Shavon Shields: “One day I’ll defend, one day I’ll pass, Olimpia is going to be this kind of team”

Shavon Shields remembers his last game in Milan very well. He scored 31 points and played one of the best games of his life. "When you want to help your team win, you have to be able to give your best effort. Here at Olimpia, with the roster that we have, I think it won’t always be necessary that kind of effort, one day it could be Punter, another Delaney or Rodriguez, we can basically going down the entire roster. One day it may be better to play a good defense, another it could be making the right pass. I will do whatever it takes to win, my main focus will be on that." Shields was introduced to the media by the general manager Christos Stavropoulos. "He already has significant experiences behind him, he has won, but he is still young, at the top of his competitive maturity. I think he can give us a lot," he says. "I’m happy to be here, but above all I’m happy to be finally able to practice, get to know the coach and teammates, even the games are starting to get close, so I’m happy to get to work," he explains.

THE DIFFERENCE COMPARED TO TRENTO – "I was away from Italy for two years and, in the meantime, I gained experience playing in Spain, I played in the EuroLeague. I think the biggest difference comes from the experience gained playing at the highest European levels".

PLAYING IN A "BUBBLE" – "With everything that’s going on there are many more rules, what you can do or can’t do, sanitization, being tested every day, but after a bit of adjustment it becomes part of a routine, pretty normal, like wearing a mask. Playing without fans is different for one or two games, then you get used to it. In the end you adjust and then it becomes normal."

MILAN’S CHOICE – "It all started with Coach Messina, his vision, the desire to build something important here, something that I want to be part of. And now I want to help the team win".

HIS ROLE – "I played as a power forward in my rookie year in Frankfurt, then when I came to Trento, they moved me to the guard position. It was a learning experience, an adjustment, they helped me in a couple of situations to make me grow as player and for this I will always be thankful to them ".

BEING UNDRAFTED – "It was disappointing, when you grow up you dream of playing in the NBA especially coming from the United States. But I immediately made the decision to come to Europe, try to become the best player I can be and win. The goal remains to win, no matter where you win, U.S. or overseas".