Heat's Goran Dragic says he will be ready for training camp

MIAMI _ Goran Dragic said Friday from Slovenia that he does not anticipate any fatigue concerns when the Miami Heat open training camp Tuesday at Florida Atlantic University.

Dragic and the Slovenian national team won the EuroBasket championship last Sunday, with Dragic to arrive Sunday in South Florida.

"If you ask me, I can start practicing twice a day. I've had enough rest the last few days, four days off without basketball," he said. "I think so, I can come out and be fresh in training camp."

Dragic, who scored 35 points in the championship game against Serbia before sitting out some of the closing stages due to cramping, was named Most Valuable Player after Slovenia's 9-0 run during the three-week tournament.

"The exhaustion level is probably going to be the same as last year, nothing to worry about," Dragic said, having arrived to Heat camp last fall after EuroBasket qualifying and then having thrived early in the season. "It was just part of the game. It's a finals game. You put a lot of emotions in, it was a lot of running, a lot of people switching on me. It was just that part of the game that I had cramps, but nothing serious. I'm fully confident that I'm going to be ready for training camp."

Dragic, 31, announced his retirement from the Slovenian national team in advance of EuroBasket. But that was before 94 percent of his country watched the championship game on television and then more than 20,000 celebrated in pouring rain.

He joked Friday by phone that he may have to override a government edict to remain retired from the national team.

"I said many, many times that I'm officially retiring from the national team. But here are some crazy people in Slovenia," he said with a laugh. "They said that they are going to go to the consulate, of the politics, that they're going to do a referendum on me to not retire. So I don't know. I don't know. I said it in the media. I told my coaches this is the best way to end my national-team career, on the top of Europe."

He said Slovenia emerging with its first team gold medal in any international competition in any sport could provide inspiration for the Heat's longshot hopes.

"There's a lot of new challenges ahead," he said. "I'm looking forward to coming to Miami and to battle for a title in Miami, because nobody gave us a chance, the Slovenia national team, nobody gonna give us a chance that Miami is going to win. But I always believe, 'Why not?' "