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Tuesday, February 03, 2009
 Hello everybody, this is Real Madrid center Tomas Van den Spiegel. First of all, I want to thank the Euroleague for giving me the chance to blog again on its website, like I did last season when I was in Prokom. It is good to be back in the Euroleague. I won the Euroleague title with CSKA last year but started this season in the Eurocup, playing for Azovmash Mariupol. I had the chance to come to Madrid and play the Euroleague again, adn even though the Eurocup is a good competition, I am used to playing the Euroleague. It was a bit weird to play against a lot of new guys in the Eurocup earlier this season. Last season, after so many years in the Euroleague, there were games in which I knew everybody on both teams! In the Eurocup, sometimes I didn't have anyone to say hello to on the opposing team. So it is good to be back and to see all the guys again, the people I am used to playing against.
We played against Regal FC Barcelona last week and the atmosphere in the packed gym in Madrid was incredible. It was my first classic, too, just a few weeks after arriving in Madrid. I had been trying to come to Spain for a while already and if you have to pick a city, Madrid is not a bad one at all. It is still a little chilly now, I can't wait for the weather to be better, but the quality of life is better and I love being here. The organization is great and life in Ukraine was not easy sometimes, just sometimes. Being in such a big city like Madrid is a great experience. I am suprised how everybody gets along on this team. Everybody cares about everything, and you can feel it right away if a team cares about what is happening or not. Here in Real Madrid, everybody really cares about everything, from small to big details, anytime. It is easy to work with a group of people like Real Madrid has.
Now there are two Belgian players on Real Madrid, me and Axel Hervelle. It was kind of weird at the start, when I got here, because everybody talked about it and how lucky we were. People thought we knew each other very well but in fact, I left Belgium at the moment that Axel started to play in the first division. We only played in the national team for one summer! It was not like we knew each other but now that we have met and have been on the same team for a couple of weeks, we get along very well. We like to play together and it is working out really well. It is good to have a player from your same country on your team. There is a tradition of Belgian players in Real Madrid, as Eric Struelens and Jean-Marc Jaumin were also here in the past. I don't think there is another non-Belgian team in Europe that ever had four Belgian players on its roster! That is a lot, because I don't think we produce good Belgian players every two weeks!
Back to the classic, everybody was talking about the game and it is diffiuclt to describe it. Sometimes you try to focus on your own game but you can immediately feel that this game was different that any other one I played at Palacio Vistalegre so far. Everybody was pushing us to beat Barcelona and wanted it so bad. I have played other difficult games in other complicated arenas but I am sure that every time that Barcelona comes to Madrid, it is something that they are looking forward to. They have to overcome this strong atmosphere, the crowd was really pushing us and really helped us to beat them last week.
We play Alba Berlin this week. It might look like an easy game, but we all know it is not going to be easy at all. Alba is a tough team to play because you don't know who is going to come out. They have a different go-to guy almost every week, have a lot of potential options. I know from speaking to people that they are one of the hardest defensive teams in Europe. Their coach pushes them really hard. The way that Alba made it to the Top 16, beating DKV Joventut in Badalona, could make a difference for them. Everybody has to be very cautious and focused against Alba, especially in Berlin. This is a must-win game for all their opponents, especially for us. We are all hoping to go 3-0 in this group by beating Alba in Berlin and then Maccabi at home. We know it will be difficult to win in Berlin, in such a great place at the o2 World and against a team that will be pumped-up, for sure. The o2 World is probably the nicest arena in Europe and home of the next Final Four. It will be nice to play in there, but again, all we care about is winning that game and trying to return in spring.
Of course, I keep an eye on CSKA. When I was in Ukraine, I could watch all their games and even when now it is harder to follow, it is the first result I check for when we finish our game. We were a great group and this is what made the difference. Now that group split up a little bit, but everybody is staying in touch. I talk to Matjaz Smodis a lot, then David Andersen left to Barcelona, Theo Papaloukas went to Olympiacos but I still speak to them, of course. We went through so much that we all stay in touch. We experienced incredible things together and even when we moved on now, we still talk about the good times we spent together. Even so, there are new challenges for us and for them, too.
Even when Pepe Sanchez and I are the only Euroleague winners in our roster, I don't think that Real Madrid needs any extra motivation from us to do well in this competition. Everybody desires to go to Berlin so much, around and in the team, you can feel that everybody has to goal to reach the Final Four. This is not the moment to tell everybody what it feels to win a Euroleague title. If we get to Berlin, once we are there, I will try to explain. The Final Four is always something different. It is the biggest thing in European basketball, your family goes with you, everything is special... We definitely have to do our best to get there. Once we are there, I will try to explain to everybody.
Like I said, before it is the second time I blog for Euroleague.net. In my first run at Prokom, I had a 50 index game against Virtus Bologna. Of course, it was a different situation and I played 38 minutes that time around. I hope this blog will bring luck to the team. I am convinced it will. I hope that by my next entry, we are close to reaching the playoffs. Good luck!
POSTED BY
Tomas Van den Spiegel, Madrid
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