Sometimes we just have to admit that we can be arrogant Americans – even when we’re not trying to be. The media is amused when an international player answers their questions in broken English. We ask Timofey Mozgov and Sasha Kaun if they're friends because they’re both from Russia as if Russia is the size of Olmsted Falls. When we write an article, we manage their quotes to make them sound more like American ballplayers – sports clichés and all. "When I go back, like they say I’m ‘busy.’ The people, all the media. Everybody wants to talk with me and they’re all around me." Timo Mozgov - Cavaliers Center The aforementioned Mozgov doesn’t speak perfect English. And he’s not best friends with Sasha Kaun because they’re both Russian. But in today’s interview, this arrogant American decided to publish an interview of Timo being Timo. The 29-year-old Mozgov is starting his first full year with the Wine and Gold after arriving in a mid-season deal last January. He averaged 9.7 points and 7.3 boards in 81 games with Denver and Cleveland, shooting .555 from the field, good for 4th in the NBA. In last year’s Playoffs, he was even better – notching five double-doubles, averaging 10.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and a team-high 1.8 blocks in 20 starts. In the First Round against Boston, Mozgov averaged 3.0 blocks per. Fans have seen Mozgov pile up those statistics. What they may not know about the 29-year-old is what an excellent sense of humor he has – sometimes intentional, sometimes not. He loves breaking the chops of mustachioed members of Cleveland’s media. He dons a tuque during the winter that says “@%&@ THE COLD.” Last year, he sat at his postgame locker with an extra-large pizza on his lap, contentedly eating away. And some of us still laugh about this exchange with an international reporter during the NBA Finals …

Reporter: “You had a phenomenal night inside, scoring virtually at will. In fact the points in the paint piled up. Yet, it did not free up the perimeter opportunities for the Cavs. Was it a combination of just more of a harassing defense on the part of the Warriors tonight, or, as Coach Blatt said, was the team a bit tired, a bit exhausted from the three games in five nights and the travel? Or a combination?”

Timo: “That's a long question. Can you repeat it, please?”

"You have to understand, when you are in the Finals you are thinking: there might not be another chance to be there."

In an offseason no-brainer, the Cavaliers exercised their option on their starting center. About a week later, Mozgov underwent successful right knee arthroscopic surgery and spent the summer rehabbing – while still finding time to make his annual pilgrimage back to Mother Russia. Timo is back with the Wine and Gold as Training Camp tipped off earlier this week. And he and Anderson Varejao – the team’s starting center one year ago – have been challenging each other well in the early-going. He still found a moment to sit with Cavs.com at Cleveland Clinic Courts – where he talked about his offseason, his relationship with Sasha Kaun and Coach Blatt’s sense of humor …

For starters, what was your offseason like?

Timofey Mozgov: I couldn’t do my regular routine in the summer. I need to do all this rehab stuff.

Is this the first time you’ve gone through surgery and rehabbed?

Mozgov: Not the first time, but in the last five years since I was in the NBA.

Did you still find time to get back home to Russia?

Mozgov: Yeah, of course! Do some treatment here, the doctors check me out. Then I go back to Russia. Then I come back.

That’s a ton of traveling.

Mozgov: Yeah, but this is the job.

What’s the reception like when you return to Russia?

Mozgov: My reception? I stay in Moscow. I stay in Moscow most of the time. I have a facility to practice right there. The team I used to play for, they still really like me.

And I also spend a lot of time in Krasnodar, where my parents live.

Do you make it back to St. Petersburg?

Mozgov: I don’t spend a lot of time in St. Petersburg. It’s not a big part of my life at all. If I don’t see St. Petersburg for five years, I’m ok with that.

As an established NBA vet who’s now been to the Finals, what’s the media like when you return to Russia?

Mozgov: When I go back, like they say I’m ‘busy.’ The people, all the media. Everybody wants to talk with me and they’re all around me. (laughs) I probably spend the first week just to talk with the media.

Do you like dealing with the media?

Mozgov: I don’t say I really love it, but all guys are different. I like to talk with some guys and sometimes I don’t like to talk with some other guys.

I have to understand: this is part of my job, too. And for me, it’s important. And for Russia, it’s important. Because basketball in Russia is down right now – on the bottom. I hope it picks up. The Russian Federation was so bad, but now we have AK-47 (Andrei Kirilenko) – he’s the president of the Russian Federation now.

So, I try to help Russian basketball, try to help Russian kids, try to help (Kirilenko) make basketball more popular in Russia. And I have to spend the time with the media and do all this stuff. It’s what I’m supposed to do.

In terms of media, the local media is probably going to kill you with this question …

Mozgov: Why are you gonna kill me?

We’re going to kill you with the question: Are you friends with Sasha Kaun?

Mozgov: With National Team, we were roommates. Here in the NBA, it’s one person in the room. But overseas, it’s two people in the room every time. To be honest with you, I don’t want to say that we’re best friends. But we’re not enemies at all.

Right now, we’re both big guys, we play for the same team and we have the same goals. It should be nice, I think.

Media Day View Photos: Snapshots from Media Day. Training Camp: View full roster.

How are your game and Sasha’s game different?

Mozgov: I just do my job. Sasha does his job. (laughs) You guys can figure it out.

Looking back on falling short in last year’s Finals, is that something that stays with you or something you try to get over quickly?

Mozgov: Things like that, you can’t just put it on the side. It’s not like a game right in the middle of the season, when you lose. Even if it’s an important game in the season.

No, it’s different. You have to understand, when you are in the Finals you are thinking: there might not be another chance to be there. Some guys are lucky, they deserve it, but they’re still lucky to be in the Finals. But not everybody gets a chance to be in the Finals. When you think about that, it’s a lot of emotions.

Did reaching the NBA Finals change you?

Mozgov: I don’t think it changed me as a player, but they changed me – I don’t want to say as a person – but the experience I have after the Finals, that’s huge. That helped me. It will help me. When I say it didn’t change me as a player, what I mean by this: I mean I’m still gonna be hungry. I still need to go do my thing.

How good can this year’s team be?

Mozgov: We need a good season; we need to be consistent. I think there’s a lot of pressure on the players and the coach. On everybody on the team – staff and everybody. But we have to handle it the right way. We cannot start slow. We have to do the right things. We just have to be consistent all year, that’s it.

When everyone is fully healthy, can the Cavaliers have one of the best frontcourts in the NBA?

Mozgov: Ummmm.

It’s OK. You can say it …

Mozgov: (laughs) Hey, that’s a lot of pressure!



Because, just for myself, I’m a really hard critic. I’m never happy just where I am. So, it’s hard for me to say.

I know there’s guys in the league who do things better than me, but I can do other things better than them. So, it’s hard to say who’s the best. It depends on which team you play, how this team plays and how they use you. Do they use you the right way? You could be super-good but stuck in a bad situation.

But I’ll tell you something: I think we’re a good front line, for sure.

You’ve known Coach Blatt longer than anyone on the team. Has he changed at all this year?

Mozgov: No. He still smiles a lot.

Same bad jokes?

Mozgov: Bad jokes? You think he has bad jokes? I will tell him that. I think they are good jokes.