Jermaine Anderson, KK Buducnost Voli
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 Buducnost Voli comes off a critical home win against Banvit BK and has climbed into second place in Last 16 Group K. The Montenegrin powerhouse also managed to get the tiebreak advantage against Banvit BK, which means that it controls its own destiny in the race to reach the Quarterfinals. One of the top contributors for Buducnost has been Canadian guard Jermaine Anderson, who had 16 points against Banvit. In fact, Anderson has scored in double digits in all four Last 16 games thus far and is averaging 10.4 points, 3 rebounds and a team-high 2.9 assists in 10 Eurocup games this season. Anderson is in his first Eurocup season in five years and is one ofonly two Buducnost players to start all 10 games until now. Now Anderson wants to help Buducnost clinch a Quarterfinals spot, as he told us in this Eurocupbasketball.com interview. "There is no reason at this moment for me to be satisfied. As long as we have games to play and can earn the opportunity to carry on playing, I am going to be optimistic," Anderson told Eurocupbasketball.com. "We will try to take one game at a time and avoid thinking ahead of that."
Hello Jermaine. How has the Eurocup season been for Buducnost Voli until now?
"So far it has been pretty good for us. We are excited to be in the Eurocup Last 16. With the win against Banvit last week, we have a good opportunity to make it to the next round. I don't have any complaints until now, I think that me and my teammates are doing a good job."
You have managed to win all the key games until now, especially that one against Banvit, and you also got the tie-break advantage. How important is that?
"Well, Banvit is a very good team and much more experienced than us. Our coaches said before the game that we have to push the ball, play hard defense and avoid making it a high-scoring game. We executed well and knew it was very important to win by 8 or more. We managed to do that against a very good team. We controlled the game tempo most of the way."
You played the Eurocup with Brose Baskets back in the 2006-07 season. How competitive has the Eurocup become since then?
"The Eurocup is a strong competition. It was already strong when I first played it, and back then it was my first year in Europe, so I didn't know what to expect. What hasn't changed about the Eurocup is that you have a lot of teams playing with different styles. Every game is totally different; teams from a certain country can play much different from others. You never know what to expect and have to prepare the games really well."
Your next opponent will be Spartak, the only undefeated team left in the competition. How tough will that game in St. Petersburg be?
"Even though Spartak is a great team with a great coach, winning that game would definitely help us a lot, so we will prepare it really well. Like you said, Spartak is playing well and is undefeated, but one thing I know is that we will fight to beat them. We will try to play good defense, control the game tempo and if we have a very good game against them, I am sure we will have chances to beat them."
 Montenegro is the fifth European country in your career and you have visited a lot of places with the Canadian national team, too. Do you feel like a basketball globetrotter?
"For sure! Basketball has given me the opportunity to see different places and get to know different cultures - not only in Europe, because I have also been to places like Argentina and China with my national team. It is definitely exciting to see new things and explore new cultures that you may have read about. It helps that you get to see things from a different perspective, like the time I spent in Germany, which is a great country full of great people. I feel very fortunate to have played in so many places."
How do you like living in Podgorica and playing for Buducnost?
"The club is very professional. They take care of everything and put us in a position in which we only have to care about playing basketball. They will provide anything we need off the court. Our coaching staff is great, they have an exact preparation for every game. So, from the basketball standpoint, everything is great. Podgorica is a very unique place. I have lived in New York for most of my life, so it is different to see so clear skies and so much countryside around, surrounded by mountains, fountains of water and things like that. There is a lot of nature in this city."
One of your teammates, Bojan Dubljevic, is playing really well at a young age. Are you surprised to see him doing so well?
"I cannot say I am surprised, Bojan is a good player. Ever since Nikola Vucevic left the team, he put the team on his back. He is giving people a lot to talk about. He has stepped up big time since Vucevic left."
Buducnost managed to reach the Last 16 and has good chances to go to the Quarterfinals. What would be a good result for you this Eurocup season?
"I didn't expect to have this many chances to advance, but now that we are in this situation, we have to have the right mindset and try to go to the next round. I cannot say I am satisfied with everything we have done until now. Once the competition is over, whenever it happens, we will see how well we did. There is no reason at this moment for me to be satisfied. As long as we have games to play and can earn the opportunity to carry on playing, I am going to be optimistic. We will try to take one game at a time and avoid thinking ahead of that."
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Monday, February 13, 2012
Javier Gancedo, Eurocupbasketball.com
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