A new start for everybody

May 24, 2012

What's up everybody? I am Bootsy Thornton and if you are a good Euroleague fan, you probably know who I am already. In case you don't know me yet, I already call myself a Euroleague veteran after playing for three different teams in the competition - Montepaschi Siena, Barcelona and Efes Pilsen, where I am in my second season. I have been to three different Final Fours, with Montepaschi in Tel Aviv, with Barcelona in Prague and back again with Siena in Madrid. Hopefully I can get there a fourth time with Efes Pilsen! We managed to make it to the Top 16 when it looked more difficult for us. We needed to beat Orleans in France and expect Unicaja to beat Lietuvos Rytas in Vilnius. We could not control it, so it was a bit strange to be in that situation. There was little we could do other than win our game and see what happened. I have to thank my buddy Omar Cook for winning the game in Vilnius down the stretch. Of course, we didn't see the game - both were played at the same time -, but we soon heard that Unicaja won and that Omar did well in the final minutes. We definitely owe him for that.

One way or another, we are in the Top 16, which is great. Last season with Efes, I missed the Top 16 for the first time in my Euroleague career. It was very tough for all of us. We were really unlucky last season and came dangerously close this time. Even with that, the Top 16 is a new start for everybody. We had a really tough regular season group with a lot of difficult teams. We can't say we have been lucky in both draws this season, as we play against Maccabi Electra, Montepaschi Siena and Real Madrid in the Top 16. We cannot complain, because all games will be tough from now on. Every single team in the Top 16 belongs here. Being in a tough group is what you have to expect in the Top 16! We have to play hard from the beginning and try to earn a playoff spot out there.

I missed the Top 16 because it gives you the chance to play a lot of games at a very high level. Like I just said, only the best teams in Europe make it to the Top 16. There is only one recipe to do well in this phase - you have to be able to play good basketball, win all of our home games and try to steal at least one more on the road. We got stronger for the Top 16 with Bojan Popovic, who we already faced this season playing for Rytas. He has been around for a long time, also playing for Unicaja and Dynamo. He will give us experience and we had many injury problems at that spot so far this season. He is ready to come and help us right away. We have a good number of veteran players that know the competition well. We all know that from now on, we have to go out there and try to win every game, because there is no room for mistakes already.

We definitely know that no matter what we did wrong in the first season, all 16 teams start from scratch again. I remember that when I first went to the Final Four with Montepaschi, we were not a top-seeded team. We won a couple of games on the road and managed to advance and reach the Final Four in Tel Aviv. We start the Top 16 in Madrid, so we have to go out there and try to get a road win. No team is unbeatable, in any sport! Nobody is completely unbeatable. Madrid has a lot of good players and they just added Marko Jaric to be even better. Coach Messina knows his systems and which players fit right away or not. The good thing about Madrid is that every single player in the team is already well-known to us. There is a little room for surprises. We know we have a lot of good shooters and when one of us is not having a good night, he tries to help the team in many different ways - play without the ball, play defense. I am sure we have already figured out what it takes to win games like this one - play good defense and manage to get good options in offense. We have played good defense this far but lost many games in the last minute. We have to fix that - and fix it fast.

I can't wait to face Montepaschi in Siena. We already played them in pre-season, however, so it won't be the first time I play against them since I left. Those are my guys, what can I say? It is going to be a different game for me. I am used to it, though. I have played against my previous teams in the past and off the court is always nice, but once you are on the court, you just want to win and focus on that. Henry Domercant played for Efes in the past and is now in Siena while I have gone the other way around. He is a good guy, I know him well even when we never played in the same team. We talked when he made it to Siena and I joined Efes. Whenever Montepaschi is in town, I try to go to their hotel and have met him, so ify ou are looking for any kind of rivalry, look somewhere else. I don't have any problem with him!

Going back to Tel Aviv, where I played my first Final Four in 2004, is always special. Maccabi is always Maccabi, a tough team to beat at Nokia Arena. They always play excellent at home and has a good team. Their fans are behind them 100%, it doesn't matter where they are. Regretfully, I could not get a win in that Final Four. We lost against Fortitudo in overtime in the semifinal. We had a pretty good chance to win that game and play Maccabi in the final. IT is a great arena, with wild fans. It is always good to play in there.

Life is Istanbul is great. It is snowing right now! I would have never expected life in Istanbul to be the way it is. It is completely different that I thought, but it is nice. There are a lot of good things to do and see in there, all the time - plenty of things to do. I wouldn't say it is Americanized but at the same time, it is a bit like home to me, in the sense of shopping, food and the things you can do. Istanbul is full of life, too. You can find people on the street any day at any time. There is always people walking, it doesn't matter. It is always something good in that, but at the same time, the traffic is too much sometimes, too! Turkish people are nice, it is all I can say. It's good to be in here.

I will check back with you all once we have faced each and every opponent in this Top 16. We hope to play hard and get some wins out there. Until them, wish us luck!

POSTED BY

BOOTSY THORNTON - ISTANBUL, TURKEY

DATE:

Monday, January 25, 2010