Hello again, this is Rimas Kaukenas of Real Madrid. I am writing this on Friday afternoon in Barcelona right after playing twice against Barcelona. As you all know, the series is tied at 1-1, but we host Games 3 and 4 in Madrid next week. What a series it has been so far! We have done pretty well this far defensively and, of course, there is some room for improvement in everything we do, and we need to give our best if we want to be in the Final Four. Unfortunately, we lost Game 1 despite playing really well, but were not able to finish the job in the fourth quarter. We played pretty well for three quarters. Last night we did even better because we played very consistently almost the entire game. It was a good game, a lot of players stepped up offensively and made some important stops on defense. That helped us to win and get back to Madrid with a 1-1 tie, though not right away, since we will stay in Barcelona to face DKV Joventut in the Spanish League on Saturday.

We don't need to prove that we belong at this level to anyone but ourselves. Of course, by winning some important games, we will show that to other people as well. It is going to be a long, tough series. Every game will be difficult for both teams. Pete Mickeal played great in the final minutes of Game 1. He and Ndong won for the...

Hello everybody, this is Rimantas Kaukenas of Real Madrid, currently in my fourth Euroleague season. The good people at Euroleague.net asked me to do a blog from now until we leave the competition - so I hope I can write to you all several times because that would be a good sign! Any good Euroleague fan may remember me from the years in Montepaschi Siena or Madrid, but I played in very different places throughout my career like Israel, Belgium, Germany and the United States. I have travelled a lot and played in a lot of different places, but I have no regrets. I learned a lot from playing in different places, about people, coaches. I always tried to play for those teams that wanted me, which I could help and get a lot of playing time, because this is the only way for a player to excel and be confident.

I had the chance to join Madrid this summer and took it, of course. I am not a teenager anymore! I chose Madrid in order to to play for one of the best European coaches ever and one of the best organizations. I hadn't played in the Spanish League and wanted to go one step forwards - it was a challenge for me. Our season has been up and down, we started very well and found some difficulties along the way. It has been a little bit of a rollercoaster. We have a very good start in this Euroleague season, throughout the regular season and the beginning of the Top 16, but our home loss in our last game against Maccabi changed everything. Things like this happen sometimes, losing a critical game at home, and it was difficult for us, because we now have to face Barcelona. In my opinion, Barcelona is the best team in Europe right now, but this is what we are here for! We are ready to play, challenge...