Writing from Berlin: Oleksandr Proshuta/ info@eurohops.net
Laboral Kutxa will try to upset the Euroleague Final Four and Mike James is a big part of this effort. In his first Final Four the explosive wants to make a splash.
As he said to Eurohoops: “Yeah, it’s really big stage. Obviously the second biggest basketball stage in the world – only NBA is higher. It’s an amazing feeling to be here just knowing I had a long way behind. Of course, you want to win coming to such big stage”.
That’s why, with nothing to lose, James and Laboral Kutxa are very dangerous: “Tension, pressure? No, these words doesn’t bother me at all. All year we’ve played without any pressure, we think we can do really anything. We’re not really worried about such stuff. We’re just going to take a deep breath”.
Speaking about underdog’s mentality, James likes the idea of not being the favorite: “It’s definitely fun to be in such position. I’ve played for lower level teams and I definitely know they can beat bigger teams who can just walk around and not play hard. It’s fun, but it doesn’t really matter for me”.
And he was more than honest, when he was asked about his future: “It’s hard not to think about it. I try not to think about the coming summer, but I would be lying if I say that I don’t think about it. It’s very hard not to think about the future because I’m free agent. However I try to stay in the moment and play at my best”.