Interview: Utkuhan Genç
Editing: Kemal Rutkay Özcan
On Saturday night, Boston Celtics beat Indiana Pacers on the road, keeping their status as league leaders. After the game, Celtics guard Shane Larkin spoke with TrendBasket on his experience in Europe, Kyrie Irving, Saski Baskonia and overall performances of himself and the team.
How’s your season so far? What do you think about the Celtics’ season and your season?
I think we’ve been doing good. We obviously had a long winning streak and we’ve been winning a lot of games. Individually, I feel like I’ve been impactful on most of those games I’ve gone in whether it’s defensively or offensively. So, I feel like it’s been good so far.
How did one year in Europe affect you? What did that add to your game?
It changed my mentality. I needed to focus on some things and going over there and playing for Baskonia really helped me work on my game and focus on basketball and figure out what I needed to do so that I can be impactful. It definitely helped me a lot playing there.
Do you think playing for the Celtics as a rookie is different from playing for another teams as a rookie because the Celtics are contenders?
It’s not my rookie year, though. I’ve played four NBA seasons.
I mean “after being in Europe”
Basketball is basketball. At the end of the day, you just gotta go out there and play but playing for a high-profile team like this definitely adds some pressure. But I just gotta go out there and be me.
What about Kyrie? When he moved to the Celtics, there were concerns about if he can lead the team. Now, those concerns seem pointless. What do you think about his presence in the locker room?
He’s been amazing. He’s been playing very well, closed games for us. I think he took a risk coming here, put a lot of pressure on himself but he’s been killing it.
I know Celtics are playing pretty well so far but do you think there’s one area -or more- you can improve on?
I think we’re first in the league in defensive rating. So, I think defensively, we’re fine. Offensively, we need to focus on things we need to do better. Execution with the ball side to side… When we do that, we get into offensive top 10 and I think we can be a scary team.
Check out what @ShaneLarkin_3 has to say about his former team @Baskonia and its fans! #TBExclusive pic.twitter.com/quvxyIkmYg
— TrendBasketEN (@TrendBasketEN) 27 Kasım 2017
Lastly, do you have anything to say to Baskonia fans?
Baskonia fans; I love you. I’ve a lot of great memories in Baskonia. I wish you the best luck.