Counting blessings amid disappointment

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 12:04:17 GMT

Well, after four Top 16 weeks and four losses in as many games, here I am again, trying and wanting to share with everybody who reads this the feeling of defeat and disappointment. I am not very downbeat when it comes to the defeats, but rather I am very upset with the disappointments those defeats brought along. You see, we've been defeated before and of course afterwards I've felt pain, and anger. But I had never experienced the feeling of disappointment, whether in myself or in my teammates. This time is different, though. After losing to Prokom at home, I wasn't even mad or angry. I just couldn't believe that my presence on the court didn't mean anything to my team, that for the time I spent on the court I couldn't do anything to help my teammates win the game. The Top 16 is probably the most exciting time of the Euroleague season, in my opinion, and it kills me that Efes Pilsen couldn't be a part of that excitement, or bring some of it to its fans, who by the way were simply great at the game against Panathinaikos last week. It's the first time in a while that we are not among the best eight teams in Europe, and it's a very unfamiliar feeling, an unknown territory for the club's management, coaches, players and, of course, its fans. The important thing for us now is that we have to get back on our feet and try to win the rest of our games in the Turkish League and become champions at the end of the season. As far as the Euroleague goes, we always have next year. Hopefully next season we will again be among the elite, where this team really deserves to be. For now, I'm going to kick back and try to enjoy some quality basketball, watching TAU and my very good friend Kaya Peker, PAO and Sani Boy, and CSKA with its master, Papaloukas - all of them butting heads while trying to win the Euroleague championship.

I love my job, I really do. I feel like it's one of the best jobs in the world. Still, it is a job, although some people may think otherwise. What most people see is the money, the travel, the big arenas, the first-class treatment we receive wherever we go. Not too many people know about the stress that comes with this job; the injuries and the effect they have on one's body, both while playing and later in life, the emotional ups and downs caused by one's performances, or about players who never get the chance they deserve for one reason or another. People need to know that for every true star like Scola, Vujcic, and Papaloukas that made it, there's ten Zvonimirs, twenty Onaldos, a hundred Andreas that never made it. Not because they didn't work hard enough, but because the opportunities are limited, as in every business market. Now they're out of a job, with no school diploma in their hands because they dedicated their youth to basketball 24/7; In the best case scenario they can become basketball coaches for youth teams, and in the worst case scenario they end up doing a job they never thought they would. My point is - being a basketball player is no different than any other job. It has its share of pros and cons, of ups and downs, good days and bad days. One difference we have with lawyers and doctors and the average businessman, is that we do not have to show up at work in a suit and tie. We perform the best when dressed in "underwear" and we have...

Very superstitious, by any name

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 17:18:58 GMT

OK, now I'm worried. David Vanterpool is out for the whole Top 16, and he had just finished writting his blog a couple of days ago, where he actually underlined the blogger's jinx. I'm equally excited and worried to be doing this, since I do believe in jinxes and bad luck brought to athletes by doing something out of the ordinary, such as cutting your nails or you hair on game day (I think Norgy already mentioned this in one of his earlier blogs). And there is more to it when it comes to me: I guess after hearing this you will all think that I'm a freak. When playing at home, I always have to be the first player from the team to enter the locker room, and the first to shoot two layups (first right, then left). I always put on my right shoe first, and I always step on the court with my right foot first. There is also some other stuff I will not tell you about, because I think I might actually scare you off. On the road, I have to be the first player getting on the bus and the first to get off when we arrive at the arena. I have a certain routine of doing things before a game, and I do belive that it's important to me doing it this way since it helps me get focused better. Anyway, after reading all this, you can understand why I would actually be worried about the blogger's bad luck. I am just going to think that the bad fortunes have already spared me, and used all their powers on David and Jeff, both of whom I want to wish a fast and healthy recovery.

I think Jeff set the bar high with this thing, and all I can hope and wish for is that my blog is at least half as entertaining as his. I enjoy reading his stuff, it's very refreshing and down to earth, but most of all, it is very original. He is very honest with his stuff and that's something to be appreciated. I hope he will still be in Sopot on March 21, when we go to play Prokom, and maybe he and I could talk about his beloved Vikings, The Killers, and all that American sports talk, which I have missed dearly since my junior-college days. We will play Prokom for the 879th time in about three years, both in the regular season and in the Top 16. I think that Efes, Prokom and the Euroleague have made some kind of agreement between them, that allows these two teams to be in the same group whenever possible :-) We definitely are in a very tough group, but having won all of our previous encounters with Wojcik and the boys from the cold land, they are the team that scare me the most. Panathinaikos and Barcelona games can go either way, but since everybody expects us to win in Sopot, a loss in Poland is inexcusable. I personally don't agree with this kind of thinking, since I happen to believe that they are a very capable team, with great players like Wojcik, Dalmau, Besok, and Hamilton. And I think that every team in the Top 16 deserves to be there. Having said that, I do think that Prokom deserves to be called one of the best 16 Euroleague teams of this season.

At our last road game of the regular season in Bologna, a kid about 16 years old told me that I looked exactly like Ermal Kurtoglu, the center for the Turkish national team. Of course, at first I thought he was kidding, but when I realized he was dead serious, I had to break it down to him that Kurtoglu and Kuqo are the exact same person. I told...

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Counting blessings amid disappointment

Very superstitious, by any name