Nikki Cardaño-Hillary, this Friday during IDK training. /
One of the new faces of the IDK, “delighted” with his first days in the team and in the city
«I am delighted to be here, everything is fine. So far it’s going great.” Nikki Cardaño-Hillary, the young 23-year-old point guard who is going to have the mission of taking the reins of IDK Euskotren in this very special season with the team’s debut in European competition, expresses himself in this smiling and almost summery way. Cardaño is going to live a very special experience because this will be her first professional year after her academic training in the United States. “It’s a very different game,” she explains about how it’s played in Europe and across the pond, “Here there’s more movement without the ball, it’s constant and you have to get used to change.”
Nikki, short for Nicole, was born in Madrid but at the age of twelve her family decided to move to the United States, hence her upbringing is completely American. She played in high school and trained at the well-known Indiana University. About the player from Madrid, Azu Muguruza says that she “has training as an American player but her adaptation is being rapid. I don’t have the feeling that she is a rookie but she has adapted very well. She may weigh more the same not knowing the competition. She is doing things well ».
Cardaño-Hillary this last year has averaged 11.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.3 steals in 34 minutes of play played in 32 games, with percentages of 41% in field goals, 35 .7% in triples and 67% in free kicks. Asked why she likes to play on the track, the young point guard answers that “I really like being aggressive on defense, they’ve given me a lot of trouble with that. I try to help my teammates open up and have good shots. As a base, what I want is to play as collectively as possible.” At 23 years old, the challenge of being a point guard implies becoming an extension of the coach on the track, but she is not daunted by having to command and order her teammates. “Let’s see, it’s not commanding,” she says between laughs, “it’s helping my colleagues. I don’t think it will be complicated for me because I already had that role at university.”
Nikki Cardaño has been in pre-season training for just over a week and says she likes it a lot. She decided on the IDK to fulfill her first professional experience because «I had very good references from the IDK, there is what they have achieved in recent years and I think we have a very good block and we are really looking forward to it. We are moving forward and I think we are going to do great things.” The premiere of it this Saturday in the first pre-season friendly against the French Tarbes (12:30 p.m.) in the Gasca.
