By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Before a couple of important Basketball Champions League Round of 16 games on the road, Dee Bost checked in as the guest of Trash Talk Episode 16. Down to 1-2 in Group I, Galatasaray Nef will visit MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg Monday and take on JDA Dijon in France a couple of days later.
“We have a road trip. We need to fight both of these games. We are in a must-win position,” he told Trash Talk host Josh Bett, “If we stay together and focused, I feel like we can put ourselves in a great position.”
Previously dealing with a COVID-19 crisis, the Lions making up ground are coming off a couple of BCL fixtures last week as well. Salvaging a split in the home-and-away series opposite Hapoel U-NET Holon prevented a 0-3 start.
“We knew we had to win the second game, to give ourselves the chance to survive,” explained Bost after averaging 17.5 points, 5.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in those matchups, “We wanted to win the first one. But to give ourselves a chance, we had to come out and win the second game.”
He tucked in 11/21 three-pointers split between last week’s winning and losing efforts.
“If I get an ounce of space, I am going to shoot any shot, not in a bad way. If I feel it is my shot or anywhere in my range, I am going to shoot any shot. That’s my mentality,” he said, “As a point guard, I have to sometimes balance it out.”
The bottom end of the home-and-away series moved Gala and Holon to Istanbul’s Sinan Erdem Dome.
“The Gala fans are something different,” he described the huge advantage of playing at home, “Especially when they came to the games and support us. We did not have as many as we expected, because of the snow. The ones that came were great. The Gala fans are amazing, especially when it’s loud and they are rocking the gym. I feel like they are amazing.”
Bost, 32, has produced 15.0 points, 5.4 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game through his third BCL campaign following the 2017-18 stint with Strasbourg and 2016-17 run all the way to the Final Four as a member of AS Monaco.
Besides the interview, Trash Talk hosts Bett and Igor Curkovic along with analyst Diccon Lloyd-Smeath reviewed Round of 16 Week 4.
Shifting to the Film Room portion of Trash Talk, Lloyd-Smeath walked through coaching and tactical decisions from Baxi Manresa.
You may watch the episode here:
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League