QBL Brisbane Capital Mitch McCarron makes Australian U/19 Emus team to go to World Championships

QBL Brisbane Capitals and recently named to the Australian U/19 Emus World Championship to travel to Latvia at the end of the month. He has just come back from a tour of Croatia and Europe as part of the Emus preparation for the Worlds, he was kind enough to take 5 minutes to sit down and answer a few questions.

Q: So how was the tour?

MM: It was a really good tour, it was my first time to Europe, it was a great experience for me and I loved it.

Q: What would you say the differences are between Europe and Australia in terms of the culture and also the basketball?

MM: On the court I think they just control the game so much more than Australia, they just want to play at their own tempo. That is why they foul a lot on fast breaks and try to slow the play and have complete control. Off the court, each individual country is very different, but where we went, Croatia was pretty relaxed and we were near the beach so it was nice. Everyone we spoke to was very friendly and the atmosphere was very chilled out. In Russia everyone was a bit more serious, especially around the more popular areas and tourist destinations of Moscow, like Red Square where they had a lot of security, but very nice.

Q: So were the beaches in Croatia similar to Australia?

MM: Ah….yeah a bit rocky.

Q: So not many waves?

MM: Yeah no not any waves at all.

Q: You guys played 6 games whilst over there and you finished with 4 wins and 2 losses. That’s pretty promising coming into the World Championships.

MM: I think as a group we were pretty happy with the results and as I said before it was my first time to Europe so that was a massive learning curb for me. But as a team perspective I think we just learned how to change their tempo and how to play our style of basketball against them. And obviously playing a team from Europe is going to be extremely different than playing a team from like America or Africa. Overall though everyone in the group is really excited and looking forward to the World Championships and hopefully we can come out and perform well.

Q: World Championships are in less than a month, and this is your first World Champs, from where you have come from playing here in Brisbane as a junior to attending the AIS last year to now going onto to the world stage. This must feel like you’re living out a childhood dream?

MM: Yeah, there has been a few disappointments along the way, but yeah definitely. I’ve been pretty lucky with the opportunities I’ve been given, there’s not much more that you can do than represent your country at the World Champs, so ….yeah I’m really happy about going.

Q: You mentioned disappointments, you didn’t make the AIS in your first attempt 2 years ago. You had to stick around in Brisbane for another year and work. You did all the right things, no one saw you anywhere outside of a basketball stadium or a gym and it obviously paid off. What was the feedback for you personally from the tour of Europe?

MM: Coach Damian Cotter said that I need to keep working on my outside 3point shot. I feel it’s really getting a lot better, starting to knock down some shots. I’ve got my confidence again, but you know you can never stop getting better, I can keep improving my percentages and consistency. I think there is certain moves that I can work on to try and make it better, like off the dribble or step backs. I think he just wants me to just keep getting a lot of shots up and yeah I think everyone has their roles in the team. Damian stresses that a lot with me, which is fine but I think if everyone does stick to their role then this team will be successful.

Q: With it being so close to World Championships, what’s the mental preparation you go through before such a big tournament like this? You will be playing in front of I’m sure NBA, Euroleague & College scouts it’s a big deal. What do you do?

MM: The tour we just went on is exactly all about doing that, just trying to get comfortable with how these tournaments are. So you have to be able to deal with the travelling, if you get a cold you still got to play, and if you get an injury you’ve got to still be able to play with you travel with it and also you don’t get to just go home and sleep in your own bed at night. I think that’s a part of it, but like I said before it’s about accepting your role if I stick to my role then I do the right thing by the team. But the guys in our team Like we each focus on that rather than whose coming to watch if we do that then it’s going to bring the team down, so I’m sure there will be players at the Worlds who will be concerned with who sees them. But that could lead to their downfall, but I try not think about that too much and just focus on the World Championships itself and how we perform as a team.

Q: So then obviously the goal for the team is to medal?

MM: Yeah definitely we are aiming for gold, first thing a lot of people say when they look at our group we are considered small, but at the same time that just makes us more versatile.

Q: Talking about winning and roles, you’re back here in Brisbane but obviously not playing til after worlds, the caps have been doing pretty well. Your role in the team this year has been as a secondary scorer behind Tom Garlepp, a guy with NBL experience. That’s a pretty big step up from a guy who last year was at the AIS and no one really knew what to expect? I remember you saying that was one area of your game that you needed to work on and now you’re coming out and dropping 20pts on a couple of occasions and you really went off against Caboolture. How are you finding your role?

MM: Yeah its different to other teams I have been on in the past, but with Tom Garlepp, I’ve never played with a guy like him before he can score he can pass and finds people really well. He was a massive part of why I had a good game against Caboolture because he just found me on the 3 point line open. I think I have a lot more confidence than last year, shots going up and shots are going down.

Q: The Brisbane Capitals are doing well at the moment and Coach Ryan has kept the group mentality on taking each game at a time. We have seen the young boys step it up this year and become men the likes of yourself, Ben Wilson, Brendan Carroll and Garret Scheibner take on some bigger roles and perform. Where do you see the team going once you get back and coming into playoff?

MM: I think people can be successful, I think the Brisbane capitals can be successful this season, every young guy has really stepped up and taken their games to levels above what people expected of them. It’s been really good to see so many young guys play a significant part in the Brisbane Capitals success.

Mitch McCarron thank you for your time, congratulations on your selection in the Australian U19 Emus team for the world championships and good luck, the way in which you’ve conducted yourself with a level of maturity well beyond your years. We’ll see you back here in a Caps uniform after the World Championships and see bigger and better things to come. Good luck in Latvia.




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