Writing from Berlin: Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
After leading Laboral Kutxa to its first Euroleague Final Four after 2008, with some nearly heroic performances, Darius Adams is now ready for the new challenge at hand: Playing against Fenerbahce, one of the strongest teams of the competition, in the semifinal.
Does the Turkish team look intimidating to Adams and his teammates? “Not at all!” he fiercely replied, when we asked him. “We have been proving ourselves all year. We have been doing great and there’s no pressure on us. We just have to go out there and to do what we have been doing this year” What is that? “Be tough and play tough”.
And how he and his teammates are going to achieve that? “Obviously by staying true to ourselves. That’s the most important thing. Do the things that have taken us so far. That’s what we need and not something extra, perhaps useless”.
To reach the Final Four, Laboral Kutxa swept Panathinaikos, by absolutely controlling the rhythm in its three victories. What is the key, according to Adams, in order to once again impose their rhythm against Fenerbahce. “Defense, first and foremost. We need that. This is the way in which we find our tempo, which we carry to our offense. Everything starts on how we stop them from scoring. Good defense leads to good offense and that’s the key for tomorrow’s match.”
Once the American guard of Baskonia begins to shoot, he never stops. Where does he owe this big confidence that leads him to firing deadly three-pointers on his opponents? “If you think about it… it’s just basketball. We have been doing this our whole lives. We have practiced to play like that and perform such a basketball”. But what about his personal shooting barrages? “I have been working on this stuff constantly. It’s easy to have confidence when you know that you are executing the game which you have worked”.
Darius Adams performances have attracted a good deal of attention to some well known European powerhouses. How does he feel about that? “It’s ok. But I’m trying to not put my focus there right now. i just want to finish the season strong, because we have some goals with Laboral Kutxa. I don’t want to look far ahead. Just finish what I started here”.