Basketball
Mike James: “This is the move I took from Spanoulis”
Mike James admitted that one of his signature moves was “stolen” from Vassilis Spanoulis’ repertoire and explained why he did it.
Mike James has no problem admitting he stole a train from Vassilis Spanoulis. On the contrary, he admits it publicly, which happened in an interview he gave to the website “basketnews”.
The Monaco star watched various VIDEOS of his highlights with two of the site’s editors and explained what he thought. At one point, two major hat-tricks he scored this season were presented, against Partizan (on matchday 12) and Armani Milano (on matchday 6). What do these two recordings have in common? That they came with a trademark of the Americans: the famous side step (ss: step aside and shoot). A move that also distinguished Vassilis Spanoulis in the past.
“At the beginning of my career I didn’t have that drive. I’ve always done reverse punches in general, but when it comes to the side step, I saw Spanoulis first. James said characteristically and then added: “Spanoulis did it faster, I’ll do it slower. Usually he would make a move, then quickly move to the right and fire. And he did it on the wrong foot.
Finally, James explained why this move is so effective: “When facing a larger opponent, it is more difficult for him to move to the side than to move forward. If I step back it can still prevent me from shooting, while sidestepping requires me to go diagonally. So I feel like this makes it easier for me to create distance from my opponent to shoot in good conditions.”
Watch the VIDEO of the interview where the side step is first introduced at 2:57, while James talks about how he copied Spanoulis’ step at 5:58:
Source: sport 24
I am a sports writer and journalist who has written for various online publications including Sportish. I’m originally from the UK but currently live in Toronto, Canada. I’m also an author on Sportish and have written several articles on a variety of sports-related topics.