The newcomer to Lokomotiv Kuban gave an interview to the club's press service upon his arrival in Krasnodar.
- What was your opinion on Loko before you joined us?
- Everybody knows this team and their history. I think most players just dream to be a part of this organization. It was hard to play against Loko. Every game was really hard. I'm just happy and grateful to be here.
- Have you already met the guys? How did they react?
- They reacted well. I haven’t practiced with them yet, but I think it's gonna be fun, they seem to be great.
- How does the head coach see your role in the team?
- He already told me that he sees me as a four and a five. I'm just gonna do my job, get the rebounds. I think that is what you bring me here for. But we'll see how practices and games will progress, you know there are always adjustments during the season.
- Tell us about your first coach. Is he the one that also coached Ncholas Batum, Thomas Heurtel and Timofey Mozgov?
- Yes. Faisal Irwin was my first coach, I mean individual coach. I was working with him for 5 years in Qatar. He is an amazing person and a great specialist.
- How hard was it to win the 3x3 youth World cup?
- It was pretty hard for me, actually. They were all older guys, like 1,5 years older than me. But we had a good team.
- Was it the first time for the Qatar national team?
- For the under 18 it was the first time. But the Qatar national team has already won the World Cup 2 years before.
- How was it playing in Japan? Do they have a great league?
- It was fun. I love Japan. It's a very nice place to live and play basketball. Maybe they don’t have a high level of basketball, but it was nice there.
- What's your favorite thing about Japan?
- Food. They have a special grill and their meat is awesome. I love Japanese cuisine.
- And what about Russian cuisine? Vince Hunter says he loves borscht.
- Yeah, I do too.
- You played in the Russian Second Division. What do you remember from these times?
- It was nice living in Moscow. Runa was a good club. In my first year corona happened so we stopped the season early, and my second season was mostly without fans so it was a little tricky but yeah it was a great experience. So when I came back to Russia it was nothing new for me.
- With the London Lions, you had a great season. Did this team reach their maximum that season? Or the Lions could do better?
- Not really. We didn't win the championship but what was expected. It was another great experience for me, a different type of basketball.
- Why do you choose number 44?
- When I was like 8 years old, my first number was 4. And when I went to Japan, number 4 was taken, so I changed to 44, and since then it's my lucky number.
- And the All-Star Game, you spoke Russian to the fans. How good is your Russian?
- Honestly, I just understand most of the Russian words, let's say 80%. But I'm just shy to speak, to make mistakes.
- Tomorrow, Loko will have a very important game against CSKA. Will you take part?
- Unfortunately, no. I would love to help the team, but with zero practices and not knowing the system it is hard to. I just hope Loko will win it. I’m looking forward to the time when I’ll fully join the team and we will make something big.
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