Cheers to everybody from the Eternal City! Here in Roma we are ready to start a new and exciting Euroleague season. There is great excitement in the locker room and all the players are already focused on our first challenge, a great matchup with TAU Vitoria – oh, sorry ‘bout that – with Caja Laboral, one of the best teams in the competition. They may have changed their name during the summer, but they are still a great team and playing them in our debut gives us some extra motivation - but also some big worries.
I think that Ricky Minard is more excited than any other player on our team because it will be his first-ever Euroleague game. We also have players coming back to the Euroleague like Kennedy Winston and Toure Herve, who also can't wait for that first tipoff. We're coming off a bad defeat in the Italian League, to Treviso in a game we could have won. Our Euroleague debut is a special chance to get back on track. We know it's a special night and we want to make it even more special by winning.
Another reason we need to win is to start to bring our fans into the excitement. You know, Rome is so big and full of happenings that sometimes it's difficult to involve the crowd. You need to get results and you have to push them to love your team. The fans that come to the arena are great and they help us a lot. Their support is never lacking. In the locker room, we have it very clear: one of our goals this year is to conquer the hearts of our fans.
The Euroleague is an amazing competition where anything can happen - and usually does! You have to play your best every night to win and there are many factors that go into it. One thing is for sure: you can lose at home against the last team in the standings, and go away and beat the best team on their court. The regular season is very short, so every game could be pivotal for your campaign. After having played two seasons with Benetton and Lottomatica, I know what can happen and what I have to expect. I will try to help my teammates a lot with the experience I accumulated in my previous seasons. I view opening night differently now than I did in my first year. Now I'm calm. Excited, yes, but focused on my job.
Here everybody says we're in a very tough group, but we're playing in the Euroleague, a competition so close in level to the NBA that it may soon be not just the best competition in Europe, but in the world. So what's the difference if we face CSKA or Barcelona, Maccabi or Unicaja? There are no differences. We just face great teams, with great players and coaches, and every night you have to go out do your best and try to win as many games if possible. There are no best teams to face or worst teams to meet! I'm excited to have the chance play against great players like Jorge Garbajosa, Mirza Teletovic, Matjaz Smodis, Nikola Vujcic and Mike Batiste or against great coaches like Ettore Messina, Zeljko Obradovic and Dusko Ivanovic. One of my dreams is to be coached by Messina. I think that all Italian players have that dream. I also feel honored to represent Italian basketball in this competition and for that reason I have great motivation.
I would like to help Roma reach as far as possible this season. Not just because I play here but also because the club deserves it after having the courage to invest in Italian players. I feel more involved because of that, together with my teammates Luca Vitali, Jacopo Giacchetti, Andrea Crosariol, Luigi Da Tome and our captain, veteran Marco Tonolli. We'll give 100% of our skill and pride on the court to repay their trust and I would like to urge our fans to come and support us every night, to help the team feel more comfortable on the court and not to miss a great show!
See you on the Euroleague courts!
POSTED BY
Angelo Gigli, Rome
DATE:
Tuesday, October 20, 2009