Our Lukas can’t wait for national cup final (From Echo)

Our Lukas can’t wait for national cup final

12:27pm Wednesday 25th January 2012 in Basketball By Chris Phillips

LEOPARDS guard Lukas Volskis cannot wait for Sunday’s National Cup final against Bristol Academy Flyers.

The in-form Leopards will be looking to win the oldest piece of silverware in English basketball for the second time in Sheffield this weekend.

And Basildon-based Volskis is eager to help his side get their hands on some silverware.

“Being in any final is always an exciting time for a basketball player as you know yourself how hard you had to work to get there,” said the 22-year-old.

“The whole point of playing sport is to compete against others and establish yourself at the top so playing in a championship game is a perfect opportunity to do just that.

“I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to the final a lot and will do everything to help my team win.”

The former Barking Abbey Academy player has impressed in Leopards’ last few outings and has helped them win their last six games.

But he now wants to extend the unbeaten run of results even further.

“Winning is always the most rewarding part of basketball so to win a final will be a great honour,” said Volskis, who is enjoying his fourth season with the Leopards.

“In my opinion you don’t play a final just to play, you play it to win.

“At the end of the day winning is everything and we wouldn’t be playing every day if we didn’t want success so I guess you can say winning the cup would mean everything to us.”

Volskis has previously played in EBL finals during his junior career with East London Royals and Hackney White Heat.

But he knows his latest appearance could well be the hardest against a Bristol side who are currently top of the table.

“Bristol have always been a strong side in the EBL and playing them will always be a tough challenge,” said Volskis.

“I think you can pretty much tell how good they are by seeing that they are at the top of our league.

“I know they have a few key players but at the same time I always see the whole team as a threat no matter who we play, and not just a few individuals.

“But we’re coming along pretty well too, we’ve been on a good run and want to keep it going.”