BIRTHDAY WISH!

May 24, 2012

Carlos Cabezas

BIRTHDAY WISH!

Since today is my 26th birthday, I am wishing for a turnaround for Unicaja in the Euroleague. It has been tough watching my team lose the last couple weeks after I took a hit in the triceps and had to sit out the second half of our Eurolegue game against Joventut. Then, because of the same injury, I didn't travel to Zagreb for the next game. The good news is that I am back playing, even though it seemed I was going to be out longer. I feel lucky because with a muscle tear, I was supposed to not play for three weeks. But after six or seven days, it seemed that the muscle was regenerating well, so we tested it last Saturday. I went through the whole practice and it only hurt a bit when I took strong bumps, so I decided to travel to our Spanish League game in Alicante and see what minutes I could play. I would only go on the court in a game knowing I could help the team, not to see if I was ready. You can't risk hurting the team in that way. So I got some minutes and scored six points and we won away from home. I think I contributed something. Now, we have to try to do the same in the Euroleague.

Of course, these have been three difficult losses for us in the Euroleague so far: two in overtime and the third one on a tip-in at the buzzer. In Tel Aviv the first week, we knew that would be a tough game to win, but we had a chance once we got it to overtime. But the other two losses really surprised us. In the Joventut game at home, we thought we were going to overtime with a tenth of a second left. Then Lubos Barton made his pass to Rudy, who killed us. Then in Zagreb, we played some bad minutes that almost took us out of the game against Cibona. We were able to react with a 5-20 partial in the last quarter, which was important, but it ended up being another game in overtime that we lost. I was watching from home, and you see things a little differently there, but when you give away a long stretch of a game like we did to Cibona, it's hard to win on the road, even if we did have options at the end.

All of this means that our game against Union Olimpija on Thursday at home is crucial for us. We have to put everything we have into that game because it's one we have to win now. One of our objectives that we had at the beginning of the season was to take another step forward, and in the Euroleague, that means getting past the Top 16 and almost to the Final Four. But from there, we have seen how hard it is. We have had bad luck but it's up to us to change it. I am glad I could come back sooner than expected and I hope that Marcus Brown can be with us on Thursday, too. Marcus is a player who is not only important for his skills - which are unquestionable - but also for his personality. He is a player who has been everywhere, knows all the other opponents and coaches, and is one of the most recognized faces in the Euroleague. His presence alone could be very positive for us.

Somebody mentioned to me that my World Championships teammate Juan Carlos Navarro and I were listed first and second in index rating and points scored in the Euroleague right now, and I must say it's a joy to see that, and most important, to be able to keep playing at a high level. Even though it's just a few games so far, the important thing is to perform our best in this great league full of excellent players. For Juan Carlos, it's something of a normal thing because he's always a scorer, but for me it's something different. But in general, for both of us, it's a good sign to keep playing well, in form and with style, after working so hard all summer. It was a difficult summer for me because last season ended late since we were in the Spanish League finals, and then something like 15 days later I started with the national team. Then after the World Championships we had just a week off before rejoining our teams. To be able to keep playing at the same rhythm was a concern of mind, but except for this injury, all has gone well. Now that I am back from that, I just want to help us get where we need to be in the Euroleague, starting this week.

POSTED BY

Carlos Cabezas - Malaga, Spain

DATE:

Tuesday, November 14, 2006