We’re ready for the ACB finals against my former team, Caja Laboral Vitoria.
We’re going for history. Period. Four big trophies in a single season. My motivation is being a great player on a great team. There’s a thin line between being a good team or a great one, so we’ve got to be fully prepared mentally and physically for this challenge that we have ahead of us.
Last year I was battling Barcelona. We played like 12 times. That’s a lot. We know each other very well. I know my ex teammates very well. This is already a classic.
I think I will go against Fernando San Emeterio. Definitely a very good guy. Played against him one-on-one in practice a lot… Also Walter Hermann, who played in the NBA… Great matchups.
I know a lot of people, the media, will focus on Tiago Splitter. We’ve got guys like Fran Vazquez, Boniface N’Dong… they can play good defense on Tiago. I know him very well, so I hope my tips on him will help them to stop him… Seriously, it will be a tough task. He’s one of the best centers in the world. Doesn’t matter he’s not in the NBA. And there are more good players in Caja Laboral. They have a few guys with Finals experience, and in Vitoria, with their amazing crowd, they can beat anyone.
During the regular season, we beat them by 28 and won by seven in Vitoria, so people may say this is going to be easy. You can say what you want on paper, but the games must be played. And that’s what I like about my team. We let the people do the talking. We play basketball to prove we are a great team and we respect the team we are playing with.
I was the MVP of the Finals a couple of years ago and Juan Carlos Navarro is the reigning MVP. For me, it’s about being aggressive. Attack mode. You know, like Mike Tyson in boxing! Full attack. It’s all or nothing.
Watching the NBA Finals, you see Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett as the more vocal leaders of their teams. Here, we don’t speak a lot. There’s no need for that because every player is ready to play the game. This is the heart of this team. We’ve got players like Victor Sada, who doesn’t play a lot, but when he comes out he can come up big, as he did in the Final Four in Paris.
NBA FINALS: TOUGHNESS OVER SKILL
I said the Celtics would win before the start of the season. I’m blogging before the third game of the series, but you can already see which team is the toughest. That team is Boston. The most skilled is the Lakers, but the defense, rebounding, physical contact… That’s what wins championships.
Just came back from Paris with the Euroleague title under my belt after beating Olympiakos 86-68.
Although it was a dream to visit Paris for the first time and win the European crown, I still haven’t popped the bottle of Moët Chandon I got back in December… There’s more business left to do! We’re fighting for another big trophy - the Spanish ACB League - so I’m not in any hurry.
I had my friends in Paris with me, so it was great to be able to celebrate with them and my teammates. Got great pictures, great trophy… I told Ricky Rubio, “You’re gonna get everything you want in your life when it comes to this basketball thing, because you’re special.” He proved everybody what he could do in the Final Four. After the championship game, he was just emotional,.
I didn’t see everyone so emotionally drained or so excited that we had won the championship. I think we kind of knew we had a great chance to win it and we had a lot of confidence in ourselves. I didn’t see guys laying on the ground crying like we had just beat the Lakers or something. It was more like business as usual. We’ve got the focus to win it all. We’re in this for the long run. The Euroleague title was a great step, but our ultimate goal is to win the triple crown: the Cup, the Euroleague and the League.
THE ENEMIES
For me, the semifinal was a lot harder. I played 30 minutes and every play was against me, whether it was Ramunas Siskauskas or Viktor Khryapa. Every screen-and-roll, every one-on-one… So I got beat hard but, well, I can get that kind of contact. It’s not big deal. After the game coach Xavi Pascual joked about that and told me, ”Every play was against you, you should be really tired.”
I was not really satisfied with my game in the final vs. Olympiakos. Actually, I’ve never been satisfied with any game I’ve played. There’s always something I go back and look thinking I could have done better. In the title game, I showed the same mentality: put the team on my shoulders and go for it all. If I lose that mentality only for two minutes, it can be the difference between winning and lose.
THE FUTURE AHEAD
This is my first year playing with FC Barcelona. I’m the guy who has played more minutes and I’m doing it with a club that has won two titles already. In the Euroleague competition, I have the highest evaluation and the highest rebound average… This situation doesn’t often happen when you just moved to another team. Sometimes it’s hard to make the adjustment. But Barcelona has been easy for me.
Now we’ll see what happens next year. There’s a lot of options out there. A lot of decisions to make next month.
