By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
ANTWERP — Two years ago, Davin White and Iberostar Tenerife became the inaugural Basketball Champions League champions. The team actually celebrated the title in front of its home crowd in San Cristobal de la Laguna.
Now, the tables are turned. It’s White and Tenerife that will give their BCL Final Four fights in “hostile” territory since they face Telenet Antwerp Giants Friday (3/5) for a spot in the title game.
White isn’t intimidated. In fact, he feels that his team was battle-hardened for this kind of challenge throughout the season.
“We’ve been a good road team anyway,” White told Eurohoops. “We get wins on the road. We play harder on the road. We’ve built for this kind of opportunities in the road against a tough teams like this. to play against . They do have homecourt advantage of course, the fans are going to be loud. It’s going to be a great atmosphere.
Tenerife is facing the youngest team in the competition in Antwerp Giants. Among the opponents is Paris Lee, one of the most dangerous and hard-to-stop guards in the league.
Lee, 24, is averaging 13.7 points, 5.0 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game this season in BCL. 37-year-old White is eager for their matchup
“Pssh… he’s… fast!” White said to Eurohoops on Lee. “I still got a little speed left in mean. But he’s a great player. Overall, they got a great young team. We have a team full of veterans. It will all come down to them playing fast and athletic and we’re going to slow it down a bit and play in our pace.”
At 37 years of age, White feels hungrier than ever at the prospect of winning the second BCL title of his career.
It’s a great opportunity for our team and other opponents of course. It’s a tough league. We worked hard to get here. It’s about which is the best team now. ”
“Everybody want to prove themselves, whether you are 37 or 23. You always have something to prove. It’s not like I’ll go out there and say: “oh i’m 37, I’ve already proven myself. I’m here to win and play hard.”