By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
If there is one player who has experienced the ultimate happiness, the pleasure of an unexpected win and the domination, but also the shock of the defeat and the disqualification in the last seconds, this is Kyle Hines. He experienced all these feelings with Olympiacos in 2012 and 2013 but also CSKA last year.
Kyle Hines is going to face the team with which he won two Euroleague titles for the first time, but as he says that the name of the opponent makes no difference for him. “Well, everyone is aware of my special connection with Olympiacos and what I have been through with this team. However, when you play in the final 4 the only thing you care about is to win. First in the semi final and then in the final, so that you reach the top. This is why I am not thinking about the opponent, but only some tactical details and what we have to do on the floor as a team but also each one of us so that we succeed.”
CSKA is the team with the best roster, with a number of solutions and the best record in Euroleague this season. Olympiacos on the other hand is very tough and dangerous as an underdog. Which is Hines opinion about it? “It is proven that during a final 4 it is not that much the talent and the quality that matters but the chemistry, the psychology and the good game that each team is going to have. The good thing is that nobody underestimates Olympiacos, we are all aware of how tough opponent it is and how many times they have won big games in the past. We are very well prepared, very calm, everything is allright in the locker rooms and we are ready for the fight. This is what we are expecting against Olympiacos. A derby that the details are going to decide the winner.”
Which is the player who has experienced the two extremes of happiness and sadness during a Final Four in a very small period of time? “Probably me (laughing)! In 2012 was this final and the comeback which is not easy for anyone to forget. The next season there was again a sweet memory, without a so thrilling ending. We made it seem easy, but it was not easy at all. Last year we almost qualified to the Final with the CSKA and the game slipped of our fingers… It was a very tough moment. It was the first time I felt something like that in a Final Four. Today, I am aware of all the feelings that a player can feel in such a big competition. You can say I am wise!”
What kind of advice do you have to give to your teammates for the semi-final? “We should focus on our goals and not thinking of anything else. Just our tactic. To be clever and not allow our emotions to affect us in such a big game. It is very simple. We have to act the same way we do the whole season”.