Riding this wave to the end
Well, this is what it's all about. We have two games left to prove that we belong in the Top 16. A lot of people ask me how the same team can lose to Olimpija in Ljubljana by almost 30 points one week and be the first to beat Panathinaikos the next. There's no good answer, but that's the wave we have been riding all season. We have been very unpredictable, to say the least. We can play magnificently in some games and then turn around and do as bad as we did in Ljubljana or against Joventut earlier in the season. You'd have to say it's a matter of either going out concentrated and staying that way, or in the bad games, getting down and letting the score get completely away from us. In other words, it's the mental aspect that has been going up and down. When we are concentrating, we can certainly beat anyone, as we showed by defeating Barcelona in the Spanish League and then Panathinaikos last week. That says a lot about what we are capable of doing. We are all fighting to make sure everything comes together when we need it in these next two games, against Lottomatica Roma tomorrow and next week against Partizan in Belgrade. Now is the time, that's for sure.
We are optimistic, of course. I always am. But we also keep a lot of respect for the other teams, even though we defeated both of them. The fact that we won in Rome doesn't mean anything going into tomorrow's game. In that game, they just got Mire Chatman, who is doing well for them now, and didn't play with David Hawkins, who is back to playing like everyone knows he can. About Dejan Bodiroga, what can I say? Everyone knows he is a player who thrives in these circumstances. The fact that they are coming here after winning against Joventut in Badalona makes it clear: we cannot think back to when we beat them before, and can only think forward because we have to expect this to be the toughest game of the year - and be ready for that without depending on our homecourt advantage or anything else but playing better than they do tomorrow.
We got a new player, Marko Tusek, who might be a big help in this game against Roma, because he played with them for a few seasons recently. First of all, we like him for his experience and his ability to play a couple different position down low. He can jump into the rotation to help a lot of people, so that's an assett. You can see his experience, too, as already ha has adapted very well in a couple games with us. Can someone like him who knows the other team well help us scout them for tomorrow? Well, as I speak, we are still going to do our main scouting session, but I am sure that if he thinks that something he knows about them can help, he has talked with Sergio and we'll all know about it soon enough. I wouldn't say here of course if he did, but you can bet that a veteran's knowledge and experience can sometimes make the difference, even if it's a little thing. And with the importance of the game we have tomorrow, every little bit can make a difference.
In the same way I don't look back at the last Roma game, I don't think about the beginning of the season, when we lost two games in overtime and another at the buzzer, and how that influenced us getting here. We'll look back when the season ends, because until then, you can't say whether that hurt or helped you learn how to overcome. Like I said, it's all about tomorrow. And if we win that game, about next week. But if we get through these next two games the right way, we have the possibility to go far.
POSTED BY
Carlos Cabezas - Malaga, Spain
DATE:
Tuesday, January 23, 2007