Adrien Moerman: It’s great for us to be the underdog

By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net

VITORIA-GASTEIZ– Few people truly expected that Anadolu Efes would make the Final Four when the season started.

While Efes had bolstered its roster with plenty of quality hoopers in offseason, it was difficult to believe that the bottom-placed team of 2017-2018 will bounce back in such a fashion.

Efes advanced to the Final Four in 18 years carrying an underdog mentality. And forward Adrien Moerman believes that this suits his team just fine.

“It’s great for us to be the underdog and not the favorite, Moerman told Eurohoops. “We don’t have any pressure. The pressure is on the other three teams. Of course we are here to win. We are prepared. We are a hungry team and everybody here is ready to compete against Fenerbahce and maybe win this EuroLeague.”

Moerman has been a EuroLeague veteran of six years before finally making the Final Four. Some of his teammates have also played in EuroLeague for many seasons prior to actually having the chance to compete in the tournament.

“Some players have played in EuroLeague a long time but never in a Final Four before. We are happy about that and enjoying this tournament together. We have a lot to be qualified to the Final Four. We are happy but also focused now, 24 hours before the semifinal. We practiced really hard and we are ready.”

Despite the inexperience that Efes has in comparison to the other three contenders, Moerman doesn’t feel any nervous.

“Nervous? We aren’t nervous. Just focused. We aren’t novices. We played so many tough games this season. We built confidence and we are in good shape.”

Moerman has been one of the elite contributors for Efes this season. The French player averaged 12.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game prior to the Final Four but wasn’t selected for the All-EuroLeague Team.

“No (not feeling disappointed) I feel more confidence. I don’t care about this. The best thing is to win title together. Not individual title. If we can win this trophy, It will be great. I don’t care about the rest.

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