By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
BERLIN, Germany – Winning the EuroCup in 2018 with Darussafaka, it took quite some time for Scottie Wilbekin to finally witness the EuroLeague Final Four experience.
Six years in the making, he finally managed to reach the most-anticipated weekend of the season when it comes to European basketball, bringing Fenerbahce to the Final Four after missing since 2018 as well.
Talking to the media before facing Panathinaikos in the Semi-Finals, he came back to the experience he had with another Turkish team in the EuroCup. “Yes and no, because EuroCup and EuroLeague are incredibly different. I can’t say the experiences in the EuroCup Finals can relate to this. I don’t know, we will see tomorrow”, he said.
On the green-and-black side, he was given the opportunity to lead the team despite that being only his second European team after a short stint with AEK. “That’s huge. Opportunity has been probably the biggest factor for me. It starts with Darussafaka and specifically David Blatt giving me the opportunity to lead the team at a young age. I’ve had great opportunities since then with Maccabi and now Fenerbahce. I’ve been blessed”, Scottie Wilbekin came back to his past.
Touching on how it feels to play his first-ever EuroLeague Final Four, he shared excitement. “It feels good. We played here before, but obviously, it’s a different court, with a lot more people in here for our practice. Hopefully, we can stick to our regular game and push the nerves aside, playing a good basketball game”, he said.
“No, I think if I’m bothered by anything is that we didn’t make it last year. And the Covid year I had with Maccabi, I really think we would have made the Final Four and possibly had the chance to win the championship. Other than that, I don’t think I have the right to be disappointed. Last year I think we could have made it”, he replied when asked if he was bothered about not making it this far.
“It was an epic flight back home”
Before reaching Berlin, they had to fly home from Monaco after winning Game 5 on the road. “It was great, we believed we could do it last year but we came up short. We wanted to take advantage of it this year. It was nice to be the first, but it was short-lived because Olympiacos did it afterward”, he said about breaking the 0-19 streak. “It was an epic flight home, it was”, he added.
That same game will always stay in his heart. “My favorite game was definitely Game 5 against Monaco, the game that got me my first Final Four. We’ll see if this weekend there’s a better game”, he said when asked about his favorite game thus far with Fenerbahce. “I hope so. If any of us makes the winning three, I would be happy”, he said when asked if Nick Calathes would make the shot to win it.
One of the guys he’s been around this season is Yam Madar. “He’s a great guy, first of all. Great to be around. I’m interested to see how his career shapes up because he definitely has a lot of talent and a lot of potential. We’ll see, I’m interested to see what happens this next year”, he said about the point guard.
Having Sarunas Jasikevicius on board for quite some months now, he was asked what changed from the stint with Dimitris Itoudis. “I’ve been on both, with coaching changes mid-season there’s a level of energy injected into the team, no matter who the coaches are. There was a bit of that. He added a really strong technical mind when it comes to the game, he’s really focused on the details. That has helped us”, he said.
“It’s been great. His basketball mind is incredible, I’m lucky to be able to learn from him. He’s a great guy too, fun to be around”, he added about the Lithuanian head coach. “It would be amazing. That’s the goal for every EuroLeague season. If we were to do that this year, I would be incredibly happy”, he also added.
Sarunas Jasikevicius shares with his leader being a Maccabi Tel Aviv legend, and they could trip up Panathinaikos to get some revenge. “I’ve got plenty of tweets suggesting doing it for Maccabi, but I’ve got enough on my play. I’m just trying to win it for myself, my teammates, and for Fenerbahce”, he mentioned.
Finally, he shared what could be the factor in tomorrow’s crucial game. “It’s hard to say because it could be anything. But I think turnovers could play a big role, and obviously just making shots. I think that turnovers we’ll be a big key. If we can limit our turnovers, that would put us in a good position”, he finished.
Scottie Wilbekin before the clash with Panathinaikos:
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague