We are happy, but WE WANT MORE

May 25, 2012

Dusko Savanovic - Power Electronics Valencia

Hello and welcome once again, my name is Dusko Savanovic and I play for Power Electronics Valencia, a Turkish Airlines Euroleague Quarterfinal Playoffs team - it sounds nice, huh? I can't even begin to explain how good it is, really. This is already a very special season for all of us. We had some problems in the beginning of the season, but put in a lot of effort to change things, and this is a reward for all the tough work we did. Do you think we are happy with what we have done so far? Well, we are, but WE WANT MORE! As you probably know, we had to beat Fenerbahce Ulker by at least 3 points to advance to the playoffs. The atmosphere at the Fonteta, our homecourt, was amazing. Everyone was fully aware of how important the game was for this club and the city of Valencia. The Fonteta was completely packed, full of orange and purple - the colors of the club. There wasn't space for a needle to fit in those stands! They truly were our sixth man and what they did had a big impact in the game. We managed to make history, all together, because it is the first time that Valencia has gone this far in the Euroleague. Don't count us out, because Real Madrid gets next and we are ready to play!

What made the win against Fener even more special is that it was Rafa Martinez's birthday - and he celebrated with two late three-pointers that finished the game. He has a huge family and everyone was in the stands, so he celebrated the win with them afterward. It's funny, but the biggest present on his birthday went from him to everyone else - the way he played at the end of game. It makes you wish that every day was Rafa's birthday! Don't get me wrong, he is a terrific player, but he was outstanding at the end of the game. Bam, bam, back-to-back three-pointers, end of the story, on to Madrid! He managed to play like that in the most critical moment of such an important game. Great timing, Rafa! Birthdays are really popular in Russia - in my time in Kazan, every time someone had his birthday on a game day, everyone celebrated. They brought you flowers and a cake before the game started and everyone sang "happy birthday" at the end of it. We won't open 10 bottles of champagne to celebrate anything, yet, but if we win the Euroleague, that's a different story.

I'm two out of two as a predictor, people out there. Just as last summer in that Serbia-Spain game, I told you we would win - and we did! I won't take my chances anymore, not now at least. It is all a little joke. Everyone in basketball knows me and I am far from being an arrogant guy. It is not like I think like that all the time, but at the same time, I have to entertain you all a little bit! As I said, we play Real Madrid next. The fact that their coach, Ettore Messina, left the bench gives us a little bit of advantage we didn't have before, but still it's Madrid - always a strong team. They have the home-court advantage and it's a solid, historic club. They have players who are capable of managing complicated situations, people who know how to deal with pressure in the late stages of the season, both positive and negative stuff. Yes, it is very strange to see a coach leave after winning a Top 16 group, but our problem right now is finding a way to beat them. Their adjustment to their new coach won't be difficult because Lele Molin has been with Messina everywhere. The bottom line is that Madrid is a great team, but we will try to find any advantage they give us.

This is a great time of the season and funny things happen every single day. I think I may start writing a book about all the funny stuff that is happening to us on and off the court. There are a lot of great guys here: Omar Cook and Robertas Javtokas are just hilarious. We have a strong mix of cultures - American, Serbian, Spanish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, French and, of course, Montenegrin with Omar! All of that in the same locker room! So it is very interesting from every point of view. There are some funny misunderstandings, too. If I could make a movie of this, you would see me at the Cannes Film Festival in no time! So far I will keep it to myself. I will talk to the guys and make sure what I can tell or not, so stay tuned!

We are ready and looking forward to playing against Madrid, even though we will obviously focus on our upcoming ACB games before that. Of course, we think about the series against Madrid and about the Euroleague, but the next game is always the most important one and we are fighting for third place in the Spanish League. The playoffs are more than a week away and we, as professionals, focus on the next game all the time and give our best. Just in case I didn't say it before, I cannot thank all the Valencia fans enough for their support these days. A lot of people are coming to support us, so keep doing it, please! We need your help, as always.

Sincerely, Dusko Savanovic. :)

PS: The Eurocup Quarterfinals are coming and I don't want to miss out the opportunity to wish the best of luck to my former teams, Unics and Cajasol. If everything goes well, both teams will meet in the final and that's my wish for them!

POSTED BY

DUSKO SAVANOVIC - VALENCIA, SPAIN

DATE:

Thursday, March 10, 2011