By Cesare Milanti / info@Eurohoops.net
Zach Hankins made it through to the final with Hapoel Jerusalem, winning the place in All-Basketball Champions League First Team on the way.
The Pinnacle of the great season will come on Sunday against Telekom Baskets Bonn in the battle for the trophy, and the American center wants to add “the real hardware” to his cabinet.
“Awesome award, I definitely think all individual awards, are team awards. I don’t dribble the ball, shoot the ball. I got teammates around me that put me in great positions. We don’t win because of me, but because of our team defense and that’s what our identity is. It’s a great honor, right now we are looking for the real hardware to take home,” Hankins said.
Winning against Tenerife wasn’t an easy task, and the game against Bonn in the final won’t be as well, but Hankins insists Hapoel is ready.
“It was as tough as we thought it was going to be, they are a great team. We were able to stop a lot of their guys, but Huertas and Shermadini had a great game and really stepped it up in the second half, and Huertas did. We held on tight, were able to take it down to the wire, end up holding that lead and winning the game. Now were are ready to get to it, scouting Bonn, seeing what we can do, how we can win and stick to our identity.”
He feels blessed to be working with a great squad and coach Aleksandar Dzikic in Hapoel.
“We have a team full of MVPs and an amazing coach. Anybody can step up at any given time. Levi had a great offensive game yesterday, and that shows throughout the season. We have different guys having huge games all the way through, and that comes from having a lot of weapons, and really sticking to our identity, focusing on our defense, and offensive flow. We had amazing guys and a coach, showing us what we can be great at,” Zach Hankins concluded.
Photo: championsleague.basketball