Zurab Talakvadze

"Olimpi", June 28, 2002 year

At last Nika Tskitishvili will play in NBA. He will play as No.5 for "Denver", after Paul Gazoly he is the second European player who will play with such high number at NBA draft. 

Americans appraise him so much as if he is the second Hakeem Olajuwon or Tim Duncan, since the start of the current season the player of "Beneton" has been appraised. Journalists call him the future Dirk Nowitzki.

If we trust the Kiki Vandeveg - general manager of "Denver", Tskitishvili can be the participant of NBA "all stars" match.

He says the following about Tskitishvili:

"Nika is a very modest man. He told me that always wanted to play in NBA but did not know if everything happened so quickly. He does not have communication problems with teammates. But he does not know many players of the club, but he has potential of becoming the main show-man of our dressing room soon".

He has a special body description for sport. Nowadays' NBA from "the tall" only Nowitzki and Garnet can carry the ball in such way.  Take on your account that even Dirk and Cavin started playing here as ordinary players, they started playing as tralanted players but as future players. 

Tskitishvili might be not"open" at the first season. There is serious staff changes in "Denver". The fans could not understand why we retired Antonio McDyess. We think that it was the best solution at this stage. After settling a limited fund we could not buy any normal players, as for McDyess he was one of the expensive players. I can say that in 2002 "Denver" made the best filling of draft. Besides Tskitishvili, Brazilian Ilario also will help the club very much. Supposedly we will not fight for championship, but if we cannot go through the play-off, I will not respect myself"-stated Vandeveg.

As for Tskitishvili, he does not say anything. It goes without saying that he is just smiling journalists, who liked him either physically or as a person.

It also was said that after Kobe Bryant and Grant Hill journalists have not liked anyone else so much. It is a good comparison, is not it? It is no matter that Nika is compared with super stars due to such relations with journalists...

As a super-popular journalist of  the "USA Today" David Dupry says, Tskitishvili is a hybrid of Bryant and Garnet, but sometimes look like Tim Dankan.

"For Tskitishvili playing in one of the west grand clubs would be optimal, "Denver" is a normal team, but imagine, how he will progress when while the training will watch Dankan and Bryant"-says Dupry. 

Tskitishvili has already made freind with Vandeveg, who has invited him for visiting sightseengs of Denver.