Countdown to Berlin!

February 09, 2012

Hello to all of you again! Just like I said the previous time, we're still here, still playing!

The "next big step" I was talking to you about in my previous blog is a fact. We got to the Final Four, we’ll be in Berlin. We achieved one of our goals already!

The road to the Final Four had a strange "curve", however. We started the playoffs against Montepaschi Siena with the home court advantage and we got the first win we needed. But in the second game, things turned upside down. We gave up a 16-point lead. I don’t know, maybe we loosened up, lost our focus. The fact is that we allowed Siena to win in OAKA. The final countdown began for us immediately after the end of that game, after a loss.

Coach Obradovic came into the locker room and demonstrated how much he believes in us, in this team. The next target was set just minutes after that loss. We were feeling as if someone has chopped off our wings, but he just came in and said to us that we can get two wins in Italy. He managed to put his belief, his words, into our heads and souls. We got the win in the first game in Siena rather easily. At some point, we went ahead by as much as 30 points. It seemed crazy, but there we were, getting what we wanted. Back in the locker room, we all agreed immediately on one thing: "Let's finish it in Italy". We didn’t want the series to go to a fifth game.

We knew that things would be different in Game 4, however. The situation had changed. We had landed in Siena with our backs against the wall after the defeat in OAKA, but now Montepaschi had its back against the wall. We expected a reaction. The fourth game was, indeed, different. Siena fought till the end, the fans were very loud supporting their team, but we controlled the game and when our opponents took a three-point lead, we were ready. We were able to make it clear that our team is cut out for big things. We reacted in the right way and we got the ticket to Berlin.

What we did is not easy. Siena is a really good team, a worthy opponent. I don’t believe that a lot of teams could have taken two wins in a row against them, especially in Siena. I believe that we proved on the court that we are a better team, that we wanted it more. Panathinaikos demonstrated its character when things got tough. The team reacted as a big team does.

Now, a whole new chapter of the season has opened for us. We are getting ready and what we want most at this point is to be healthy when the time comes in Berlin. We have a lot of experienced guys on the team. They are there to help us prepare mentally, too. When you have Frankie Alvertis as a teammate, getting ready for his ninth Final Four (!), it’s easy to find answers to your questions. A lot of my teammates have been there before, but several others will be at a Final Four for the first time: Spanoulis, Nicholas, Pekovic, Kecman and, of course, me. And we are going to pay for it...literally: we are going to buy dinner to the whole team! We are the rookies in this!

The sure thing is that I never dreamt that I would be in such a position when I watched a Final Four game for the first time in my life. I was in the sixth grade and, believe it or not, the very first Final Four game I watched - and enjoyed - was the 1996 final, when Panathinaikos became the first European champion from Greece! I was not really into basketball those days. I was playing soccer and my friends were the ones that got me to sit in front of the TV. Now, it is me looking forward to my first Final Four as a player, and I am counting down the days!

POSTED BY

Stratos Perperoglou - Athens, Greece

DATE:

Tuesday, April 21, 2009