As the Toronto Raptors prepare to tip-off against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals, we caught up with Raptors assistant coach and UBC graduate Jama Mahlalela. Jama was a basketball star for UBC head coach Kevin Hanson's Thunderbirds before graduating from the UBC School of Kinesiology in 2004. As the Raptors are set to play the biggest basketball series in Canadian history, Jama weighs in on Canadian basketball, what it will take to beat the Cavs, and how he still wears his 'Big Block' sweater with pride.


 
 
LC: What does it feel like to know you will be a part of the biggest basketball series in Canadian history?
 
JM: "It's been a work in progress. If you look at our team over the last couple of years, we've slowly made these milestones. I think the NBA is about slow improvement instead of making it there in one-fell swoop. It's been hard if you look in terms of last year's series with Washington, and what happened to us and losing four games. Now we can look back at it and say we are in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, and just this excitement to play the best brand of basketball that we can to let the chips fall where they may."


 
LC: The Cleveland Cavaliers are widely regarded as the top team in the Eastern Conference. How confident are you the Raptors can prevail in a seven game series?
 
JM: "It's interesting with Cleveland because we kind of chased them all season. We finished only one game behind them in the standings; we were within two, three, or four almost the whole way through. So they don't seem like some kind of giant force on top of us. We beat them in the regular season. So, I think if we play our brand of basketball we can definitely make an impact and make things happen."


 
LC: What's the dynamic like of having a whole country rooting for you?
 
JM: "When we won (Sunday night), I thought back to that Vince Carter shot in game seven against Philadelphia that he missed. I remember that moment so vividly. To see Kyle Lowry walk off the court and to know that we have passed that level. To know there is a young generation of Canadians who now have that memory within their lives.  To me it's huge. When we go to Vancouver for training camp we see how excited people are there. When we go to Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, there is just this excitement around the game of basketball. It makes me proud to be Canadian and proud I played Canadian basketball all my life."
 
LC: What does the success of the Raptors and so many Canadians in the NBA mean to players playing at Canadian universities and the Canadian basketball system?
 
JM: "The basketball gap is getting much smaller between the US and Canada. As our team is showing on the NBA level, the Canadian game is something people can really aspire to. You look at Andrew Wiggins, you look at Nick Stauskas, and those young guys grew up watching the Raptors so we are creating a whole new generation of Canadian basketball."


 
LC: All of UBC is rooting for you in this series and your career. What message do you have for UBC students and your fellow Thunderbirds?
 
JM: "UBC is always near and dear to my heart. It will always stays close to me and I think just being someone from UBC and doing what I'm doing now is really a great thing. So many Thunderbirds out there are doing great things. Just being part of that process, I still wear my Big Block sweater with pride. So it's definitely a very exciting time."