BELIEVE IN THE CELTICS
If you read one of my blog entries last November, you’ll know that I picked the Celtics to win the NBA title this season. You gotta go with the Celts. They’re good and they’ve got so much confidence… There’s Ray Allen going off the screen, Paul Pierce going one-on-one, Kevin Garnett in the low post making a great pass or a turnaround jumpshot…
And then there’s Rajon Rondo.
The kid is playing great. His confidence is unbelievable right now. You gotta give the Celtics the credit. Like I always say in the media… Reward the players for doing a great job and sign the contracts early!
They signed Rondo to a five-year, 55-million contract. Everybody said he shouldn’t get that type of money. Even the Danny Ainge had a lot of hesitation about giving him a lot of money because they never know how players are going to react after they get that money.
The Celtics did the right thing and now he’s playing great.
You know why?
His future is set. He doesn’t have to worry about where he’s going to play next year. Only thing he focuses on is playing basketball. That’s why he’s got a clear mind. If somebody asked Rondo, I’m sure he’d tell you the same. I’m speaking from a player’s point of view that this is what happens when a guy gets a long-term deal and they get what they deserve. When guys win championships for you, reward them with contracts.
It’s the same thing in Europe. Some teams don’t reward the players that do great jobs for their teams. That’s why you see teams like CSKA Moscow having so much success over the last few seasons.
Players have egos and if they win titles and don’t get rewarded like they should, then there’s always going to be problems and plans to go elsewhere and play for other team.
There were some of the best players in the world on the court - not just in Europe, but in the world. It was great to be on that court competing against a great team like Real Madrid. But we’re a great team too, and the best team always wins in a five- or seven-games series. The best team with the best players and the best coaching.
I think we improved our defensive level as a team. They are so difficult to stop because they’ve got so many guys that can go one-on-one… Pablo Prigioni controls the whole game. One of the keys to their success against us was Pablo running the screen-and-roll to perfection. He did it with Tiago Splitter in Vitoria, now he’s doing it with Ante Tomic.
Tomic proved that he can score almost 20 points in every game against one of the best teams in Europe… Unbelievable to do it at such a young age. We did things to slow him down and still scored. Overall, his talent and ability to get better and his potential are very high.
Also, I have to talk a little bit about SergioLlull. What I’ve seen this year, he still has the speed, but his shot is so much better. That’s a big sign that he’s been working on his game. He has been so much confident shooting the ball during the series. So I can see those two guys playing in the NBA.
It seemed like a shock to people when we lost Game 2 at home. But it wasn’t really a shock for us. We knew how good Real was. It was more of a shock about how bad we played. You have to give them credit.
MEETING CSKA AGAIN
We’ll meet CSKA in the semifinals. It’ll be a little different matchup between Barcelona and CSKA. First of all, I’m happy that we got two of their players, Terrence Morris and Erazem Lorbek. With RamunasSiskauskas leading CSKA, it’s going to be a great matchup at the three spot. They are proven winners. People say we’re the favorite but in a Final Four anybody can be the favorite. You still have to play the game. We’re gonna relax right now and focus in the ACB. Coach Xavi Pascual will have us ready to face CSKA.
In this kind of tournament - like the March Madness, Copa del Rey, Eurolague Final Four - it’s all about the mentality: being the first to hit, the first to be physical, being aggressive from the first minute. In this series we learned a lot about the first minutes of the game. The game we lost Real Madrid played unbelievable in the first quarter.
Xavi said the game was over after the first quarter. Why? Because you can’t play catch-up basketball with great teams! Madrid, CSKA… They have great players just like we do. You can’t play down 11 points or sobecause you spend so much energy coming back. That’s why if you have the right mentality, like every game is the last of your life, you have a great chance to win. Every player went to the max in the fourth game. Guess that’s why I picked up so many fouls, being so aggressive.
Some people say the fourth game was the best Ricky Rubio has ever played in the Euroleague. I think what he did good early was get to the basket. Something that he wasn’t doing so much. He was getting to the basket, drawing fouls and getting a lot of confidence. If he gets close to the basket, Ricky can finish with both hands, it doesn’t matter. This is a big key for his game. I really like to see him so aggressive.
