By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Nando De Colo was unstoppable in February, helping CSKA Moscow earn three straight victories to raise its Group F record to 6-2 and coming closer to qualify to the playoffs.
Consequently, CSKA‘s combo guard was named Euroleague Basketball’s MVP of February, averaging 19 points, five assists, two steals and 25 performance index rating (PIR).
De Colo also leads the 2015-16 Turkish Airlines Euroleague in scoring (19.1 ppg.) and in PIR (23.4 per game), shooting deadly from all distances (58.4% 2FG, 48.4% 3FG, 90.7% FT).
The Frenchman talked to Euroleague’s official website about his performance so far, his team, Milos Teodosic and many more.
The versatile player has only one thing in mind, namely to keep working hard to make his team play even better, as he said in this Euroleague.net interview. “It is not just about me: the team has to play better every day,” De Colo added. “Everybody is doing a great job and that makes things much easier for me to improve my game on the court.”
Hello, Nando. Congratulations on being chosen as the Euroleague MVP for February, your second monthly award in as many seasons. How much of an honor is it?
“Thank you. You know, I am happy to have this kind of award. It proves that you did something great to help your team and that, individually, you did your best to make your team get wins, which is good. Of course, the most important thing is that the team got three wins, but in the end, if you can have an individual award, it is a plus.”
CSKA brought back all of its injured players and is playing really well now. Does this award arrive in the best moment of the season for your team?
“Well, I don’t know. We had a lot of injuries, but tried to wake up day after day with the goal to get better after each game, in each week. This is our main goal: how we can be the best team at the end of the season. There is a long way to go, but everybody is ready to play for the team, which is good. For the moment, we are playing well.”
Both you and Milos Teodosic have been unstoppable this month. What do you like the most about playing with Teo?
“We understand each other and this is the good part. We try to talk a lot in every game and in every practice, trying to find out how we can play better and can do better for the team. We know that we can do a lot of things for the team when we are on the court. We need to work on it every day, but at this point we know each other better. I know what he can do on the court and how to play with him.”
Do you feel you are playing some of the best basketball of your career, with great consistency, this season?
“I try to do my best for the team and right now, everything is going well. I try to play aggressive and our coach knows exactly what I can do on the court, which is great for my confidence. It is not just about me: the team has to play better every day. Everybody is doing a great job and that makes things much easier for me to improve my game on the court.”
You started February with a blowout win against Zalgiris in Kaunas. Was leading by 15 after one quarter the best way to overcome the always-strong atmosphere in Kaunas?
“We just did what our coach wanted us to do and of course, we had a good start of the game, like we did in a lot of other games. I think that the difference is that we played hard for 40 minutes. That really made the difference in a difficult game like this was.”
CSKA then defeated Olympiacos at home in a very physical game in which a lot of players contributed. How important is it to know that a lot of players can score at any given time?
“You know it is always a tough game against Olympiacos. They play very good defense and are strong. I think we were ready for this kind of game. Of course, we remembered last season and what happened in the past when we played against them. I think we learned about what we did and played a much better game. We have a lot of good players who can do a lot of good things on the court, and when we start playing together on defense, we have more confidence on offense. Everybody is able to score. This is a good part of our game: everybody can be dangerous on offense.”
You finished February beating Khimki 108-98 at home. How difficult is it to play against a team like Khimki that you face many times every season?
“You know, it is never easy to play against the same team all the time, but also all games are different. You need to be ready for one game and take it like a single game, and this is what we did. We know Khimki has a lot of very good players who can score easy points, so the first step against them was to play defense and stop their fastbreak transition. Once it starts, the game is never the same as any previous one, so you need to stay focused for 40 minutes because things can change.”