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Getting in the Final Four rhythm!

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:50:01 GMT

So now, we are leaving for Berlin. The Final Four is here! The excitement in Barcelona is clear, and for us, the players and coaches, the preparations are most important. This week, we are preparing for the semifinal against CSKA of course, but I can say that in general, I think our team is ready. We are in good physical and psychological shape. In practice, you can see in the team that readiness that you want to see. As players, we are showing aggressiveness, and also showing that we want to do all the little things right. These are good signs to see before we go. Of course, we are a little nervous, too, but that's just because we want to get started already!

Let's talk about CSKA. Of course, they are the reigning champions. They have a team that is very experienced and has been to a lot of Final Fours. This is maybe the biggest strength for CSKA. They are also a team with good coaching and good experience, both of which are always helpful to have in a tournament like the Final Four. I guess we could be bothering our teammate, David Andersen a lot more, asking questions about CSKA, because he won two titles with them, including last year's. But we're not giving him too many questions, honestly. We want to concentrate on what's happening this year with CSKA. He can always help us with some basic things that CSKA's coaches use and don't change year to year, whatever they do consistently over the years. But the roster itself has changed, and perhaps CSKA's style has too. But I think we all know already what their best quality is: their defense.

I mentioned biorhythms in another blog, and since someone asked what I meant, I want to explain. By biorhythms, I mean that we make sure to pay attention and do the same things in the couple days before every game. The players and coaching staff organize the same things always the same way before we have to play. It is done so that we feel comfortable with what we are used to, and we don't have to think. In that way, it puts us in a good biorhythm. We are always eating at that hour, resting at another and practicing the same times. In that way, we never have problems adjusting. It has been this way all season long, and I think it's good for us, considering that we have done well. I think that more or less all teams try to do similar things to stay in a rhythm, but here at Barcelona, I have noticed it even more. There are a lot of details that are planned to help you concentrate and not distract you with any stuff other than the game, what you have to do on the court. All other things are set for you.

So far, we have been as strict as possible with that rhythm, but maybe at the Final Four, with everything going on around it, we have to be more careful about it. We talked the other day about concentration only for the game. This is the big thing. As players, we cannot allow the hype of the Final Four, which is fine for the press and the fans, to get into our rhythm. That is how you break the rhythm. We have to still treat this as just another game: Come to town, rest, prepare to play, and leave everything else to the side until we get on the court. That's very important for us to do, not to get overwhelmed with all the other stuff going on. And here is where the advantage of being to the Final Four previously comes in: You know what to expect and are capable of controlling the situation...

Working our way to Berlin

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:42:31 GMT

The last time I blogged, my team and I were facing Game 5 of the playoffs with more than a little pressure. Anyone who knows our opponent that night, Tau Ceramica, knows what I am talking about, too. But if I am writing to you again, it's because we aced that test and we're going to the Final Four. With a week to go until Berlin, I can tell you that we at Barcelona cannot be happier. Not only do we feel that we deserve to be going to the Final Four, but I think that the playoffs made us stronger. When I say that, I don't mean just stronger basketball-wise or playing-wise, but also we got a lot more confidence from those games and those comebacks. We were down two times in the series, came back twice, and in the last game we won it. Because of that, we gained a lot of confidence that will help us going forward.

Oddly enough, we are playing Tau again in the Spanish League in a couple days, which will be our ninth game with them this season. It's a very unusual number of times to play a team in a season. In one way, it's good for the fans of both cities and for basketball to see two great team play so often. In another way, after so many games so recently, I don't think anyone would blame us if we were a bit bored. But I don't think that will happen, anyway, because we know that almost every time that Tau lost in the Euroleague these last few years, the team that knocked them out became champion. Since we knocked them out this season, I am hoping that trend continues, so we certainly don't want to lose to them now, not even in the Spanish League!

The fact is that playing Tau will remind us just of the moment when I think we all got the extra confidence that we need to win the Euroleague this year. That's exactly what happened when we broke through and beat them in Game 2 of the playoffs. I'll remember that as the crucial turnaround in our confidence. We had lost to them several times before that, including in Game 1 of the playoffs on our court. Here in Barcelona, everybody had doubts - the fans, the newspapers, everybody - as to whether Barça could beat Tau this season. When we won Game 2, it not only erased those doubts, but showed something very important: we were still improving, still getting better. We gained a lot of confidence that day, not just us, but the people in Barcelona, the fans. Game 2 was when the momentum turned in the series, and I am sure it was the reason that we are going to the Final Four.

There's another reason that our ninth game with Tau is good for us: because I think the best way of preparing for the Final Four is to keep playing. It's tough not to the think about the Final Four, but the fact is we have to keep concentrating on our domestic league games before Berlin, because the Spanish League is so competitive and we are fighting for playoff position there, too. We saw what homecourt advantage meant in the playoffs and we want that in the Spanish League, too. At the same time, concentrating on these domestic games means we are doing the things we have been doing all year, namely fighting and competing. We are used to playing two or three games a week, so keeping that rhythm will help us keep doing what has been good for us until now. We are keeping our team in a competitive mode. We don't have time to relax our minds and lose the competitive grip we have had all along. I think that is good. I think it's how you...

