From Senegal to Paris, the long way
Hey, everyone. We're getting closer! The Final Four is just a few days away now. I can tell you that everyone on my team, Regal FC Barcelona, is working hard to be ready. The Final Four is an exceptional event and a dream for everybody who's part of basketball, so we're excited to go to Paris and get on the court! This is something special for me because where I come from, Senegal, no one can think of something so big. I was born in a small village, a seaside town for fishermen, and I never even heard much about basketball until I was 13 years old. We grew up on the sea, playing soccer all day, every day. There was a lot of freedom in a place like that, and the parents could safely let their kids run around on the beach all day. It was all fun activities like that and very little homework until I turned 13 and was sent to boarding school. That's when I discovered basketball. I fell in love right away and forgot about soccer. And it's not that I was tall then, either. I was no taller than 1.88 meters at 16 years old, when I started to grow a lot. But I was in love with basketball already then.
Between ages 16 and 20 is when I grew to my current size, 2.13, and found my way to Germany. That's when I realized how much I needed to learn about basketball. Back in Senegal, there were school teams, but we didn't learn the basic fundamentals of the game. I had to learn the skills of the sport myself. I would watch games on TV and go to the playground to try to repeat the moves I saw. When I then got into a playing system in Germany, it was difficult for me. I was talented, but when it came to positioning, I got lost, and I couldn't express myself on the court. Maybe that is why I developed late, but the important thing is I kept learning. That was my motivation. I wanted to get better and learn.
In Germany I found a good coach, Holger Geschwindner, who taught me a lot, so I kept working on getting better. Holger trained me for two straight years, just as he had done earlier with Dirk Nowitzki. Holger is the guy who forced my basketball knowledge to grow. Almost everything I learned I owe to him. In the summers, when he came home, I played a lot of one-on-one against Dirk. Over four years, we did that every summer. Seeing Dirk get better was just amazing. And seeing how good he was doing in the NBA pushed me and gave me a lot of motivation. He was so good that playing him one-on-one was difficult for me, but I kept getting better. The chance to practice at that level was a great experience that helped me get where I am today.
And where is that? With Barcelona, one of the best clubs in the world, headed to the Final Four! I won't lack for company, either. I am bringing a lot of guests to Paris: my wife and two kids, my parents-in-law, a cousin I have in France, my agent, the coach from our national team in Senegal. Because of the connection between France and Senegal, it'll be like a home game for me! A lot of my ex-teammates from different clubs and the Senegal national team are playing in France, too. It's hard to get tickets for everyone who wants to come.
So let's talk basketball! I haven't played directly against CSKA, our semifinals opponent, in a couple of seasons now, but of course you start by talking about their great talents. In the outside game, they are full of shooters: Holden, Langdon, Siskauskas. They are all great individual players and we'll have to be focused on their three-point shooting and how to stop it. Only then can we play our basketball. CSKA's big men - Khryapa, Kaun, Vorontsevich and, of course, Smodis - are all good players. As a group, they finish well, play pick-and-roll very well and do the little things that make a difference. Together, we have to defend their outside shots first; our coverage can't be so much one-on-one, so we can pressure them. We have to defend outside first, help against their shooters, and then recover, because they finish so well around the basket. If they get easy looks there, they won't miss.
Of course, we have a little extra knowledge of their big men because two of our own, Terence Morris and Erazem Lorbek, played last season for CSKA. We've been talking with them about the individual players on CSKA, what they do best, since Terence and Erazem know a lot from all the practices against them last year. I won't say in public what they've been telling us, but of course we speak about it. Knowing what an opponent does well generally will help us to anticipate, and in a game when split seconds can make all the difference, it could mean a lot.
This semifinal, I can say without doubt, is the biggest game of my career. I have played finals before in other countries, but in Europe, the Final Four is the biggest thing out there. And the first game, the semifinal, is all that matters now, which makes it the biggest game of my life. Right now, I am just getting focused. We'll be watching more video, practicing sharp, doing what we can to prepare our minds, looking play by play, player by player, and move forward in that way until Paris. The idea is to get to Friday in the perfect shape physically and the perfect state of mind to be ready to go. See you then!
POSTED BY
Boni Ndong - Barcelona
DATE:
Sunday, May 02, 2010