By Vangelis Papadimitriou/ info@eurohoops.net
KAUNAS– Mike James is not a kid anymore. “I felt like a big brother all year, man”, he answered when he was asked if he felt like this in Monaco.
As he explained: “I am 32, everybody else is like 27. I am the oldest on the team. It’s not easy for me, because I don’t want to talk about stuff, but I was trying to provide an example, by coming up early and working hard. This group is hungry and wants to win”.
And the same applies to him also. As he elaborated while talking about him playing in Panathinaikos and now making it to the Final Four with Monaco, in the first appearance of the club in the event, he spoke about his mentality and his journey: “Everything was a part of the journey. I was at the place I was to be at that time and here’s where I am supposed to be right now. I am having positive experiences in every spot and every place I have been so far and I am trying to embrace each situation”.
A guards’ duel
So what he must do in order to win? “I am going to try and be aggressive, take some chances where I can, and if I can make some threes, so be it, hopefully, I can create some positive impact and we will win”.
Threes, like the one Micic made last year against Olympiacos? “That’s not important to me, I just want to win”.
After all, he will play against the top team of the regular season and against Kostas Sloukas who beat him back in 2016 in the Final Four semifinal between Baskonia and Fenerbahce. “He is good”, James admits. “He is smart and plays the game the right way. It’s going to be a test. My first year we lost to the team he was also, it will be nice to win this time”.
And the same applies to Olympiacos, despite Monaco going 2-0 against them in the regular season: “They earned the right to be here, like we did, playing really hard, and hopefully we can beat them. Everybody said that since we played them twice and beat them, we have an advantage over them but this is kind of far-fetched. We won, we beat them but we played them in total 10 times in two years I mean we lost some too. I don’t know the exact score in the series. It’s an honor to play games like these, we have to embrace the moment and just have fun. Whatever team gets settled into the game earlier, will have a big advantage. After that makes and misses. Defenses, little stuff”.
The Greek fans are expected to be the majority in the arena and Mike James already heard them during the official press conference of the Final Four, chanting for Olympiacos outside the tent in which the presser was held.
He even smiled when heard them and their presence doesn’t really concern him: “I wouldn’t really worry about it. I was laughing because they were loud and they were interrupting”.
The point, after all, is simple: win the title even if Mike James’ close friend Kevin Durant will not walk through this door this time as he did in last year’s playoffs against Olympiacos.
“He doesn’t want to be in Lithuania in the summer”.