us and interacting with us, for them, it's like almost a reward for coming to the game. So I really feel like interacting with fans, especially the young ones, young kids who want to be like us on the court, who want to play basketball. We have to help in any that we can, especially in Poland."

"I think with our hard work and dedication to the game and everything that we do, [reaching the playoffs] is definitely possible for us."

We heard you are really into music, too. What are your favorite bands and what do you listen to before games?

"I'm really into American rap, actually. A couple of my favorite artists are definitely NBA YoungBoy. I will say Lil Baby, and I have to include guys like R.I.P. Young Dolph. But before games I mainly listen to what we call murder music, which is really loud, just high hyping up music, and that does a good job for me because I feel like every time I put my headphones in on the warm-up, I'm ready to go. Do you want to hear one song that I want to put on for the fans? One song I want the fans to listen to would be definitely Swerving by NBA Youngboy. That's my pre-game go-to song!"

Slask made it to the EuroCup Playoffs last season. Is that the goal again? What will it take to achieve it?

"Of course it is the goal for us. It's very important to, like I said, promote basketball in Poland, and achieving the playoffs in the EuroCup will not be easy for us, but it can definitely help the club develop the players, for us to gain some experience on that level. And it will be hard. Trento has two wins and they are in ninth place right now, the eighth-team place [Hamburg], I think they have three wins. So in order to achieve playoffs, we'll probably need 5-6 wins at the end, which will be really tough for us. But again, I think with our hard work and dedication to the game and everything that we do, it's definitely possible for us, and we'll try our best to achieve the goal."