Now we have to focus in the ACB, and it’s easy when you have so many important games coming ahead. It’s more than a month till the Final Four and now we have to face Manresa this weekend and Real Madrid again! Right now, we’re on course to make history and I’m looking forward to do that. With our team, it’s easy to stay focused.
LAKERS, ARENAS STILL VERY MUCH ALIVE
There’s a lot of talk about how the recent losses of the Lakers. Sometimes during the season, bad streaks happen. Teams will have to beat the Lakers in a seven-game series, and they have a lot of experience. You’ll see the Lakers play great. Kobe being Kobe, Lamar Odom will step up. Then Pau Gasol will dominate the post. For me, he plays the best defense on Dwight Howard. He was a big key on defense last year vs. Orlando and people fail to remember that. They still are favorites to win it all, although I picked Boston at the start of the season…
About the Arenas case, I wouldn’t rule a guy like him out in the free agent market. He’s the most popular player in the DC area. That sells jerseys. You lose more money not paying him. If he had gone to jail that would be a different situation… Flip Saunders is a pretty good coach. I’ve heard that from players who played for him. Once they get the the right players and the right chemistry, the’ll be back in the playoffs next year.
After winning the Cup, we had a short celebration because we had a very important Euroleague game in Greece against Panathinaikos. At the end of the week, we had played four games in seven days, a very NBA-like schedule!
Thanks to our depth, the week was a total success. That’s the key for us this season: depth. It’s a 10-month marathon, and you have to focus on the present or you will fall. It’s crucial for us to have home-court advantage to secure a spot in the Final Four. They asked me if I think the season would be a failure if we don’t win the Euroleague. To me, losing is not an option. We have a pro attitude on this team. Period. Winning the Cup is not enough! We have to keep focusing on scouting. Now the season is coming down to the wire and focus is key.
MY GUY FRAN
Fran Vazquez was named the MVP of the Cup. You know, Fran is a worker. He will give you rebounds, he’ll dunk everything under the basket and will play smart basketball. I know he would help the Magic a lot, but I’m happy he didn’t go to Orlando and is playing with us right now… I know he was a lottery pick, and 100 percent of American players would have gone to the NBA if selected. Instead of picking him, the Magic could have selected players like Danny Granger, David Lee, Brandon Bass, Ersan Ilyasova, Monta Ellis, NateRobinson… But they picked him because he is a very good player. He’s from Europe, and he was playing in the ACB by the time, and still is.
There’s no guarantee with European players. There’s a risk factor you have to consider. But NBA teams will keep drafting players from Europe because during the last years they are playing a lot, lot better. It’s worth the risk. You just have to take a look at Ricky…
I hope he’s playing with me a couple of years, with the behind-the-back passes, running the court… But I know that when the time comes, he’ll be ready for everything and he’ll do the right thing. Now he’s doing the same as the rest of the team… He’s thinking about the big picture: winning.
The coach has done a great job at scouting. Our defense is very good. We have very talented players, but some of them like Juan Carlos Navarro, maybe he has a mismatch in a game because he’s not very athletic. We have strategies to overcome it. Things like that. Last year I thought the team was the best I had played with. But with players like Navarro, Ricky… There’s a good chance I’ll change my opinion. I’ll wait until the season ends and then I’ll decide if this is the best team I’ve played for in my life.
LEBRON AND KOBE?
Read the article about the chance that LeBron James could end up playing with Kobe Bryant… That would be not fair at all! Two Rottweilers in the same team? You usually have one Rottweiler and a Chihuahua! Anyway, chemistry has a lot to do with it, so they still would have to win the championship. I don’t see it happening, but if it happens it would be the most amazing thing I’ve seen in basketball for a long time! The Lakers are such a good team now with Kobe and Pau and players like Artest, Bynum and Shannon Brown…
Finally, I want to tell Allen Iverson to keep his head up, to stay strong. I’ve heard he is in a really tough situation with his family. Family is everything. He has given a lot of joy to the city of Philadelphia. Philly is a tough city… If you don’t give it all, they will be on you in no time. Larry Brown is a coach that demands perfection, and Allen was up to the challenge. I hope they retire his jersey once he’s done playing basketball, and I’m sure he will be a Hall of Famer. He’s an example for the kids: a little brave man, so skilled, with a killer mentality as far as attacking the basket. A man with his size who played every night no matter how many bruises he had. Toughness. Focus.
