By Semih Tuna – Anıl Can Sedef/ info@eurohoops.net
After averaging 11.5 points in the 2018-19 EuroLeague season, Shane Larkin will lead Anadolu Efes in the Final Four. Interviewed by Eurohoops, the 26-year-old American point guard answered many questions from the Final Four semifinal against Turkish rival Fenerbahce Beko, to his teammates’ ability to play in the NBA, the best-of-five playoffs series versus FC Barcelona Lassa and his future.
On reaching the Final Four: “I feel amazing. As a team we feel amazing. We know we accomplished something that hasn’t been done for a long time. That gives the extra boost of confidence. We hit our stride at the right time. We played very well to end the regular season and then go into the playoffs. We were able to pull it out against a great opponent and finish it at our home court in Game 5. This gives us the ultimate amount of confidence. Hopefully we can continue to play well and do some special things the rest of the way.”
On the turning point of the season, Larkin picked out a crucial regular season contest: “The home game here we had against Barcelona. After that game we felt like we had a very good chance to make it to the Final Four. We were fourth or fifth in the standings and we knew that were probably going to play them. After we played them very well here, we all started believing we can do something special this year.”
On Barca players calling him Michael Jordan before the playoffs series: “I don’t know how to look at it. At one side you can look at it as a compliment. At another side you kind of can look at it almost like smack talking. Me being a competitor is the way I chose to look at it. This guy said I look like Michael Jordan and that we aren’t going to let him do it again. I took that personally and I made sure to look like Michael Jordan in every single game.”