UKR – Khalid El-Amin is still the man for the big occasion

KIEV (Superleague) – Khalid El-Amin has made quite an impression on Ukrainian basketball.

A player who shot to fame in the United States as the point guard for NCAA-title winning UConn in 1999, El-Amin spent a year with the Chicago Bulls and competed briefly in the CBA before travelling to Europe and playing in France, Israel, Turkey and Ukraine.

After a couple of seasons with Azovmash Mariupol, El-Amin went back to Turkey last season for a second spell but decided to return to Ukraine and his former club last fall.

Azovmash fans are glad he’s their point guard again because on Sunday, due in large part to his high-spirited play, the club edged BC Kyiv in a Cup of Ukraine thriller.

The 29-year-old hit seven shots from long range and poured in a game-high 23 points on his way to being voted MVP of the Cup of Ukraine.

Azovmash’s Rolandas Jarutis nailed the go-ahead three-pointer with three seconds to go for the 75-74 win.

What made El-Amin’s performance all the more special is that he fainted last week and had to miss his team’s Eurocup game against Pamesa Valencia.

El-Amin spoke to Oleksiy Naumov on behalf of FIBA.com after the Cup of Ukraine triumph.

FIBA.com: Congrats, Khalid! It was a fantastic game and no doubt all the fans enjoyed it. What are you feeling right now?

Khalid El-Amin: I feel good. Coming into the game I knew it was going to be a tough game. Kyiv is a good, strong team with good players and we wanted just to come out and just be ready to play. We knew the Cup was on their home court and we wanted just to allow ourselves to have a chance to win at the end of the game and we did that. In the second half we had more turnovers than we really wanted to, but that’s part of the game and we were able to play through it and keep our composure and I think that’s a good characteristic our team has.

FIBA.com: Your coach (Rimas Girskis) said that fatigue hindered your team’s performance?

Khalid El-Amin: Oh yea, especially me. You know, I had my health problems earlier this week and I was definitely tired in the fourth quarter and hopefully this week I can get my condition back to where it needs to be.

FIBA.com: You have a lot of trophies. How does this Cup of Ukraine stand out?

Khalid El-Amin: This is great, I feel so good about it. You know, it’s been a long season till now. We had a lot of changes to our team during this season and like I said, we have a good characteristic about this team and I am just happy we were able to fight through everything and still come out with a win. And also I want to say thanks to my teammates who do an excellent job of finding me and who were able to set good screens. Once I hit a shot, I feel I can keep hitting shots.

FIBA.com: But the last play was an example of great unselfishness…

Khalid El-Amin: Yes, that was actually the second time they left him [Rolandas Jarutis]. They left him wide open two times in a row and I was able to find him. I am very happy for him for hitting that – he needed it for his confidence.

FIBA.com: So what exactly were the health problems you experienced? There was so much speculation in the media.

Khalid El-Amin: I had to change my diet. It was going on for 10 days and my body was getting used to the “no meat” diet. I was just experimenting with how I would feel, tried to see if I could do with less meat and more vegetables. And I felt great but just that day I didn’t get to eat and my body just restarted on me. I think my body is used to it now and I know how to handle it now.

FIBA.com: Are you going to resume eating meat?

Khalid El-Amin: Yes, I started back eating chicken, but I don’t eat any red meat, only a little bit of chicken or fish. I’m going to keep that up till, I don’t know when, forever.

FIBA.com: I know this has nothing to do with the Ramadan fast, but when you do fast during the Holy Month, how difficult is it to handle?

Khalid El-Amin: It is difficult, especially during the early days because your body is not used to it and you are running and you are practicing and you are playing games so you definitely have to adjust to it. But after the first week when your body gets used to it, you are fine – it’s just like any other day.

FIBA.com: But you are allowed to break the fast when you travel.

Khalid El-Amin: Yes, when I’m travelling I’m allowed to eat and just make it up later in the year and I have done that. And the coach is very good at that. He knows I do that, he gives me the time, he knows I need to relax but as long as I am ready for the game, it’s okay.

FIBA.com: You lost a bunch of players…

Khalid El-Amin: Yes, we missed six players! Any team that goes through that will have an adjustment period. And I think when we came back from the break in January we realized that this is the team that we have and we must play. And we have done that and we were able to play at a high level.

FIBA