James: “I would… kill Spanoulis in singles”

THE Mike James talks about his influences, puts… a title on every transition from group to Euroleague and answers the question of whether he would beat Vassilis Spanoulis in singles. All this in his Euroleague interview after the record he set as the top scorer in the history of the competition.

In detail what he said to the EuroLeague about:

-how he would describe the time he spent in each group: “I think that in Baskonia I was naive. At Panathinaikos, hungry. In Milan over my head. In CSKA renewed. In Monaco, ready.”

-how much he changed playing in Europe: “Being in Europe allowed me to grow even faster than I already was. I think I was already maturing faster than most people around me, but when I came here and had to be on my own, I had to start from scratch and build myself up day by day. I think it just allowed me to mature, to grow, to discover things, to overcome pain and difficulties and good and bad times. This allowed me to discover exactly who I was, very early in my life.”

-whether it is more difficult to score in Europe: “I think the dynamic in how Europe is built with the rules, the smaller pitch and the non-existence of three seconds in defence, the idea of ​​scoring in Europe is more difficult, just because it’s a bit more physical, with how the rules they allow you to play. So from those factors, yes.”

-players who have helped him in his career: “I think I’ve tried to take things from a lot of people. For example, when I first came I really liked Sergio Yule, Nando De Colo, Teodosic, Keith Langford, Tyrese Rice, Malcolm Delaney. To name a few without going out of my way. Growing up in the league I think obviously Spanoulis was great to watch, Diamantidis was amazing. Different things from different people’s games, that was something I enjoyed seeing, observing how they did it and seeing what things I could take and put into my game. So I think it was a lot of people that I saw early on and a lot of people that I saw to try to learn how they did certain things and how they got those certain things. I think I’d be here all day if I had to go on with the list.”

-who gave him the best advice: “Basically everyone. I think I asked questions and some people gave me a very good answer. I think Tyrese (ss. Rice), Malcolm (ss. Delaney) and Spanoulis have given me amazing answers and some people have just given me ‘ok’ answers and I think it’s all good. Not everyone is used to this question. They’re used to people asking them things, so I try to give great answers when people ask me things.”

-who would win in a one-on-one with Spanoulis: “One on one? I’d probably…kill him, but it’s not because he’s evil or anything. I think I’m just more of a one-on-one player and he was playing a really good pick and roll. When he got the changes he found space to get the shots. One on one is more my thing. He wasn’t playing one-on-one, that’s what I do, so that’s more of me than him.”