By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
In his Basketball Champions League debut after missing the first couple of Regular Season Group E fixtures due to injury, Jermaine Love made himself the key for PAOK mateco in the crucial win against Galatasaray Nef on Monday.
The Monday “Game of the Week” has been a very exciting addition to the 2021-22 BCL season. Big games have come through for fans to focus on. The latest example stemming from Thessaloniki had the Illinois-born guard in the starring role. His side was down by 14 points early in the fixture seeming to be moving towards a 0-3 start, which would be disastrous, almost impossible to overcome. The Greek club stormed back and secured the W with Love connecting a couple of clutch threes for a 76-72 lead with 1:16 remaining and 79-72 with 41 seconds left.
“There is no quit in this team,” mentioned Love in the postgame press conference, “All week, we go through the game plan. We go out there and we try to execute the best we can. At the end of the day, it comes down to the heart that we have and the trust that we have in the person next to us. We just keep going. That’s what this team is about. That’s the idea we are trying to have for the rest of the season. That’s what we do.”
Love, 32, recorded a team-high 14 points backed by 3/7 three-pointers. He also registered three rebounds, one assist, and one steal in about 28 minutes of action. “I am just happy to just be out here playing, battling with my guys,” he said on debuting in the BCL after recovering, “This is definitely one to remember for me.”
A game to remember indeed for Love. Since turning pro, he displayed his talents in Lithuania for four years, also played in Poland, Italy, and Israel before returning to Greece to join PAOK prior to the 2020-21 season. He penned a contract extension during the last offseason adding the Champions League to his list of competitions. It did not take long to make an impact in FIBA’s premier European club continental competition despite a sluggish start to Monday’s game.
“For me, it could be my first shot or my fifty-est shot. I come with the same confidence. I just knock it down,” he replied to a question on retaining focus and making the key shots down the stretch.
He credited teammates Malcolm Griffin and Marvin Jones for setting up the plays leading to the wide-open attempts. “I just had the confidence to knock it down. They got me the ball and I just knocked it down. That’s my job,” he explained, “With this team, that’s my personality individually is that I want the big shots. I was not playing too well up until that point. So those two shots, wide-open shots, helped my mentality.”
Echoing the 1977 disco song by Australian singer John Paul Young, Love Is in the Air. PAOK improved its fortunes in the 2021-22 BCL campaign going up to 1-2 and at the same time forcing the Turkish side, coming off a big win versus Anadolu Efes at the domestic level, down to 2-1.
“The game was not really coming to me,” said Love on his performance earlier in the match, “Coach said to control your emotions. I had to take a step back and just allow the game to come to me. And trust the ball to find me if we run the plays the right way.”
PAOK will also host Igokea, and visit both Galata and ERA Nymburk to complete the double-legged round-robin schedule. First place directly moves the holder to the Round of 16, while the second and third generate a second chance through the Play-Ins scheduled to follow the Regular Season.
“Honestly, these fans are a perfect environment,” added Love regarding the crowd support, “I have been waiting for three weeks to play in front of this right here. So, it definitely helps us.”
Apart from the Basketball Champions League, his side currently 1-2 in Greece’s Stoiximan Basket League is heading towards big home games versus Peristeri Vitabiotics and Panathinaikos OPAP before the visit at Nymburk on November 9. Love and teammates will be looking to feed off the energy of the fans and also travel some over to the Czech Republic hoping to jump to 2-2.
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League