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Living the Top 16 - even injured!
 Hello, Euroleague fans. I'm here again on Euroleague.net for a new blog. I am happy, I am proud, we're all proud after reaching the Top 16, a significant milestone for us and for the city of Milano, which did not reach the second round of the Euroleague since the 1996-97 season. And linked to that there is a curiosity that I'll tell you shortly. When the Euroleague contacted me in October to ask if I'd like to write my blog on the official site, Euroleague.net, I was enthusiastic and delighted that they chose my team and me personally. Well, now I am happy to continue this adventure after reaching the Top 16: they had confidence in us and we continue our adventure in Europe. I am proud of this achievement.
I mentioned that 1996-97 season, the last one in which Olimpia Milano qualified for the second round of the Euroleague. Well, that also was my first year in this club. I was 17 years old and I came from Treviso (then as now), and because of many injuries that had occurred on the team (from this point of view, that season is very similar to this one), after current Lottomatica Roma coach Nando Gentile broke his knee in a home game against Olympiacos Piraeus, I was called by the coach to be on the bench at all the games. (To tell the truth, I had been on the bench once before that, for a game against Alba Berlin due to another injury occurred to another teammates of mine, but I broke my nose!) I never played, but it was a beautiful experience that ended in Game 3 of the quarterfinals against Olimpia Ljubljana: we lost at home. They were a good team with players like Marco Milic and Marko Tusek: we did our best, but we were dead. It was a shame because we would have deserved to go to the Final Four.
And now, the present. As you may know, unfortunately I got injured. I broke my left hand, so at least for the first few games, I'll have to watch this Top 16 sitting at the end of the bench. It will be painful, believe me. It will be difficult for me to shut up. It's tough not being able to put all the energy you have in a jump, a sprint, a push, a debate. I am very disappointed that I'll not be on the floor with my teammates for these games. The Top 16 is special: every game is a battle and it is exactly the situation I love most; games you live till the very end. For me it is, paradoxically, easier to play a game like this with so much tension, so much pressure, rather than a game, perhaps easier, in the regular season. In the Euroleague there's a special atmosphere, and in the Top 16, that atmosphere becomes even more intoxicating. It is a process that takes you toward the atmosphere that you live in the Final Four: four days of full immersion in world basket at its highest level, with thousands of events, the games and the feeling that Europe is watching you. Fantastic. In the Top 16 you begin to sniff the scent of what happens in the Final Four. I have already played two Top 16s (I have also been in another with Siena, but without playing) and in both cases I wasn't able to go on, my team having lost the last game, the decisive one, once against Panathinaikos and once against Dynamo Moscow. I'd like things to change this time.
I cannot go on the floor in these first Top 16 games, but I'll do all I can to be useful to my teammates. I will try to give each of them what they need on the basis of their character: giving energy to one, giving confidence to another, generally living what the team goes through and helping in some way. Living in a group is good also because you can experience together with your teammates the emotions before and after a game. Moments just after practice are so important, too: you can chat with one or the other, try to hear, to see, to give some advice: from the outside you can see the faces, from inside you can feel the emotions and the feelings of everyone. This is why it is essential always to remain as much as possible in contact with the team. Some say that when a player is injured he can rest a little more. It is not true. First of all, you work hard to recover as quickly as possible, then you must try not to ever pull the window down, even mentally, which is a risk that can be run. Instead, you have to remain always in contact with the guys and the staff, as I said, trying to be as useful as possible. It is as if a lamp is broken and you have to change it. There is a risk that you can remain in the dark for minutes, but you must not allow this to happen. You have to try to always keep a little light turned on. The great example that I had in my career from this point of view is Nando Gentile: when he was injured he was always there with us and the staff. He participated, he always gave important input and advices. I'll try to do all this.
We come now to the teams we are going to face in this group. We knew that we would have a Spanish team, and I personally hoped for either Barcelona, because it is a city that I like very much and it's always nice to play there, or for Tau Vitoria, because my girlfriend Ainoa is of Basque origin. She comes form Garai, a town near Bilbao: I have many fans in that area. I hope to be on the floor when we go to play in Vitoria also because there will be at least fifteen people, real Basques, who will be there just for me. I've already played there. It was a regular season game when I was playing for Benetton Treviso. We were down by 20 points just minutes after the game started, but then, I must say, I played a great second half, putting big pressure on Prigioni. We recovered, but we lost in overtime. I like playing in Vitoria: the band plays and makes the atmosphere pleasant and engaging. I like the Basque people, who are down-to-earth like Ainoa. I am happy that we will play against Tau. Then there is Olympiacos. They are a great team, but our first game is at home against them, and in front of our fans in the Euroleague this year, we have always played good games. Olympiacos is a team rich in talent and physically very strong. At Piraeus I played only once, in the Euroleague of 1996-97, about which I told you before: so much time has passed but I have clear memories of their anthem sung by 18,000 people - amazing!!! One good thing about returning to Athens is that probably we'll go again in the same hotel where we stayed when we went there to play against Panionios for the game we won to reach the Top 16. Hopefully, we'll have the same luck! Then there's Asseco Prokom. I have never played in Poland, so I am really curious to see the atmosphere there, after having seen many of their games on TV. To try to move to the next round, the rule is quite simple: win at home and try to make a game-winning shot on the road.
To close this blog, I'd like to say something about the result Italian teams have reached in this Euroleague season until now. Three teams in the Top 16 is a great achievement and I'm happy. It is important for Italian basketball to have three teams playing the Top 16 in a competition like the Euroleague, and for the product itself that is the Euroleague. It would be wonderful to see all three teams in the playoffs - difficult, but it'd be beautiful. Siena has everything going for it and I'm sure will go ahead, while Milano and Rome, a team playing better and better with a lot of experience accumulated in previous years, will fight until the finish to get that result.
Bye guys… and enjoy the Top 16!
POSTED BY
Marco Mordente - Milan, Italy
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