American basketball player of Khirdalan, Jakori Archi's interview with Idman.biz
-You scored an important goal in the 2nd match of the playoffs with Neftchi. Although you fell behind by 8-9 points in the game, you managed to recover later and eventually won. How did you achieve it?
-The match went neck and neck, and I know that was an important possession for us to score. We got the offensive rebound and I had to take the opportunity to score by any means. To be honest, we faced a lot of difficulties during the season. It taught us to calm down in situations like it, to regroup and get better game by game. Thanks to it, we won an important victory.
-Do you believe that you will beat Sabah in the semi-finals with this game?
-We will go back and look at the previous games and try to eliminate certain missing aspects. We will play harder in the game against Sabah. The main thing in these playoffs is to score as many points as possible and we have to do that to win this series.
-What is the main difference between the Regular Championship and the Play-offs?
-The intensity is too high. Every game is important. There is no defeat in the playoffs. It's only a best of 3 series, so every matchup is like our last. The basic philosophy of the playoffs is to have more possession. Only through this you can win.
-You are already 2 steps away from the championship. Did reaching the semi-finals boost your confidence? What are your chances of winning the championship?
-During the season, our confidence was at a high level. Each of us believes that we will win this league. But our motto was "development from game to game". All our basketball players want to win, so we do everything we can to achieve our goal.
-Your performance in the Azerbaijan Basketball League was very good. Probably, a number of clubs will be interested in your services in the new season. Are you thinking about staying in Azerbaijan?
-I will look at this after the end of the season. I want to finish what I started, and as you said, if there are opportunities, I will definitely consider them.
-Are you already used to Baku?
-I have been here since September last year and I feel like a citizen here. At the moment, I'm very used to Baku, I don't feel like I'm far from home.
-What are the points you are not used to?
-Undoubtedly, the language barrier. Trying to communicate is hard. I come from a completely different culture, because many things in America are different from Azerbaijan. But I think I'm still well adjusted.
Emin Agha
Idman.biz
