By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
BELGRADE, Serbia – At the beginning of December 2023, Jermaine Love was playing in France with Elan Chalon, fighting to survive mid-table in domestic league action. After playing in the Basketball Champions League with PAOK, it didn’t look like a return to the competition was coming up next.
Then, the call back from Greece happened. “I tell everybody Peristeri saved me a little bit after transferring from Chalon. I wasn’t playing as much there and the situation wasn’t really the best. I wanted to change the team and Peristeri was one of the first people: they saved me this year”, the 35-year-old American guard said after Thursday’s practice in Belgrade Arena.
Since his arrival in Athens, he has averaged 11.4 points per game to boost up the yellow-and-blue backcourt. Most importantly, in the decisive last two games of the Quarter-Finals series to eliminate Telekom Baskets Bonn, he put up 15.5 points per encounter, at home and away.
In the Pre-Tournament Press Conference, Vassilis Spanoulis said they’re here to enjoy the moment. Jermaine Love agrees with him. “I don’t think it’s very wise to put too much pressure on yourself for these games. We started playing sport because we enjoy it, like little kids. We will come with that same desire to come here and enjoy this, but understanding we’re coming to get a championship”, he commented.
No big stress or anticipation before today’s Semi-Finals with Tenerife, but a “sense of calm”, according to the experienced guard. “We did our work to get here, but we understand we’re not satisfied. For us, we hold the same importance for every game. This game isn’t more important than others, we gold every game to the highest standards, and we’ll come out and play that way. We’re not coming here to just say we’ve been here. We’re coming for a purpose, we here and let’s get it”, he firmly assured.
Being at his first-ever Basketball Champions League Final Four, Jermaine Love has come a long way. Starting his overseas career in 2013 in Lithuania, he went on to play in Poland, Greece, Italy, Russia, Venezuela, and France, at the beginning of this season.
However, nothing has been like this run, being down 0-3 and basically hopeless in the Round of 16. “This is one for the books, all across the board. Surprisingly or not, even when we were down 0-3, we believed. We didn’t think “Oh no, the season is over”. No, we were like “God is gonna give us what we deserve”, we’re gonna keep fighting, keep coming in every day and building. The basketball gods wanted us to be here, and we’re here”, Jermaine Love expressed looking back at it.
This has brought them all the way to Belgrade, where an innovative glass floor will see players battling it out. “It’s really cool, I haven’t played on a court which has a little bounce to it. The LED is super cool, it’s gonna be interesting to see how it is. For the photo shoot, we came with no lights on, we were overwhelmed with the lights. But now that the lights are on, you can’t really tell, it looks like a normal court but it’s really not. It’s a super cool feeling”, he commented on this new and innovative feature.
Embracing the experience with Joe Ragland and Kill Bill
Alongside Elijah Mitrou-Long, the 35-year-old shares responsibilities in Peristeri’s backcourt with one of his peers and vastly experienced Joe Ragland, who has already been to such stage in 2022 with Hapoel Holon. “From the first moment I came here, he definitely embraced me just like the rest of my teammates”, Jermaine Love commented about the all-time double-double leader in BCL history.
What makes it even more special is that he has been observing the former Crvena Zvezda‘s point guard for quite some time now, even before sharing the same locker room in Athens. “I’ve been watching Joe [Ragland] for a couple of years, it’s good to finally be able to play with him. It’s a high-level player, whenever you can get to somebody like that, it makes your job a little easier”, he added.
Joe Ragland hasn’t been the only reason why he gained even more experience. On Peristeri’s bench, in fact, there’s a familiar and legendary face. “Honestly, it has been a breath of fresh air. I was watching some old games of us battling against each other”, he said about past games played against Vassilis Spanoulis when he was in Greece with Holargos in 2018-19, Kolossos Rhodes, and PAOK in 2020.
What made him a Greek icon on the court translated into a promising beginning on the bench. “To play against him and then understand that as a coach he has the same attention to details… his name is “Kill Bill” for a reason, and he has the same mentality as a coach. He holds everybody accountable, he holds himself accountable”, he said.
“The amount of information you can get from him from just a two-minute conversation, it’s unbelievable. I’ve never seen it before. He can be walking next to you, and in those two minutes, you’re getting so much energy, and so much knowledge in two minutes. He has played at a high level all his career, it’s been dope”, Jermaine Love finally concluded on Vassilis Spanoulis.
PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League