Just got home after a hard practice. It was one of the first ones after losing for the first time in 26 games. We lost on a last-second shot against Valencia. It is the way it is. We didn’t play at the beginning of the game and those results can happen. It was a good shot for them. I realy didn’t agree with all the calls at the end of the game… But I kind of try to forget about it now. Things happen. It’s part of basketball.
Now we’re focused on the Euroleague’s Top 16. I remember last year when I played with Caja Laboral… We weren’t able to do what we needed to do. I got a lot of experience, though. We let Roma, Olympiakos beat us at home when we had a great team. Without those two wins, we didn’t have home-court advantage in the quarter finals. It really made a difference.
Playing at home means everything. The energy from the fans… Just look at the NBA Finals. In the last 10 years, only the ‘06 Heat and the ‘04 Pistons won the title without the home-court advantage. You know, the advantage depends on what team you’re playing for. Some teams have a great, great, great home-court advantage. The fans are wild, they are very hostile towards the other team. The fans can make the other teams nervous. All the drums, the chanting, the enviroment… Those things can make them a little nervous, make them speed up a little.
When you’re playing at home, all the noise you hear doesn’t matter because you know everybody is with you. And there’s only 12 players and the coaching staff against the whole gym. There’s a big difference when you know that in the back of your mind.
In the NBA, I’ve always liked Boston. A legendary stadium, great team, a defensive team and their fans. The way they’ve been playing the last two years, if they are healthy they can win it again. You know, when you’re at home you really feed off the crowd. You can hit one shot and then you get that rythm and you go from there.
TONI OF ILLINOIS
When somebody raises the question about who’s the best European player that has ever played in the NBA, I have to say somebody who I actually got to watch. I know that a lot of people will mention Drazen Petrovic and others, but I was a little young when they played. I would say Toni Kukoc. For me, he’s right up there. I’m from Illinois. Growing up in Rock Island, I can understand what he meant to the city of Chicago and what he meant to the Bulls organization. Kukoc was great. You talk about a guy who is 6-10, maybe taller, being able to handle the ball, shoot the ball, stretch the defense… And all that at a time where it wasn’t very common for European guys to come to the NBA and make a big impact. When Michael Jordan left, Kukoc was the man! People forget that he was the man. Scottie Pippen was like “This is my team, too,” but you know… It’s not. It’s Tony’s. He won three championships and played a key role on all of them.
Kukoc was a big key to the second threepeat. He made a lot of big shots. Also, to be able to stretch the D, take that pressure off Jordan. You had a guy like Toni in the screen-and-roll with MJ. MJ would penetrate or take the mid-range spot, where he loved to shoot and you help on him too much he had Kukoc wide open to hit the three-pointer.
Barcelona fans: I know he used to kill our team in the 80’s. I still love the guy.
WHITE HOUSE, COURT HOUSE
Two sides of basketball. The Lakers were in DC meeting President Barack Obama, and former Laker Javaris Crittenton was pleading guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge. Prosecutors agreed to drop a second misdemeanor, so at the end he got a good deal. He’s a young guy and he’s learned a lot. This issue might actually help his career out a lot. It could motivate him and get everything on track. Everybody makes mistakes. He did the right thing by telling the truth, and now he can focus on basketball and get his life back together. Sometimes when things happen to you when you’re young it motivates you for the rest of your career.
It’s been a busy week for me in Barcelona. Like in the NBA, we don’t take any breaks here for Christmas.
Had practice on Christmas Day… We had an important game against Real Madrid days later and we also practiced on New Year’s Day, so no rest for me. But it worked out perfect because we had two wins!
We’re on a roll right now. We have a good chemistry and we continue to build on that. My coach XaviPascual is doing a great job. We trust him, we go out and do the job he wants us to do. In this team, you have to sacrifice your minutes sometimes. All the great teams. They have to do it.
NBA CALL
I was very surprised to hear this week that the Knicks have inquired about my situation with FC Barcelona. Or maybe not so much. I go way back with the Knicks. On draft day, they traded for me. I had a great experience being there with Latrell Sprewell, Glen Rice, Chris Childs, Larry Johnson…
Maybe I was closer to Spree and Childs, although Johnson was like a big brother to me. I actually I had Christmas dinner with him and his family. That was a big learning experience thing for me. You know, I was in the NBA, I was alone and Larry Johnson helped me out. He actually bought me 20 suits because coach Jeff Van Gundy said I needed to wear suits at games. I wasn’t playing at the time. Coach said I was a rookie and I had to wait my turn. I had guys like Sprewell, who I spent time with playing PlayStation, playing Madden and NBA Live… Marcus Camby joined too.
