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Friday, November 21, 2008
Right where no one expected us to be
 I can say that I was unlucky not playing those first three games after getting hurt against PAOK in the Greek League right before the Euroleague started. It was not good timing, because I was very excited to play again in the Euroleague, but also because I couldn't help my teammates in games against the three big opponents we started with: Real Madrid, CSKA Moscow and Efes Pilsen. Besides me not playing all three, as I said, we had our center, Giannis Giannoulis, out against CSKA and Efes, and Branko Cvetkovic didn't go to Istanbul, either. It was difficult for me to watch the games from the bench. I was very nervous, more than if I was playing. It's not easy to watch your teammates fighting when you know you can help them. But now, I can say that after those four games, maybe no one expected us to be 2-2. I am sure people thought that at least three of them would be lost. But we won an important game against Efes on the road, maybe a game that no one expected us to win, and now we can feel that we have a chance to make the next round.
We lost the first two games, against Madrid and CSKA, with much bigger differences than we imagined, but we weren't a complete team at that time. Maybe only we knew the full reason for those bad scores. Our injury problems not only affected the games, but our practices, too. We knew that we needed our full roster to help find our rhythm of play. It was difficult to find solutions without everybody contributing. But we didn't stop believing in ourselves either. We knew that when everyone came back, we would be better. But it happened even sooner.
The team went to Istanbul to play Efes without three of us, and I was at home watching the game on TV. When it started and I saw how things were going, I was happy. Then, by the beginning of the second half, I was sure we could win the game. I saw our team playing with very good spirit and character. First of all, we were playing very good defense and struggling for every rebound on the court. You saw that in every moment as the game went on. To me, it was obvious: when a team fights like that, it has chances to win anywhere. Then we got some shots to fall - and that was that. We won, and it made me very happy. Again, we played with seven or eight healthy guys, but we made a big step that night to win our first game, one that no one would have predicted. It made me happy and proud and ready to return.
Finally, I got back on the court last week for my first Euroleague game of the season, against Partizan. I am from Belgrade myself, so that was a coincidence, but what was most important was being able to help the team again, because that was a key game. Partizan, as everyone knows, is a good and a dangerous team, which made that a difficult game. We had surprised everyone beating Efes Pilsen in Istanbul the week before, but if we didn't win at home against Partizan, it would have been forgotten. I was not 100 percent ready, of course. I was out three weeks and hadn't got my rhythm back yet. I just tried to help as much as I could in such an important game. Our coach, Aleksandar Trifunovic, knew I wasn't 100 percent ready, so he told me to try not to do too much, and most of all to play smart. For me, what was easiest was knowing lot of the Partizan players and their coach. I knew what to expect from them, having seen a lot of their games. Even though they are a dangerous team, we were able to keep the situation under control and get the win.
Now, we have caught our rhythm and are playing good basketball. These two games against Partizan and Efes have shown that, but I think we will play even better now. I am repeating myself, but we had a very, very tough schedule so far. Now, we go to Milan with chances to do more. Our goal is still the same: to play good basketball. We didn't have the chance to show that with a full team before, but now we have that chance. I cannot say our schedule is better now, because every Euroleague game is difficult, and Milan showed a lot by leading the whole game in Madrid against Real last week. I hope we play good basketball there and that we continue winning, especially on our home court. Our fans now are very excited with what has happened and we need them to make our home court tougher. The next few games can make the difference, and the next home game with Real Madrid is also a key one. Let's hope our gym will be full for that.
POSTED BY
IVAN ZOROSKI - ATHENS, GREECE
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