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mars 21, 2009
 A couple of days ago I was reading my friend Marco Mordente's Euroleague goodbye blog, in which he was thanking everybody for the opportunity to blog here and at the same time did some predictions for the upcoming Quarterfinal Playoffs. Reading all that, it occurred to me that I am not ready yet to see my Euroleague season end. So I consider myself quite a happy person to still be part of the field, and on my way to an attractive series, because I am absolutely sure that is what our matchup with Olympiacos will be.
At the same time though, having taken part in all but one Final Four since 2004, I am also a little spoiled. I would, of course, love to get there again, but that goes for everybody, as I realized while speaking to Theo Papaloukas, one of my closest friends in basketball, earlier this week. Waging a small psychological war, he already told me that, in his view, we did not have a chance to beat Olympiacos the way they are playing right now. So I told him that we almost threw a party about playing them and not somebody else (I was joking, just to make sure that nobody gets this wrong) because out of all seven teams they were our favorite matchup.
After an exhausting month of February, with lots of big games, a week with no games gave us an opportunity to have a perfect mix of hard practice, fine-tuning tactics and lots of rest. It even feels a little bit like preseason, trying to get ready...
Tomas Van den Spiegel, Madrid
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février 24, 2009
 It is that time of the Euroleague season again, the time when everybody starts calculating, players, fans and officials. Halfway through the Top 16 - and with three wins and no losses - calculating is the last thing we at Real Madrid want to start doing. Our goal should be to try to finish first in our group at all cost. If we make it to the playoffs, we would be crossing with the group that has powerhouses Tau Vitoria, Olympiacos and outsider Olimpia Milan - the last team to beat us in the Euroleague this season - so we can surely use our homecourt advantage at Palacio Vistalegre, in front of our fans, who have helped us more than ever over the last few games.
We are reminded of how important fans are at this stage since we are headed to Maccabi's Nokia Arena this week. Along with Pionir in Belgrade, it's probably the hardest court in the Euroleague. We will have to be more than ready and fully prepared, mentally, to get a positive result. For me, personally, this gym always brings back awful memories of the Euroleague final that my Fortitudo Bologna teammates and I lost there back in 2004. Well, it was more than just losing. I think Maccabi that night gave one of the most impressive team performances anyone has ever seen in recent Euroleague history. Too bad I had to be on the other end of it. I am convinced that, after we beat Maccabi by 19 points two weeks ago, Coach Gershon and his guys will be more...
TOMAS VAN DEN SPIEGEL - MADRID, SPAIN
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février 3, 2009
 Hello everybody, this is Real Madrid center Tomas Van den Spiegel. First of all, I want to thank the Euroleague for giving me the chance to blog again on its website, like I did last season when I was in Prokom. It is good to be back in the Euroleague. I won the Euroleague title with CSKA last year but started this season in the Eurocup, playing for Azovmash Mariupol. I had the chance to come to Madrid and play the Euroleague again, adn even though the Eurocup is a good competition, I am used to playing the Euroleague. It was a bit weird to play against a lot of new guys in the Eurocup earlier this season. Last season, after so many years in the Euroleague, there were games in which I knew everybody on both teams! In the Eurocup, sometimes I didn't have anyone to say hello to on the opposing team. So it is good to be back and to see all the guys again, the people I am used to playing against.
We played against Regal FC Barcelona last week and the atmosphere in the packed gym in Madrid was incredible. It was my first classic, too, just a few weeks after arriving in Madrid. I had been trying to come to Spain for a while already and if you have to pick a city, Madrid is not a bad one at all. It is still a little chilly now, I can't wait for the weather to be better, but the quality of life is better and I love being here. The organization is great and life in Ukraine was not easy sometimes, just sometimes. Being...
Tomas Van den Spiegel, Madrid
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