I had a good time there. For them to inquire about me, it’s not the same as another team doing it. If another team does that, they don’t know me as well as the Knicks. Some of people at the front office that traded to get me, they’re still there. Of course I would have liked to get some playing time. I could never showcase my game, but you know, I understand that I was only 22 and Sprewell and Rice were playing in front of me. Those guys were making like $15 million a year. I just did my work everyday. I got to gym early, I left the gym late.
That year, although I was not playing, just watching those great players play, really helped my game. Playing with them at practice, I learned a lot. They were so talented, so smart. It was such a veteran team. The year before they got to the Finals and lost to the Spurs.
Knowing that they have expressed interest is a different feeling. If it was some other team, I wouldn’t really have any feelings about it. But it’s New York. And I never really got the chance to play there. Playing for a great college team at Cincinnati, being an All-American… And all of a sudden, I don’t play. You can’t understand that. It’s not that I couldn’t play. I just never got the chance. I got encouraging words: “Wait your turn, your time will come.”
Well, it has come. It didn’t come in the NBA, but it has come and I’m very happy where I am at right now. As far as the Knicks inquiring about me, I’m here in Spain playing for FC Barcelona and it’s my focus. Everything else is business. That’s why I have agents. Inquiring about me is one thing. Actually having me on their team… That’s not easy. But you never know.
MY TWO FAMILIES
I’m used to being without my family during Christmas. Actually I think it’s my fifth year in a row without them. My family will be here in Spain next month - first time in Europe!
Meanwhile, I have to say that the team is like a family. We had a team dinner the other day, which is nice. Players, managers, coaching staff… We had Secret Santa and we all had a great time with the presents we bought! I got one bottle of Moët & Chandon, which is a very nice present. I’m saving it for special occasions, though. That’s all I can say! I cannot tell which present I bought, but I’m positive the teammate who got it really liked it.
The fact that it’s Christmas time doesn’t matter when it comes to remembering my brother, murdered when I was young. It’s an everyday thing. I don’t have any sad feelings about that situation. Obviously I struggled with it when I was a kid, but I overcame that situation and it made me who I am. It shaped my life. There’s two ways to go when bad situations happen to you… You can go down or you can go up. It motivated me to do everything the right way. It motivated me to stay on the basketball court, staying in the classroom and do my studies.
When somebody is close to you, somebody who cares about you, plays basketball with you, it’s a difficult thing. My family is strong, they’ve been through a lot. We stuck together in that situation. Whatever I imagine, I can do it. That’s my thing. Wherever my career takes me - NBA, Spain, or somewhere else - I’ll continue to do it. Never had an ego about it. It’s not so much exactly about the ACB, the NBA, the Euroleague… It’s my League, it’s where I am at.
MY TAKE ON ARENAS
Everybody has an opinion on carrying a gun. For me, it’s a very sensitive subject. I mean, my brother was a victim of gun violence. But if people feel they need to carry a gun and they got a legal permit to carry one, then they should carry a gun. That said, bringing guns in a locker room… Come on.
Arenas made that decision. Now there could be consequences. It’s up to the grand jury to decide his fate.
About the gambling thing, well, I know very well that kind of game.. Back in NYC, it’s called In-Between. It’s a game where money goes away very, very fast. When guys played it on a two-hour flight, I liked to watch it, not playing it. It happens: you play, you lose, big debts, and then there’s guys that don’t want to pay, or they pay late.
Nobody knows what happened exactly. Only Arenas and Javaris Crittenton. This next week maybe we will know what really happened. I don’t like speculation because I’ve been in situations where people talked a lot about me. Last year, they speculated about this passport issue I had. At the end, none of the things they said in the newspapers were true. And that’s why Arenas said he’s gonna sue the New York Post. In the States, you cannot write bad things about people if you don’t have the facts. Here in Europe, people write things all the time, and people then think everything is true. I never had anything to do with the passport issue. You can’t write false information about people!
