It took Tommy Klepeisz some time before he was able to play in the 7DAYS EuroCup, but he is really enjoying the experience as an important player on a fun-to-watch team, ratiopharm Ulm. Klepeisz started his career with Gussing Knights of his native Austria and also played for German side Braunschweig before joining Ulm midway through the 2019-20 season. He only got to play three EuroCup games in the 2020-21 campaign, but has become a very important player for Coach Jaka Lakovic, helping on the boards, sharing the ball and above all, pulling the trigger from beyond the arc. Tommy will share stories about ratiopharm Ulm, his experience in a competition he wanted to be a part of for a very long time, and much more in his EuroCupbasketball.com blog.
Tommy Klepeisz, Ulm: 'This is exactly what you want as a player'
First of all, I have to say that playing for ratiopharm Ulm is a lot of fun. We have a lot of experienced players, who have played at the highest level. Their athleticism and just the presence they bring to every game, that's just spectacular to watch. It's also fun to be with them on the court. Like, for example, with Blossomgame, you can just sometimes throw the ball up and you know he's going to get it, and it's similar with Felicio. So just being around those guys, the atmosphere they create is fun, and then I think we have a lot of talent in the role players from the German side that help us a lot. Then Fedor Zugic is another high-level prospect, so it's a very good mix of young and experienced players, high-level Americans and also very, very talented German players. I think it's a great mix.
We come off a big home win against Virtus. It was probably our best game this season, too. I think we had a couple of very high-level games where we just executed the game plan very well, especially defensively, which is how we got our confidence. It was very similar in Gran Canaria when we played there. Where we could really get stops, consecutive stops, gained some momentum out of that and then knocked down some shots and we got rolling. And yeah, in those two games, I think we never looked back. We just kept our momentum, built on it and built a lead. And I think we did that really well in those two games.
"You want to be challenged as a player and that's what Lakovic does every day."
For a three-point shooter, playing for Jaka Lakovic is a plus, of course. Some players set good screens and others gain a lot of attention from the opponents' defense to generate open shots. In our team, the defense sometimes is focused a lot on Semaj Christon, for example, and with Thornwell, we got another player who can really move the ball and find the open guy really well. So it's kind of like when we have the right guys out there, we have four really good passers on the court and then you're going to have an open shot sooner or later and then it's my job to knock them down.
Coach was a great shooter in the past and you can tell by the way he explains movements to us. Every now and then, he shows off a little in practice. When we need to do a drill or something, he goes first just to show us how it's done. He lets one fly and 90 percent of the time, it's straight cash, so you got a sense of how good of a player he was, just by seeing him introduce drills and stuff like that. You give him a ball and tell him to show an easy drill, like, go between your legs, one dribble behind the back, one dribble and crossover, one dribble and pull up jumper... just warm-up drills and you see by how he handles and touches the ball, that he was a really, really high -level player, just by that. And that's sometimes, like, astonishing.
I have never had a coach who has been that good as a player. He sees details and he therefore expects a lot from you because he knows how hard it was to be on the court and be in our shoes. So he expects a lot and demands a lot. And it's sometimes hard to fulfill all the things he expects and his wishes on the court, but that's what you want. You want the best coach at the highest level, and you just want people to demand a lot from you and to be coached. And he does that really well. You want to be challenged as a player and that's what he does every day.
Next, we play against two of the teams that we beat already, Umana Reyer Venice and Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana. Those were both very close games, down to the wire. I think both of these went to overtime - the one against Cedevita even went to double overtime! We definitely know they will be out there for revenge and that they want to get back to us. But yeah, that's what you get to deal with if you beat a team, of course. We already beat both teams and I hope we can do it again, but it's not going to be easy.
"It was always a dream of mine to play on the highest international level... And I'm glad that I get this chance!"
I think the new format is very, very exciting and interesting. It also means a lot of games for the team. Now with the COVID situation and games being postponed, this is going to be very challenging, but I love it. As a player, you want to play and you don't want to practice a whole week and then play one game a week. It's nice to have two games and the level of the competition is very high. I think it's the best format ever in the EuroCup. This is going to be very thrilling and exciting.
It was always a dream of mine to play on the highest international level. I played EuroChallenge and FIBA Europe Cup in Gussing, but the EuroCup is a different level and it always was a dream of mine to be here and to compete with those guys. And now, especially with this new format, going up against teams like Virtus Bologna, Valencia, Gran Canaria and those power players, this is exactly what you want as a player. I was always aiming for that and striving for that. And I'm glad that I get this chance!