Janari Joesaar, member of the Estonian national team, spoke to Basketball Sphere about preparations and expectations for his team before the start of EuroBasket, the unforgettable moment with Miroslav Raduljica, as well as his arrival to Sarajevo’s Bosna and the upcoming duels with EuroLeague opponents.
Janari Joesaar has had an interesting path in his career so far. He attended high school together with Buddy Hield, after which he played two years of college basketball before returning to his homeland. Through the domestic league, stints in Spain, Germany, and Poland—where he played for the past three years—he has now arrived in the ABA League, where he will play for Bosna in their comeback season.
Now the forward of Bosna is ready to make history with his national team, but a tough road awaits them. In Group A, they will face teams like Serbia, Turkey, Latvia, and the Czech Republic, while tricky Portugal will also be a rival.
“Of course, we know that our group is tough, as are the opponents, but we don’t think about whether they are unbeatable just because they are high on the ranking list. We will stick to our plan. We are great warriors, and every gameis possible to win, and we will make that happen.” – Janari Joesaar began for Basketball Sphere.
Claim Now Estonia is coming to the upcoming EuroBasket with its strongest roster ever. Besides Janari Joesaar, there are also Maik Kotsar, Sander Raieste, and Siim-Sander Vene – players with EuroLeague experience who know what it takes.
“We want to get out of the group. That’s the plan for now, and after that we’ll see. We’ll start from there, main goal is to advance.”
The clash with Serbia in the group stage will not be the first for the 31-year-old Estonian. In the qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup, Estonia surprisingly defeated the “Eagles,” and Janari Joesaar had an unforgettable block against Miroslav Raduljica in that game:
“Of course, of course. Those moments are unforgettable and I think they energize the crowd. I hope the outcome will be the same. We’ll go day by day and see what happens.”
Like many, the Estonian national team player believes in their group rival—Serbia, whom he considers the main favorite before the tournament begins.
“I’m not sure who could surprise. There are always good teams that can cause trouble. Serbia is certainly the main favorite to win EuroBasket, and for the rest we’ll see what happens.”
This summer Janari Joesaar signed with Sarajevo’s Bosna, a team returning to the ABA League, which will be something new in his career.
“I didn’t know the players from before. When I got the offer through my agent, it was a new challenge for me. The ABA League is something new for me and I wanted to give it a try. I hope my path will be successful.”
As he himself points out, the conversation with coach Aleksandar Damjanovic sped up the decision-making process when choosing his new club.
“I haven’t spoken to him recently. We talked before I signed the contract. He told me about the expectations for the club, but also for me. That helped me speed up my decision.”
When it comes to goals for the next season, the Estonian national team player didn’t want to say much, but he hopes history will be written.
“It’s always hard to talk and guess when it comes to expectations. Generally, I wasn’t so familiar with the league, but of course you always want to succeed. I hope the season will be good and maybe even historic for the club. I expect we will make that happen. At least that’s the plan.”
Finally, we also looked at the strongest ABA League ever, and Janari Joesaar is especially looking forward to the duels with Euroleague teams.
“Of course, the Euroleague teams are the ones I’m looking forward to the most. I played against Alba Berlin in the German league, but this will be my first time against these clubs. Clubs like Partizan and Red Star are a very big challenge, but also a chance to show ourselves against the best.” – Janari Joesaar concluded.
