Martin Marinov: The BIBL is getting better every season

Martin Marinov has been known by most of the fans as the sixth man who comes off the bench for Rilski Sportist and starts dropping three-pointers on the opponents. In the first games of the new season Martin has found himself in a different role - in the starting line-up, as in the first game for Rilski in the 2011/2012 EUROHOLD Balkan League, he scored a game-winning three, after which Riletso took the win against BC Timisoara (80:78). The shooting guad took some of his time to answer a couple of questions for balkanleague.net.
 
Q: You are starting your second straight season with Rilski Sportist in the EUROHOLD Balkan League, what is your impression from the competition?
 
Martin Marinov: I think that the level of the competition is getting better and going up every season. There are a lot of good teams from different countries, which makes the BIBL really interesting, and as you can see the games are very close and exciting.
 
Q: Do you think that the two teams from Israel will make the level of the BIBL even better?
 
MM: Yes, I think that with those two teams the class of the competition will increase significantly. Both teams are really strong, and the team that′s in our group (Galil Gilboa) is the main contender for the first place.
 
Q: Rilski got off to a strong start of the season, and in the last game you made the game-winning basket, how do you feel in the clutch moments like that one?
 
MM: I think that in the game against Timisoara there was a little bit of tension in our team, as it was the first home game of the season, we didn′t play that good, but it′s important that we got the win, after we revealed that we have character, and we made our fans happy. About the winning shot, it′s a great feeling, to know that your team has won after a shot like that. Last season we started the same way, with a last second shot by Ivan Lilov for the win in Mures, and we reached the final of the BIBL. Why not to do it again this season?
 
Q: Your next game is against Mornar, a team that you already defeated at home in Samokov last season, should the fans expect more of the same?
 
MM: Mornar are a really good team with a lot of good, young and talented players, but we are going out there to get a victory and I hope that we will make our fans happy once again.
 
Q: Coach Rosen Barchovski has been using you first as a sixth man, but now you have gotten into the starting line-up, does it make any difference to you if you start the game on the bench or on the floor?
 
MM: That can only make me happy, and encourage me to keep on working hard. About the line-up, it′s up for the coach to decide that , it′s not a big issue to me if I start on the floor or on the bench, as long as I get to play. When I get a vote of confidence, I always give all that I got.