Veteran guard John Holland delivers his first blog post for EuroCupBasketabll.com in which he discusses how much he enjoys playing for UNICS Kazan this season.
John Holland, UNICS: 'I love this team'
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5 mins read
At this level, every game is a war, especially now for us. It's part of our team culture, how we want to approach every game, how we want to play defense. I think we really try to embrace the fact that it’s a war and that we have to be willing to go out there and fight on that court, die on that court. That’s the mindset that I feel we're starting to take on and that's our identity.
If you look at our team, I feel like we have everything that it takes to win. I'm not backing down from that. I feel like we have a great chance to be successful. We have to go out every night and prove it and play like that. That's my mindset when I go into these games, to show everybody – and show ourselves – what we are as a team and what we can become.
"I'm enjoying the experience of playing on a team that has a chance to be so good."
I love this team and I love playing with my teammates. It’s a pleasure. Everybody on the team, we're so close as a team. I enjoy going out there and playing with my brothers. That's unique. You only have so many seasons in your career and this one I think has a chance to be really special. So I am embracing it. I am loving the opportunity every night. I’m enjoying the experience of going out and playing on a team that has a chance to be so good. It’s fun!
Jamar Smith is our captain. He has been here forever and everybody kind of looks to him for guidance on and off the court. He's been so important to me and everybody to learn Kazan, to learn, UNICS and just maneuver and navigate everything. I don’t know where I'd be without him. That's why he's our leader!
My first time in the EuroCup was in the 2012-13 season with Seville. That was a fun time! We had a bunch of guys. We had Tomas Satoransky, Kristaps Porzingis, Nikola Radisevic, Ondrej Balvin. We just played Gran Canaria and they have another guy from that team, Beka Burjanadze. It's fun to see a lot of the guys you used to play with and see how their careers progressed, to see where they are and see what they're doing with their careers. It was a fun time.
Aito was our coach, so we learned a lot of basketball. It was challenging, but I was new to Europe. That was only my second year professionally, my first year in the EuroCup. It was a challenge, but definitely a great learning experience. I grew as a player and all my other EuroCup seasons were good, too. They helped me grow and learn basketball. But right now, I feel like I'm in the best position I’ve been in to win the EuroCup and I'm happy about that. I'm looking forward to taking that next step in the EuroCup, advancing and seeing where we can go this season.
"I don't really focus too much on the other team, I really just focus on us."
The break coming up kinda sucks, because we're really rolling right now. We've been winning, we haven’t lost a game this year. It is what it is. We have to take a break and then strap in and get ready for the last home stretch. There's still going to be time to recover and get back in a groove. I’m excited. Hopefully this week we can qualify for the quarterfinals and see what happens after that.
I think this game against Mornar is going to have a different look, especially with Johnny Hamilton on the inside. He's a force; he can block shots, rebound and do a lot of things. But when it comes to this game, I don't really focus too much on the other team, I really just focus on us. If we come with the right energy and the right mindset, it doesn’t matter what anybody else does. I feel like it’s all about what we have to do. Yeah, it's gonna be a different look, but for us, it’s the same challenge. We only really play against ourselves. That’s my philosophy. If we bring our level of intensity to the defensive end, move the ball and do everything that we’re supposed to do, it’ll be a different look, but hopefully, we’ll get the same result.
That's what we strive for as a team – to be able to reach that level where it's all about what we're doing as a team. Obviously, we are going to face all different kinds of teams. The only constant is you.