Catching up before the Top 16
I'm coming back at you from Rome after a long blog break, a long regular season where a lot of things happened. We finished up with three overtime games in a row, and lost two of them, which might explain why I took off my headband at halftime of the last game. I had a headache! We're in the Top 16 now, though, and that's what it's all about. I came to Lottomatica Roma a year ago before the Top 16, and I didn't think we could have a tougher group than that one - with three teams from the previous Final Four in it - but this year we had another tough draw with Unicaja, Panathinaikos and Partizan. This time, however, I really do think we have a great opportunity to fight for position to make it to the playoffs. First, I think we have some very experienced players now, and second, I think we have become a lot better as a team than we were this time last year. I don't know how much my experience from arriving and playing through the Top 16 last year counts, but I know that I have surely learned a lot in the last year, so I am readier now.
What we've done so far shows me that our team has good potential. We had to really grow up fast in the regular season. This is our first year together for most of the guys on the team, unlike teams like CSKA or Panathinaikos, which pretty much have the same core players every year. When you are not that type of team, you have to learn to gain chemistry and experience in faster ways. We have done a lot of that in the last month, but we have keep focusing on it and get it together now. To make that happen, first you need everybody to buy into the system and be on the same page. It's like in politics, when one person is corrupt, it can make the whole system fall. But once you have everyone buying into the system, its just a matter of practice and support and faith in each other. Everyone has to believe that we're going to win every game. Whether we're going into Athens to play Panathinaikos or into Belgrade to play Partizan, you have to believe you'll be the victor, otherwise you won't be.
Of course, we've been through some changes since the last time I blogged, with our coach Jasmin Repesa, and my friend, Allan Ray, leaving the team. I, myself, believed in Jasmin as a coach. I thought his philosophy was great. What's cool, even after he left, is that we're playing under the same philosophy, because Nando Gentile also believes in that philosophy. What we heard earlier in the season was that we have a lot of talent, and we had to play together, everyone getting 18 to 22 minutes, and you might be playing with guys you might not have played next to in practice. Since Jasmin resigned, it's true that some of those things changed, but I think the main thing since then is that the team has sacrificed more. For me, having guy like Allan - who I was close with - released because of our results, or seeing Coach Repesa - who was the reason I came back to Rome this season - go as well, were signs that we needed to buckle down and get things together. That made us stronger. There's more talking now, more leading within the team. Everybody gave a little more just because we realized it was time for that.
I appreciate all my teammates, all the way down the roster. I have a good relationship with everybody, just like I had with Allan and Jasmin before they left. I want to mention Sani Becirovic because I think he helped us a lot early in the season. Even though he's only 27 or so, he's a player with good experience. When you have a young team like ours, you find yourself in end-of-game situations that can go either way. Sani stepped up and took that responsibility as a veteran player would, saying "I'm going to take care of this situation". Now that other players are gaining in experience, it's partly because of Sani that everybody has the confidence to take on those situations, too. We saw him try and succeed, and we saw him try and fail, but we are at a point now that we don't want to put the burden on the same person. We can share the burden for him now.
All of this will be important as we head into the Top 16. I think it's really going to come down to each individual game. It can even come down to points, because this group is so even. For us to be second in our regular season group was a surprise. Now, with historical clubs like Panathinaikos and Partizan and Unicaja coming at you, you know you're in a tough sit. But just looking at how the games went this year, I really think that any of these four teams could go through. I don't think that in this group a number one is guaranteed. It's that tough of a group that it could go any way. But that's exciting for me. I like being the underdog and a person who surprises people.
POSTED BY
Ibby Jaaber, Rome
DATE:
Thursday, January 22, 2009