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Adrenalin that never stops!
 Hello, Euroleague fans. Let me tell you that I'm really happy to be talking to you! When the Euroleague contacted me to become one of the bloggers of the official site, Euroleague.net, it was a great joy for me. I have always been a frequent user of the Euroleague site, even last year when I was playing the ULEB Cup with Benetton Treviso. I'm always looking for news, stats, results... and when I saw the blogs of some players, I thought: "I would like to become one of them. I'd like to tell everybody some of the experiences that I have had playing the Euroleague, what I feel playing this competition all around Europe." But then I recalled that one time while I was in Treviso, I did a TV promo for Euroleague.net, but I had a lot of problems reading and repeating the internet address of the official site. After that, I thought they'd forget about me. Now, out of nowhere, my phone rang recently and I was asked to blog! I immediately said, "Yes, of course! I'm really interested." So here I am, ready as I can be to tell everybody what the Euroleague is for me.
It's something special: trust me. In the Euroleague, you can breathe a wonderful sensation that I just love. Just listening to DEVOTION, the official song of the Euroleague, is something special for me, both when I am there on the court, ready to play, and when I'm at home watching the games on television. Wednesdays and Thursdays, all season long, from regular season to Final Four, this music resounds all over Europe in the ears of the fans, and it's a great pleasure to listen to that. Believe me, it's a great emotional charge and a great surge of adrenalin. Adrenalin that never stops. Never.
Also, obviously, when you're in the most important arenas all over Europe, from Moscow to Madrid, from Tel Aviv to Athens (without forgetting the others), you know that the floor where you're playing on at that particular moment is the same one where great basketball stars have played before. And you feel that surge of adrenalin in your veins. Something explodes inside your and you think: "Compared to those great stars, I may be less of a player, less of everything, but tonight I'm here to play, to do my best, to prove to everybody - but especially myself - what I can do."
I remember very well my debut with Benetton in the Euroleague: we played at home against the German team of Bamberg and I really played a bad game. Maybe I was not yet really conscious about what I was doing, what competition I was playing. But then you start to travel, to play against great teams and great players and everything changes, everything is different, more fascinating. I say "my playing debut" because in fact, I was part of a Final Four even before I was a real player! It was 2003 in Barcelona, and I was there with Montepaschi Siena, but not on the roster. I didn't play even a minute and I didn't practice, either, but I remember really well one thing that I am not sure I should admit, but since a lot of time has gone by since then... I took home an official basketball of the Final Four. And I still have it at home. It's wonderful. On the ball is written: "Barcelona 3/5 May 2003". I love it! I also remember really well bringing it back to the hotel and one of my teammates (I don't like to name names, but it sounds a lot like Kakiouzis - sorry, man) asked me where I got the ball. "In the gym," I told him, and he said, "Come on, Marco, get another one for me". Then also Dusan Vukcevic asked me to get him one, but I said "Come on, guys, two are enough. Don't overdo it!"...It's a great memory!
Ok, maybe you have understood by now that I really love the Euroleague. That's the truth, no doubt! You can travel, see a lot of places and discover new cultures and new situations really different from the ones you are used to in the Italian League. I remember really well a game we played at Pau-Orthez, in France. It was a great evening. The guys on the team were being very cool, they created a great event, a party all around the basketball game. The result of the game was not so important. No boos against us, a band playing music during all the game and then, at the end, everybody to the restaurant inside the arena to have a great French dinner. It was a great atmosphere, a great situation, the kind I consider to be the right one for sports. And it doesn't happen just in Pau, but also in Spain and in other cities all around Europe. It's a great experience each time.
Before I say goodbye to you guys (until I write you again in the next blog) I'd like to tell you what I think about the TV timeouts the Euroleague put in this year. I think they really cool! I don't have an opinion about the marketing or the commercial reasons, I just want to say what one player, Marco Mordente, thinks about them: They are a good change, in my opinion. They give opportunity to the players to rest twice more in a game. I'd like them to put in two more timeouts - called by the players! So that's my idea, if somebody is reading this blog…
I have to say goodbye for now, but I'll see you again soon here on Euroleague.net!
POSTED BY
MARCO MORDENTE, Milan
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