This is my first post here. it's an interview Nocioni did with Ole. Originally I was just going to link to this in a FanShot but then I decided to translate it. It's not perfect but I figured it was better than a Google translation. He talks about the callenges he thinks the team will face, his dificulties in finding motivation for the year and his role in the team.

This is the original interview in Spanish.

And this is my translation.

You can hear it in his voice. Andres Nocioni is a born competitor, a winner. But 8 days away from the beginning of his 7th  N.B.A season he has few reasons to be exultant. What he sees in Sacramento after 4 pre-season games (1-3) and a month worth of work doesn’t lend itself for optimism. “It’s going to be a tough season. I’m here and I have to play and try to make the best of it, but I know it’s going to be really hard to get wins. We are not the most talented team so we all need to give 100% all the time to have a chance to win".

Ole: What do you like about the team and what are you worried about?

Noc: It’s a young squad aside for myself and a couple other guys. There’s a lot of potential and we could get better but we’re not there yet. There are a couple of quality bigs in Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes, but we are still lacking experience in  the paint. We also need Kevin Martin to be his old self and for everyone to give 100%.

Ole: Are the young guys committed and respectful or is it going to be hard to get the utmost effort out of them?

Noc: Right now we are only at the beginning of the season so everyone is trying to play hard, work hard and win. We’ll have to see if at mid-season when things aren’t going as planned, that stays the same. It’s going to be hard but I hope that we can keep the effort up throughout the year.

Ole: Is it harder for you to find motivation in your current situation?

Noc: It’s harder than if I were in a team with a better chance to compete. But you have to try to find motivation where you can. You always want to get better, especially after my last season. It’s going to be hard though, since this is not the best team to do it.

Ole: Where do you find motivation?

Noc: I want to improve from last season and also get to the World Cup in the best shape possible.

Ole: Is it important for you to leave last season behind you? You admitted that it was the worst in your career.

Noc: Yes. I want to have a good season because of that and also to get to Turkey more relaxed and confident, even though it seems so far in the future.

Ole: How is the knee?

Noc: It’s fine. Fortunately there’s no sign of the tendinitis. All the work I put in in Argentina has paid off.

Ole: And how has your game been in the pre-season?

 Noc: Fine. I’m still lacking flexibility, so my game has suffered a bit but i’m getting there.  

Ole: Have you spoken with coach Westphal as to what will be your role in the team? He has already stated that you are not going to start.

Noc: Yes, he wants me coming off the bench, and what he asks of me is the same that Skiles asked of me in Chicago: to play the best defense I can, sink my open shots and bring all my energy, my hustle. The same I always did.

Ole: Do you feel that your competitive nature could be an asset to this young team that could end up losing a lot?

Noc: Yes, that’s one thing that’s asked of me. My drive to compete and win is one of my most important contributions.

Ole: How do you get that across?

Noc: Day to day, game to game with my hustle. I’m not very vocal on or off the court.

Ole: Westphal surprised us by saying you are neither an SF or a PF, but you can be effective in both positions. What do you think about that?

Noc: (thinking about it) I don’t know why he said that. I’ve played both position all my life without problems. As a wing I only have a hard time with the smaller SFs, because of their speed. But a lot of players have the same problem. NBA rules don’t let you go into a full-on zone defense, so there’s a lot a court to cover out there, making  it harder to defend one-on-one.  

Ole: Are you going to play more SF or PF? Will you get more playing time as a result  of Garcia’s injury?

Noc: Coach told me that I was going to play SF 75% of the time and PF 25% of the time, and I don’t think that will change because of Garcia’s injury. Maybe a little because we will have to split his minutes, but I don’t anticipate a big change in my role because of it.

So anyways, that's it. I hope that someone finds this interesting. If someone speaks Spanish and notices that something is wrong let me know in the comments.