By Semih Tuna – Anıl Can Sedef/ info@eurohoops.net
After averaging 11.5 points in the 2018-19 EuroLeague season, Shane Larkin will lead Anadolu Efes in the Final Four. Interviewed by Eurohoops, the 26-year-old American point guard answered many questions from the Final Four semifinal against Turkish rival Fenerbahce Beko, to his teammates’ ability to play in the NBA, the best-of-five playoffs series versus FC Barcelona Lassa and his future.
On reaching the Final Four: “I feel amazing. As a team we feel amazing. We know we accomplished something that hasn’t been done for a long time. That gives the extra boost of confidence. We hit our stride at the right time. We played very well to end the regular season and then go into the playoffs. We were able to pull it out against a great opponent and finish it at our home court in Game 5. This gives us the ultimate amount of confidence. Hopefully we can continue to play well and do some special things the rest of the way.”
On the turning point of the season, Larkin picked out a crucial regular season contest: “The home game here we had against Barcelona. After that game we felt like we had a very good chance to make it to the Final Four. We were fourth or fifth in the standings and we knew that were probably going to play them. After we played them very well here, we all started believing we can do something special this year.”
On Barca players calling him Michael Jordan before the playoffs series: “I don’t know how to look at it. At one side you can look at it as a compliment. At another side you kind of can look at it almost like smack talking. Me being a competitor is the way I chose to look at it. This guy said I look like Michael Jordan and that we aren’t going to let him do it again. I took that personally and I made sure to look like Michael Jordan in every single game.”
“I want to make them remember”
On his impressive performances versus Barcelona: “There’s never going to be bad blood between me and Barcelona. I actually signed there two years ago before going to Boston. I was looking forward to playing there. It obviously didn’t work out. I ended up playing for the Boston Celtics and that was a phenomenal year for me as well. There’s no bad blood. I have a lot of friends on that team. When you have a history like that, you want them to feel what it could have been. Every time against Barcelona I have an extra motivation, an extra focus. I want to make them remember.”
On his injuries in the start of his 2018-19 campaign: “I missed a lot of the summer. In the NBA playoffs I separated my shoulder. I didn’t get to work out a lot last summer. Also, I had knee issues in the beginning of the season. I wasn’t myself for a long part of the season. I remember a few months ago I was able to dunk the ball at practice for the first time in about five months. I started to feel better, started to feel my legs and everything. I wasn’t going to make excuses in the beginning of the year. I wasn’t healthy, nobody expected me to be, but I was still going out there trying to play my game. I just wasn’t being successful. Credit to the coaches and the training staff here. They stayed with me, they stayed in my program. Once I started feeling more healthy, to jump again, shoot my shots, shoot step-backs, pull-up threes off the dribble, everybody started to see the guy they wanted to see.”
On Micic and the rest of his teammates moving to the NBA: “Vasa has a good chance to go the NBA, if he wants to do that. I think it just depends on what he wants from his career or his situation. In the NBA it will be a much different situation compared to Europe. I have many experiences with that now. In the NBA you’re playing 15 to 20 minutes a night. You have the ball sometimes, but your primary job won’t be shooting a lot, dribbling a lot, using the pick-and-roll, because you have guys like James Harden or Steph Curry, those kind of guys that have the ball all the time. You’re going to have to learn how to play off the ball. He showed this year alone that he has the potential to be a star player in Europe for many years to come. That’s not saying that he won’t have the opportunity to get the ball all the time in the NBA, it’s just a more difficult situation based on how everything works over there. He definitely has the talent, the size and the ability to play in the NBA. Any guy on our team based on our success this year can have a chance provided they get the opportunity.”
“Our spirit came back to life”
On the fans being the spirit of the club: “Earlier in the year, even in the EuroLeague games, the arena was empty. Nobody really came out to support us. As players, we were playing together, but we weren’t a unit combined as one team. We were playing for Efes, but we didn’t all know each other. It took us time to gel. Like he said, our spirit has come back. Our fans started showing up and we all started believing and playing for each other. You could see the magic that was happening. I got hurt early in the year, I sprained my MCL, I didn’t play against Panathinaikos here. I entered the arena and it was packed, everyone had their lights on. I knew it was going to be a special night. We ended up beating them. From that moment on it was a special season the rest of the way. Our spirit came back to life and propelled us to where we are now.”
