D’Tigers forward Stan Okoye is excited to be voted amongst the top five of the 2018/2019 Liga Endesa in his first season in Spain. Okoye was voted alongside Nicolas Laprovittola (Joventut), Facu Campazzo (Real Madrid), Bojan Dubljevic (Valencia) and Walter Tavares from Cape Verde (Real Madrid).
In an exclusive chat with www.aclsports.com from his base in Spain, an elated Okoye dedicated his award to his teammates and technical staff.
‘It’s a great feeling, starting the season I wasn’t sure if I would accomplish something like this. I was always confident in myself but focusing just week by week and trying to get back every day helped.
“I think having great teammates and a good coach that all believed in me is the reason for this, everyone in this league can play but having their trust allowed me to get shots that I’m comfortable with and used to taking.”
The African Champion who signed a one year contract with Tecnyconta Zaragoza revealed how he has been able to adapt in Spain and how it has impacted positively on his game.
“The barrier wasn’t so difficult, a lot of the people that I interact with can speak English so that helps. I love the food here, the city in which I live in is very comfortable, there are many things to enjoy here. Playing here has made me a lot more patient. There are a lot of guys here with experience and every day I just try to learn from them,” said Okoye.
“My best moment was probably hitting the game winner a few weeks ago in Andorra, it was a very important game for us and after trailing the whole game that one shot gave us the lead and win,” Okoye added.
The Tecnyconta Zaragoza forward desires to be in the 12-man roster to the 2019 FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup in China this summer. He also believes the D’Tigers have what it takes to finish on the podium.
“I would love to play in the World Cup, I believe I can help the team. If they call me I’ll be there,” he assured.
“Our goal as we all talked about together is getting a medal. We haven’t done that yet and doing so would be great for our history and all of Africa. We aren’t satisfied with making the competition, we want to win.”
Okoye also reflected on his African title with the 2015 Afrobasket winning D’Tigers in Tunisia.
“Every time I’m with the guys it’s like seeing family that you haven’t been with in a long time but the chemistry never leaves. If I have to choose one moment it would be winning Gold in the AfroBasket Championship in 2015,” he concluded.
The Spanish club are in a 4-way tie for 6th place in the Spanish Basketball League. Okoye said making the playoffs would be the ultimate reward for them this season.