Two teams, a ball, one ticket to Berlin

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:47:02 GMT

Hello again, from Barcelona! I know that everyone watching is talking about this great series we are in with Tau, how it's gone back and forth, road wins, home wins, totally unpredictable. And I can tell you that, yes, it feels like a great series on the inside, too! It's probably the most intense one of all the matchups in this year's quarterfinals. You can say that our teams know each other so well and that's why the series is so equal. Both teams have big road wins. Both teams proved that the homecourt advantage doesn't automatically mean so much help. We think it's a great series, and I personally rank it already as one of the most intense I have ever been in – and still with one game to go!

And now, Game 5. It doesn't get more exciting. I have some experience in Spain, Greece and Slovenia in these kinds of decisive games, whether its Game 5 or Game 3. In games like this, there are not any secrets left by the last game. Even if teams didn't know each other well before, they do by now. There are no surprises left, no time to invent new stuff or trick defenses. You have to believe in what you have been preparing and playing all year. Then you just have to play aggressive, all out, save nothing and try to be the best you can.

We also have to forget about being on the homecourt. We know, of course, that the crowd will be our sixth player and support us all the way and make a great atmosphere at Palau Blaugrana. But we also know, for sure, that the hard work will be ours to do. We are 100-percent sure of this. This way, the possibility of relying on homecourt too much and getting surprised, won't be a factor. We know from last week and two weeks ago that Tau is also capable of winning here in Barcelona. That is the experience of this series, and we can't lose sight of it. We have to do our job not depending on the homecourt advantage.

In fact, on Thursday, I don't want anything to be a surprise. You can't change your routine or try something special on the day of a game like this. As players, our biorhythms are set and you want to keep doing the same things to maintain them. I will wake up the same time, eat something I normally do on game days, and so on. I am not going to change anything. By keeping our biorhythms the same, it will help keep our heads and minds focused on the game.

If I were to single out one thing that has made the series great from the viewpoint of a player, I would stick with the aggressive defense being played by both teams. Tau is known for its aggressive defense and approach to the game. We knew coming in that if we wanted to compete in this series and win it, we would have to be very, very, very aggressive ourselves, too. And that, as far as what I have seen from the inside, is the signature of the series. There's a mentality out there on the floor that not even one ball can be given up on by either team until the end. Not even one.

Our profession, our love, our league

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 15:10:50 GMT

Hi everyone. If there is one person happy to be going to the playoffs this week, it's me. As you might know, I missed half of the Top 16 due to a sudden illness that forced me to have nose operation to remove a small tumor. Of course, I was a little scared at first, when we found out about the problem and learned that I needed a nose operation. Those first moments after finding out, it was tough to get over. Once I got to sleep on it, though, it was just a thing I had to do and deal with. Barcelona, the club, was incredible. They took incredible care of me, got me the best doctors, who did a great job on the operation. All things went very smooth, very good, and that let me come back to the court very soon, sooner than anyone expected. Now, I am just grateful to everyone, the doctors and Barcelona's medical staff, and happy to be back getting ready for the playoffs.

One of the bad things about that nose problem, like any other injury, is that it's always difficult to see your team competing while you have to stay home or in a hospital and watch them try, sweat and play hard. You only want to be there with them. You have to understand, however, that injury or illness are part of professional sports, and you look ahead. It was tough to go through, but I just focused on coming back soon. You also try learn from watching, any time you see a game. Especially watching your own team play live is unusual, but since I know the systems they are supposed to be playing, there is always one part of me learning. On TV, you might see some details you don't see on the court, a wider view, so you can pick up some different things. But in the end, you'd rather be out there with your teammates.

I should say that watching other Euroleague games is something I and my teammates always do. We are all fans of Euroleague Basketball, too. Most home games, we play on Thursdays, so on Wednesday night right after practice, we have the TV on the locker room to any Spanish channel that broadcasts the Euroleague games. It's our profession, but it's also our hobby, our love, our league. We always want to watch and be informed. We don't want to miss anything about the Euroleague.

In our last Top 16 game, it was like two games in one, our own with Maccabi, to clinch first place in our group, and the one to see who our opponent would be, between Tau and Olympiacos. We did keep track just a little bit of the other game, with people telling us the score, but the priority for us was our game. We knew that we depended on ourselves and just wanted to achieve homecourt advantage. In the end, the opponent didn't matter as much as having three games at home. After all, both Tau and Olympiacos are great teams and would have made for great playoff opponents either way. We didn't want to calculate, because from my experience, every time you do that, it doesn't come out good. So we found out immediately after the game who our opponent in the playoffs would be to reach the Final Four. Our coaching staff got on the matter right away and showed us highlights and clips and tactical details of what Tau tried to do in the game against Olympiacos. It was to prepare us, sure, but this is not our first game with Tau. There is a lot we know and a lot to learn still in this playoff.

As much as Tau and Barcelona are familiar with each other, I think in a five-game series it's better to...