On facing Fener: “I think we have a great chance. Everyone is noting that we are facing Fenerbahce. Yes we are, but we played Fenerbahce six times this year, we won three and they won three. Obviously we are now at a bigger stage. They have the experience, they’ve been there five years in a row. They have the players with that experience. At the end of the day, basketball is basketball. I’m not taking away anything from Fenerbahce, their players nor their coaches. They’ve been amazing the last five years and they’ve had a lot of success. I really believe at what we got here. We have all the talent, the schemes that we need in order to win everything. We have to go their with confidence and intensity, just fight like everybody is against us. If we do that, we have a very solid chance to go there and win everything.”
On the strengths and weaknesses of Efes’ semifinal opponent: ‘Their strongest attribute it their chemistry. They have been together for a few years. Their core guys have been there for a while. They know how to win together. If everything is going good they know how to continue in that way, if everything is going bad they know how to switch it up and make everything good. That’s something that you gain from playing together for multiple years. I don’t know what their weakest point is. They had the best record in EuroLeague this year. They were winning all their games. I won’t say what we think their weaknesses are, but we are going to find them. We’ve seen things on tape that we can exploit. We saw what we did in the three games we won to get those wins.”
“The win is the most important”
On playing like Michael Jordan versus Fenerbahce: “I hope I can produce a “Jordan” Larkin performance in the semifinals. I really do. I feel good right know, very confident. I feel like I’m shooting the ball at a very high level. I feel like every time I shoot it’s going in. Hopefully I can have another great performance against them. Even if I don’t, all I worry about is winning. If I go out there and have zero points, zero assists and zero rebounds and we win the game, I will be smiling like I scored 50 points. Whatever we do as a team, the win is the most important.”
On the keys to advance to the final: “I think we have a lot of talent in our roster. Once you become confident in the team, in the scheme of what we do and figure out what works against them, they become more vulnerable. We figured out certain ways how to attack them offensively and defensively in the past. I’m sure in the Final Four we will be one step above that, more focused. We have to stick together as a team and understand that during the game we will have some runs and they will have as well. It’s just how you deal with that and stay composed. It’s going to be a tight game. We must stay together, make those key plays, those key rebounds, those key stops, those key dives for a loose ball. These plays are going to determine who’s going to the final.”
“Focused on the Final Four”
On the 2019-20 season: “I don’t what will happen next year. Being here this year has definitely been great for me. I’m comfortable here, I’ve played very well here. I believe the same roster is coming back next year. I think everybody is locked into contracts. Being here next year would be great as well. It all depends on how the summer goes. I don’t know what offers are out there. Right know I’m not focused on that. I could be playing in the NBA, for Efes, in China or Australia. I can’t tell you where I’m going to be. The Final Four is what’s important right now. Obviously, my agent has had teams call him and asking. Right now we aren’t even answering the phone. We are focused on the Final Four and that’s what is important right now.”
He also sent a message to Efes’ fans mentoning: “We’re going go out there and try to do something that hasn’t been done here. We know the fans will be here supporting us like crazy. I wish they can all come with us and be with us in these moments. Their energy gives a boost on the court. We want to win this game for the fans as much as we want to win for us. Wherever you’re at during the game, just give us your energy and your prayers. Hopefully we can create something very special for you.”
“Ataman lets you play through your mistakes”
And wrapped up his interview talking about his coach: “It’s good playing for Ergin Ataman. He lets you play your game. I wasn’t playing that much in the beginning of the season. I wasn’t getting the minutes I was going to be getting when I first got here. Towards the middle of the season, we I started playing better, he just gave me the ball. He met with me and told me that I’m playing at a very elite level, at the level we signed you to play and we want you to play more minutes, to take responsibility and to lead us to the Final Four. Towards the end of the year he proved that. In the most pivotal game of the year he started me. He usually brought me off the bench. I think he really trusted me. Playing for a guy that really trusts you and believes in you makes your job much easier. I wasn’t afraid to make a mistake. He lets you play through your mistakes. Yes, he’s a guy that screams a lot on the sidelines, but at the end of the day he really has your best interests in heart. He just wants you to go out there and win the game. He really gave me the confidence and the ability to take full responsibility for the Barcelona series. I’m very thankful he gave me the opportunity and trusted me. Hopefully, we can now give him something he hasn’t got yet, something none of us has got yet. Hopefully we can accomplish it together.”