I’m feeling well after recovering from the flu. We’re back on top of the ACB standings and as I blog this, I’m waiting to play Zalgiris in the Euroleague.
When the weather changes at this time of the year, I tend to catch the flu. I always laugh with my momma every year about this: something happens. I get sick. But luckily we didn’t have very, very important games like the Euroleague’s Top 16.
I played a few minutes in my first game after the flu and my teammates did all the work. I was a spectator! Although we won by a lot of points, Blancos de Rueda Valladolid is a very competitive team at home. So you better respect every team. You always gotta play at your best in the ACB and the Euroleague.
By the way, it was an honor to be named MVP of the Month of the Euroleague in November. I saw this trophy given out to former teammates like Igor Rakocevic, Tiago Splitter… I’m pretty happy about that. I wish I had some bonus in my contract for getting MVP trophies! Seriously, the best of this month was the way it started. with a win on the road in Lithuania. My mentality was very good. I prepared very well for the game, with the mentality to attack and to maximize every second you’re on the floor.
I was recently interviewed by the Euroleague website and talked, among other things, about how I love the Euroleague. The rules are just great. They let you use your strength and you can use contact a lot more. There is not that much charging or flopping.
When they ask me if flopping in a Euro thing, and I laughed. It’s always been an Euro thing! We always joke around about how the Europeans do that. I joke about it with some of my European teammates all the time. Come on! Dennis Rodman was the king of flopping! When he played against Karl Malone he was always flopping, putting his face next to his elbow… Other people talk about players like Bill Laimbeer in the 80’s… Well, I understand Laimbeer. There was only one or two guys doing it. That was just part of their personality. Laimbeer, Rodman, I don’t think there’s ever been in the NBA any floppers bigger than those two guys. Vlade Divac? Well… OK now I’m laughing again.
Anyway, for me it’s only an excuse to joke on my Euro teammates. When I was in Greece, they put their body next to mine and then they fell like it was a charge. To me that’s not basketball.
Anyway, I don’t consider myself the most physical player in the Euroleague. I just try to play hard. It’s a contact sport. I like to bang a little bit, use my shoulders, elbows, everything.
Tough game the other day at Fuenlabrada. It’s always gonna be tough there. Last year, when I played with Baskonia, we lost. That team plays with so much energy at home. They fight till the end and they play particulary well at home.
Also, we beat my former team last week. It was a great game for us. Probably the best game so far. We are always asked how we feel when facing clubs you have played for. In my case, there’s no emotion involved. Just business, going out and play the game. Anyway, it was nice getting to see some of my ex teammates like Tiago Splitter, Mirza Teletovic, Fernando San Emeterio… I was looking forward to see them. I spent some time talking to assistant coach Ibon Navarro, who’s a very good friend of mine. Got the chance to talk to him for a few minutes. Just being in the same court and compete with all of those guys was great because I know how hard they work.
You know in Spain there’s El Clasico, the great soccer game between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. It’s a huge rivalry. I can’t say there’s a rivalry between Caja Laboral and Barcelona, but I can say we’ve played a lot lately. Last season I think we played 11 or 12 games! And I think we had beat them coming back to the Finals the year before eight times in a row. Then finally beat us one game and that’s when everything changed. It started a great rivalry. When I signed to play in Barcelona, I already knew the players so well because I scouted them so much.
ANYBODY WATCHING?
There’s been reports out there about low attendance in Euroleague games. I don’t think it’s worse than in previous. When we played in Zagreb, it was sold out. Then we played in Turkey against Ulker and they didn’t have a lot of fans. What I can tell you is that our fans have been great. Our gym is not as big as a lot of other gyms, but the supporters are fantastic. This season Barcelona started selling jerseys for the first team and I heard my jersey is sold out already! It’s a great deal to me, considering the players we have. Juan Carlos Navarro, Ricky Rubio… A lot of stars on our team!
Speaking of jerseys, I read a story that basically said that Michael Jordan doesn’t need LeBron’s support. He’s already Michael Jordan. Jordan is in another level. Everybody can wear the number 23. A lot of people who grew up in Illinois like me, we idolized Jordan. We were able to watch him on local TV every single day. I got the chance to see Chicago Bulls every day – games, highlights, interviews… I’m a guy who understands why people wear No. 23. If you grew up in Illinois, then you can understand why guys like Corey Maggette, Quentin Richardson, Dwyane Wade idolized him so much. It was all Jordan, all the time for them. So I think if somebody wants to wear No. 23, he should be able to wear it.
