The Men’s European Basketball Championship is over for Ádám Hanga

– How is your leg?
– Not well... If there wasn't a problem, I'd be training with the team and wouldn't go home. I'm going back to Madrid where the medical team will check my hamstring and advise me on what to do. I'm not a doctor, so I don't know if it's a recurrence of a previous injury or something else. But I've been suffering with my thigh all season.

– You've had some rest since the match against France. How would you evaluate the clash?

– Our team deserves all the credit. We were able to play an extremely competitive game, we shot from long range with a good percentage, and we were able to come back from a big deficit twice. We are sad that we didn't win, we knew before tip-off that if we lost, we could forfeit the qualification. Our goal, spoken or unspoken, was to get into the final eight, and to do that, we would have had to win against France. The task was made harder by the fact that we lost to Bosnia in the opening game and then Bosnia and Herzegovina beat Slovenia. I'm certain the boys will do their best without me to make sure we don't finish the tournament without a win.

– You played two matches at the European Championship. It's not what you were preparing for.
– It hurts me, I don't deny it. I'm glad that at least I was able to play two matches in the World Championship qualifiers. But overall, I'm happy to be back with the national team after five years. I'm not leaving Cologne with the best taste in my mouth, especially because I have to do it against my will, due to an injury.

Translated by Vanda Orosz.