Nizhny Novgorod's Kasey Shepherd named Play-Offs MVP

NIZHNY NOVGOROD (Russia) - Kasey Shepherd of Nizhny Novgorod has been named 2020-21 Play-Offs MVP after leading the Russian team to first place in Group K and into the Basketball Champions League Final 8.

Coming into this season nobody really had high expectations of us, so the fact that we were able to make it to the Final 8 coming in first place in our group is pretty big - Kasey Shepherd

"I am grateful for winning the award and I am happy to know that I am playing well enough to be recognized, it's a great feeling," Shepherd told championsleague.basketball upon hearing the news.

"This is a way bigger deal than other awards I've had in my career, because there were so many great players in the BCL Top-16.

"Coming into this season nobody really had high expectations of us, so the fact that we were able to make it to the Final 8 coming in first place in our group is pretty big.

"I am happy that I could be a part of this success and I am glad that I am able to play my role."

Shepherd, who joined Nizhny in the summer, started off his maiden BCL campaign in solid form and took a big step forward in the Play-Offs. He rose to 20.5 points per game from 15.6 points in the Regular Season, and he averaged an efficiency rating of 22.2, compared with 12.8 per game in the first stage.

Coming off the bench gives me the chance to see what the other team is doing, watch how they are guarding our point guard on the pick and roll, if they are pressing him, if they are backing off, if they let him shoot - Kasey Shepherd

"Going into the Play-Offs, I felt that I was playing pretty well but I knew that I wasn’t playing up to my potential," the Play-Offs MVP explained.

"I was able to make some adjustments off the court that helped me on the court, and so when the Play-Offs started I was doing all the things that everyone around me knew that I was capable of doing, but now I was doing them consistently and playing with more confidence.

"I continued with that mindset and it's not that I went into each game thinking that I have to score X amount of points.

"I was simply trying to be aggressive and bring energy when I was checking into the game, to create things offensively, and trying to play better manifested itself in that way, scoring."

Shepherd was more than successful in injecting energy into the team, especially considering the fact that he routinely came off the bench in the Play-Offs, so he had to be ready to make an instant impact on the game.

The first thing I would say you have to do whenever you go into a new situation, is to check your ego - Kasey Shepherd

"Coming off the bench gives me the chance to see what the other team is doing, watch how they are guarding our point guard on the pick and roll, if they are pressing him, if they are backing off, if they let him shoot," the 26-year-old point guard said

"So I am little bit more prepared to attack and I think it also gives me another advantage, because the defenders that are already in the game are a little bit tired when I am checking in," he added modestly.

"I check in fresh, I am ready to go, and the coach tells me 'make the game faster'. I just try to stay ready and make an immediate positive impact."

Anybody who didn't know that Shepherd only signed with Nizhny a few months previously would probably think that he has been running coach Zoran Lukic's system for years, because his style of play fits seamlessly the team's offense, which is based on silky-smooth ball movement.

When you have a group of guys that work together to succeed, then it's pretty easy to adapt. You see how it works, and you see that it does work, so it's easy to want to be a part of that - Kasey Shepherd

"The first thing I would say you have to do whenever you go into a new situation, is to check your ego," the Nizhny point guard explained.

"Everything is different, every team has different principles, every coach wants the game to be played in a different way.

"So coming here with a coach that is very disciplined, that wants things to be done in a specific way, you have to be open-minded and be coachable.

"If you do that and let yourself be coached, you start seeing the results on the court, almost immediately, when one guy penetrates and passes, and then there is another pass, and another, and a cut for a layup.

"You see those things happening when we work together, everyone is able to show what they can do but there is no ego. When you have a group of guys that work together to succeed, then it's pretty easy to adapt. You see how it works, and you see that it does work, so it's easy to want to be a part of that."

The key is to actually hear what [the coach] is saying and focus, rather than being defensive. If you listen and put in the work, you are going to improve during the course of the season - Kasey Shepherd

Shepherd credits this same mindset for his remarkable growth as a player during these first years of his pro career, since graduating from Louisiana-Lafayette in 2016.

"Being open-minded and being coachable are the two bigger things [in order to improve], taking time to ask the head coach and the assistants about what you can do better, how you can improve and help the team," he said.

"Listening to the things that they tell you and work on them after every game, every practice.

I am really excited about the Final 8 and trying to win it all. Playing together is one of those things that has helped us, and also separated us from some of those teams that maybe have bigger names - Kasey Shepherd

"Our coach is such a good coach and he is constantly telling me what I could have done better, or how I should have done this instead of that.

"The key at those moments is to actually hear what he is saying and focus, rather than being defensive. If you listen and put in the work, you are going to improve during the course of the season."

Shepherd will be able to showcase this improvement in May, on the biggest stage of his career so far, when Nizhny enter the battle for the BCL crown in the Final 8.

"I am really excited about the Final 8 and trying to win it all," the American guard said.

"I think we have a chance to win the title, for sure. We missed a couple of guys in the last game that will be back moving forward, and I think that the biggest thing for our team is to stay healthy, stay confident and to play together.

"Playing together, offensively and defensively, is one of those things that has helped us, and also separated us from some of those teams that maybe have bigger names. If we just do those three things, I don't see why we cannot win it all.

"Most of the season we played without our full roster, [up until February] we had guys out every month with either the virus or with injuries.

"Being able to battle those setbacks and finding ways to win without key guys and having other guys step up, us pulling together like that I think it's the sort of thing that makes a team stronger.

"Hopefully we will have everybody back 100% by the time the Final 8 starts, we will be at full strength, and I think that will make us very dangerous."