ON JENNINGS
Brandon Jennings had two good games last year against me in the Euroleague when I played with Baskonia. Actually, his two best games in the Euroleague were against us! Anyway, yeah, I watched the game. 55 points. European basketball, NBA basketball… Two different games. I think he scored 29 points in one quarter. In Europe, it’s highly unlikely you could have the chance to do that. He played one-on-one from the top of the key, screen and roll, shooting every time. That’s not gonna happen here. We can play zone defense, clog the lane. I don’t know what the scouting report was on Jennings, but I know it was wrong! He just played one-on-one from the top of the key and the big guy let him shoot. He didn’t show him respect, so he started getting that kind of confidence. And once you start making shots, you can penetrate to the basket, mid-range, three-pointers, everything.
This guy is great on screen and rolls. Left handed, so crafty with the ball… Now he’s going to get more attention and he can create more opportunities for other teammates. Now the big guy is gonna have to step out and help the guard on the screen and roll, so he will have the chance to find Andrew Bogut under the basket or find the guy on the weak side.
The main thing with Jennings is that he doesn’t play like a rookie. He’s more like a second-year player. Anytime you’ve spent your first year in Europe playing in the Euroleague, competing against some of the best players in the world, competing against men, you don’t feel like a rookie when you go to the NBA. You learn the team basketball, how to play the game. You spend a lot of time in the gym working on your shot, team defense, strategy. If you are a good player, you’ll be able to do the adjustment. It’s not easy to play in Europe.
NO AI IN NYC
So Allen Iverson is not going to New York finally. The Knicks will get it right soon. I got drafted in 2000, the year they went to the Finals and lost to San Antonio. Latrell Sprewell, Glen Rice, Allan Houston, Chris Childs… I know about the program. They had a great team in 1999 and ever since, it’s broken up a little bit. They have the city, they have the right coach, they just got to find the right players and be focused only on winning basketball games. That’s going to take some time, though. They’ve got the money, the cap space. And everybody wants to play in New York. It’s such a great media market. They’ll be back on top in two years. This is the biggest summer of all time in the NBA. There will be a lot of broken hearts when July comes. In Cleveland? in New York? In Miami?
They call Miami the Dade County, but now it’s Wade County. I don’t think he’s going too far.
I had a career-high 26 points in the Euroleague as my team FC Barcelona won in Istanbul against Fenerbahce Ulker. My last scoring record was in a game played in Istanbul too! Hey, maybe they get smart and sign me or something… Just joking. I like Istanbul, but right now nothing can beat my current status: playing basketball in a powerhouse and living in a city like Barcelona.
I feel good when I’m in Istanbul. I got friends there and I’m always looking to go over there. Every year I’ve been in the Euroleague I’ve played against this team. It’s a challenge to play against all these guys that are fresh off the NBA. Players like former Jazz Gordan Giricek - good player, good contract - and Tarence Kinsey, who played with the Cleveland Cavaliers last season. Two guys that play the three spot and competed against me. I’m a competitor so I was looking to take that challenge.
Real Prigioni
In the Spanish League front, we’ve started well although Real Madrid - coached by Ettore Messina - leads the standings. With the great coach they have and with Pablo Prigioni playing the point guard, they are gonna win a lot of games. And I don’t even mention other players like Jorge Garbajosa, Louis Bullock, Sergi Vidal, Darjus Lavrinovic… Pablo doesn’t have to shoot the ball to have a good valuation. To me, they have a world superstar in Prigioni. He’s done it in Europe, he’s done it with his National Team, leading Argentina to great success. They were my teammates in Vitoria last year and I’m happy that they are in Madrid.
Those two guys, with me and Will McDonald… Amazing. Four of the five starters, we all left the team who set the best record in the history of the ACB in the regular season. Money had nothing to do with it, that’s my personal opinion. I never had a negotiation with the club but now I’m 100 percent sure that I made the right decision to sign with Barcelona.
