Mission: win at home

May 25, 2012

Hello again, Euroleague fans! We at Gescrap BB are getting ready for our rematch against Real Madrid! As you know, we have faced every opponent in our Top 16 group and won one game at home and lost twice on the road. We started it with a tough game in Siena, in which we competed well and lost the game by details. We had a great game against Unicaja, managed to get our first-ever Top 16 win and keep our home court protected. Then we went on to lose against Real Madrid, which forces us to beat them at Miribilla this week. In fact, we have back-to-back home games coming up and it is a must for us to win both of them. We haven't lost at home and that is critical for any team in the Top 16. We have to make the most out of the home court advantage or otherwise we may run out of chances as soon as this week!

It was hard to start the Top 16 playing on the road against such an experienced team as Montepaschi Siena. They know the competition really well and how to play these games. We had a blackout of several minutes at some point and that is how Montepaschi got the lead for good. It was a good lesson for us on how to play in the Top 16 – if you have some weak minutes or you don't do things right, your opponent will punish you right away, especially if you are facing a top-level team like Montepaschi. We have to be focused for 40 minutes if we want to have the chance to win, especially on the road.

Some people here in Spain are really surprised to see Montepaschi beating all three Spanish teams by a big difference. Montepaschi is a very experienced team, a Final Four team last season, and its players have been together for many years. They have great chemistry and play strong, tough and physical! They played more physical than all of the Spanish opponents in this Top 16. I would say that we are a team that is not as fast-paced as other Spanish squads, but we also play hard in defense. I believe we have a good chance to beat Montepaschi in Bilbao.

We played and tough against Unicaja from the very beginning. It is not easy for any opponent to play in our home court, with our great, noisy crowd cheering for us. We rebounded really well – I had a double-double! – and managed to get the first Top 16 win for this club. The game in Malaga, of course, will be completely different. I expect it to be a critical game for us, that will mean we do our homework and get there with chances to make it to the Playoffs. It will be the last game, however, so let's worry about Madrid first, then think about Montepaschi... and take it one game at a time.

Like I said, we didn't have a good start against Madrid and were not focused in the beginning, which allowing them to run the floor and feel comfortable. We allowed them to do whatever they wanted and with quality players and great scorers, that can only mean bad news – Madrid had 50 points in the first half. We must play like we did in the Spanish League on Sunday. Yes, we played against Madrid in the Spanish League, too! We won 90-93 and that only makes the Euroleague game even more attractive for our fans! We played tough in the beginning and tried to keep a low score, even though the game rhythm speeded up in the second half. Everybody went out there ready to play, just like we did against Unicaja. Everybody was able to give something good to our team to make us win the game. That is the only way we can beat Madrid – by giving everything we have, no matter if any of us plays 5 minutes or 35.

Since last season, when we knocked Madrid off in the Spanish League playoffs, a very nice sports rivalry has started between the clubs – don't get me wrong, it is in a good way, two good teams trying to beat each other. We play against them in the same way we would face any other team; always trying to give our best. I don't know about Madrid, but for us they are like every opponent – we respect them and work hard to try to beat them. Of course, our fans will help us a lot against Madrid and yes, there is a bit more energy in home games against them. I am sure our crowd will help us a lot, but mainly because there is a strong chance for us to be eliminated from the playoffs race if we lose, rather than for playing against Madrid. Like I said before, we are taking it one game at the time and are focused to beat Madrid.

We need to play more physical and tougher than them, prevent them from running and stop their transition game. If they are forced to play five-on-five offense, they will have more problems beating us, I am sure. There is little I can say to motivate our fans – I am sure they will be there ready to help us as much as they can. We will give everything we can – everything! - to win this game with their help!

POSTED BY

DIMITRIOS MAVROEIDIS - BILBAO, SPAIN

DATE:

Tuesday, February 07, 2012