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Our profession, our love, our league
 Hi everyone. If there is one person happy to be going to the playoffs this week, it's me. As you might know, I missed half of the Top 16 due to a sudden illness that forced me to have nose operation to remove a small tumor. Of course, I was a little scared at first, when we found out about the problem and learned that I needed a nose operation. Those first moments after finding out, it was tough to get over. Once I got to sleep on it, though, it was just a thing I had to do and deal with. Barcelona, the club, was incredible. They took incredible care of me, got me the best doctors, who did a great job on the operation. All things went very smooth, very good, and that let me come back to the court very soon, sooner than anyone expected. Now, I am just grateful to everyone, the doctors and Barcelona's medical staff, and happy to be back getting ready for the playoffs.
One of the bad things about that nose problem, like any other injury, is that it's always difficult to see your team competing while you have to stay home or in a hospital and watch them try, sweat and play hard. You only want to be there with them. You have to understand, however, that injury or illness are part of professional sports, and you look ahead. It was tough to go through, but I just focused on coming back soon. You also try learn from watching, any time you see a game. Especially watching your own team play live is unusual, but since I know the systems they are supposed to be playing, there is always one part of me learning. On TV, you might see some details you don't see on the court, a wider view, so you can pick up some different things. But in the end, you'd rather be out there with your teammates.
I should say that watching other Euroleague games is something I and my teammates always do. We are all fans of Euroleague Basketball, too. Most home games, we play on Thursdays, so on Wednesday night right after practice, we have the TV on the locker room to any Spanish channel that broadcasts the Euroleague games. It's our profession, but it's also our hobby, our love, our league. We always want to watch and be informed. We don't want to miss anything about the Euroleague.
In our last Top 16 game, it was like two games in one, our own with Maccabi, to clinch first place in our group, and the one to see who our opponent would be, between Tau and Olympiacos. We did keep track just a little bit of the other game, with people telling us the score, but the priority for us was our game. We knew that we depended on ourselves and just wanted to achieve homecourt advantage. In the end, the opponent didn't matter as much as having three games at home. After all, both Tau and Olympiacos are great teams and would have made for great playoff opponents either way. We didn't want to calculate, because from my experience, every time you do that, it doesn't come out good. So we found out immediately after the game who our opponent in the playoffs would be to reach the Final Four. Our coaching staff got on the matter right away and showed us highlights and clips and tactical details of what Tau tried to do in the game against Olympiacos. It was to prepare us, sure, but this is not our first game with Tau. There is a lot we know and a lot to learn still in this playoff.
As much as Tau and Barcelona are familiar with each other, I think in a five-game series it's better to have an opponent you know. On the other hand, you have to be aware that the other team knows you as well as you know them. The series will be interesting and very tough, equally so. In this kind of series, you have to be mentally ready to go to the fifth game. We've all been in five-game series in national playoffs, but never in the Euroleague. I think the change to five games is good, because in this type of series, there cannot be a lot of surprises. Maybe in one game, yes, but in the entire series of five, the surprises are less. It's all about your team: the quality and the execution is what matters most. You have to raise your level for this and, in the end, the better team will win. That's really good because when all is said and done, everyone wants the four best teams in the Final Four.
POSTED BY
JAKA LAKOVIC - BARCELONA, SPAIN
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