Shane Larkin talks coaching change in Efes / News - Basketnews.com

Anadolu Efes Istanbul superstar Shane Larkin talked about the move from Erdem Can to Tomislav Mijatovic and the famous four-overtime Real Madrid game this season.

Credit: Valencia Basket/Miguel Angel Polo Credit Valencia Basket/Miguel Angel Polo

It has been a season of ups and downs, mainly downs, for Anadolu Efes Istanbul. One of the more consistent realities that the club could rely on was the performance of Shane Larkin, who has been having a fantastic season so far in spite of the team's precarious situation and a coaching change past the midway mark of the season.

Shane Larkin

MIN:33.31PTS:17.62 (57.55%)REB:2.96As:5.35ST:1.23BL:0.08TO:2.08GM:26ProfileEuroLeague2023/2024

In an interview with Basketball Sphere, the player shared his thoughts about Erdem Can's departure and the "arrival" of Tomislav Mijatovic.

“The coaching change was unfortunate for coach Can," Larkin said with empathy. "At the end of the day, he is a good guy who has principles and good ideas. I think he is going to have a lot of success in the future," he wished his previous coach well.

"We had so many injuries from the beginning of the season into the middle of the season where we weren’t able to exactly see what our picture looks like all at once," Larkin explained. "We would have certain guys on the roster while other guys are injured, and when they got healthy, the other guys got injured. It just seemed we never had a full roster that was able to practice together, to play two or three weeks together.

"Even in preseason so that we can build that chemistry that I spoke about earlier. Be able to understand one another on the floor without even talking. That always needs some time because we had new players and a new head coach, but having all those injuries made it much more difficult," said Larkin, partially justifying the club's uneven performance during Can's tenure.

"The coaching change is unfortunate. The club made the decision which they made, but I definitely understand why they did that because we had two bad losses in a row. We had a lot of expectations from this team before the start of the season," Larkin explained.

Although the American guard wished well for Erdem Can, he is nevertheless happy to work with Tomislav Mijatovic. Both men have been together in Efes since 2018.

Free throws this season

80%13,0Points made:13,0Accuracy:80,5%Place in standings:10Record max:26Record min:3Most made FTs:Shane LarkinTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

"The biggest difference with Tomislav Mijatovic is just that there is a different energy in the locker room. Tomi is one of the most positive guys I have ever met in my life," the superstar said. "Even though he went from being an assistant to a head coach, he still maintains that positivity; he is always encouraging guys.

He is always telling us things about the next play. Even if we miss a shot, make a turnover, [or] do something stupid, Tomi is always there to support you and give you a high five," Shane Larkin said of Mijatovic's methods.

"He can give you positive reinforcement that it makes it easy, and you can go out there and continue to play and fight for your team," he continued. "In the short term, that is the number one thing coach Mijatovic has been able to bring to our team that maybe wasn't there before due to all the losing and bad energy from losing games," Larkin also said. "It’s been great so far."

Of course, the relationship between Larkin and Mijatovic did not appear overnight. The Croatian specialist had already been in the club for 8 years when Larkin arrived in 2018, and the two have worked together since then.

"I have a lot of respect for Tomi. I've known him for six years now, and he has always done anything you asked him for. Now that he is in a head position, it definitely makes us want to go out there and fight for him," Larkin stated. "That’s what you’ve seen with our team in the last six or seven games, the way how we've been coached by Tomi."

It doesn't matter what happens, if we are playing well, making defensive errors like miscommunication, or if we don’t rotate, we are in the 'next step' mentality, just to continue to play hard and give everything you have."

It has been enjoyable so far, and I am glad that we had success with Tomi, and hopefully, we can continue like that for the rest of the year," the American guard wished.

As the head coach of Anadolu Efes, Mijatovic currently has a 6-1 record across all competitions, including the EuroLeague, the Turkish Basketball Super League, and the Turkish Cup.

Support BasketNews so we could make even better content.