Mateusz Ponitka opened up about his new beginnings in Bahcesehir, the ever-changing reality of Polish basketball, and the rumors of an imminent signing of a new naturalized player following AJ Slaughter's retirement from the national team.
It's been more than five years since Mateusz Ponitka last played in a EuroCup game. It wasn't the best of comebacks for the Polish forward, but his new team, Bahcesehir College Istanbul, got the win anyway.
With two minutes to go until the end of the game against Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius, Ponitka had missed all three of his triples and committed four fouls. When his team needed him the most, he converted two free throws and made a tough and-one.
"It was difficult, very difficult for me," Ponitka told BasketNews after the game. "The first game didn't go the way I was hoping. I started very rough, a few very simple mistakes, but in the end, I hope I could help the team, and I believe every game will be better and better for me. This game is a little bit different from the EuroLeague."
Now, he's in Istanbul at the crossroads between Europe and Asia, playing for a team that isn't very well known for its fanbase. You would think he would face less pressure due to this very fact. Ponitka disagrees.
"You know, one time, Xavi Pascual told me that the biggest pressure we can create is by ourselves, no matter what's around. If you're not able to play for one fan when that COVID season was and we had that situation, if you're not able to do this, why even do it?" the player said.
This summer in itself was different in terms of available free time for rest and skill development.
For Ponitka, his national team journey ended even earlier when Poland didn't manage to qualify for the Olympics in the Qualifying Tournament in Valencia, Spain. They lost a critical game to the underdog Finland, who competed without their superstar forward Lauri Markkanen.
Jeremy Sochan is the big hope in Polish basketball. The San Antonio Spurs forward is the first Polish NBA player since Marcin Gortat. All hopes and dreams of Polish basketball are currently built around the 21-year-old.
Born in the US and raised in the UK, Sochan is entrenched in a different basketball culture. Nevertheless, he represented Poland in the youth ranks, played in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, and has already promised to play in the upcoming EuroBasket.
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