You can compare Pablo to a guy like Jason Kidd. He’s not as tall as Kidd, but both of them play for the assist, and Pablo has a better outside shot. Both are tough in defense, very tricky with the ball (behind-the-back passes and behind-the-head passes!) and they are great in screen-and-roll. When he played with Tiago Splitter, it was a like Euroleague version of Stockton and Malone. Tiago is a great player and the whole world needs to see him in the NBA. I hope in two years he go to the NBA and maybe he will replace Tim Duncan in a few years when he’s done playing.
Last weekend we played a tough game in Madrid against Estudiantes. I’ve been on small teams so I understand what it feels like to play against the team that won the championship the year before. I understand that kind of motivation. We suffered a couple of injuries - Juan Carlos Navarro got hurt - but we knew it was going to be a tough game with or without injuries. We did our job and got away with a W.
I learned a lot about Juan Carlos this season, about the way he plays. Navarro is very smart. He doesn’t rush anything. He scores his points in the flow of the offense, that’s why I have so much respect about him. Some players, they just go one-on -ive to score, but he is a complete player and in defense he’s been good. It’s great he’s with us instead of playing in the NBA.
One teammate that that will play there one day is Ricky Rubio.
I had never traveled with a rock star until now. To me, Ricky’s nickname is Rock Star. When I got drafted to New York, I played with Latrell Sprewell and I thought that was something. Everybody wanted a piece of Spree, everybody wanted an autograph, but there’s no comparison on the attention Ricky commands. It doesn’t matter where we’re at. Anywhere in Spain, in Europe… We can be in Turkey, everywhere. That’s why I call him the Rock Star, because I actually see people crying over him. I’ve never seen it! Girls crying! People want pictures, they come to the hotel to find him… It’s unbelievable. And he’s such a good kid though. He handles all these situations so well. His parents did a great job raising him because he’s such a humble and nice kid. He’s special.
Celts all the way
The Boston Celtics are going to win the NBA. Period. They play consistent defense. But they have to find that player who comes in and changes the game like James Posey did. Maybe they have it in Marquis Daniels, I don’t know. When they won the championship, Posey had to guard Kobe and he made open three-pointers too. He’s an intangible guy, like Sergi Vidal when I played in Vitoria. Posey did the same when he won the title with the Miami Heat. Playing D, rebounding, making open threes and guarding the best player. Guarding Kobe Bryant is difficult enough in one game. Being able to do that throughout the Finals was unbelievable. When he won the title against the Mavs, he guarded guys like Dirk Nowitzki. You know, Posey is 6-foot-7! He did the dirty job. Once some guy gets that role on a winning team, they are gonna be unstoppable. I know Posey personally. He’s a great guy and he deserved the contract he got with the Hornets.
It’s hard accepting your role sometimes. Take our team, Barcelona. We have so many guys who can score. Our coach Xavi Pascual has done a great job of keeping everybody unselfish. He creates a great environment for us to practice and play. This year I feel great everyday about going to practice. Last year was totally opposite: I didn’t.
It’s getting close to the start of training camp. I’m so excited!
Before that happens, I’m going to tell you a tale about my first few years in Europe. The tough times when I had to build my career. A lot of difficult experiences like, for example, not getting paid in time… I never got used to that. It was a culture shock to me. I had no clue that was the way in some clubs.
I got to Spain to play in Lugo with Breogan in 2005. That was pretty much the turning point in my career. My former agent George Bass told me, “OK, you start in a small team but if you play well then you’ll be where you want to be.” So I followed his advice, went to Lugo and had great numbers… And I had three consecutive non-payments!
Now it may sound funny, but it was tough back then. Three years in a row with the same problem? Enough was enough. So I left. I was about to left the dream of becoming a star in Europe. I told the team that the contract said that if I didn’t get paid in 21 days, I could leave the team. They were 22 days late, so I left.
I told them: “I don’t want your money. Just want to leave and I’m going back to Miami. I just want to leave. I’m not happy being around dishonest people because I’m a honest person. I have respect for myself.”
That was it. I went to Madrid, I bought my flight to Miami and thought about everything. Called Bass and he said “OK, then come home.”
But the next day, as I left the hotel and called a cab to go to the Barajas airport, I felt I had to finish my business. I swallowed my pride and decided to go back to the team. Didn’t matter if they were going to pay me or not. Not getting paid ain’t right. It’s my job. I do my job everyday to the fullest and I expect to get paid. But it didn’t matter anymore. I just wanted to finish my business.
So I flew back to Lugo and I went back to practice. We had a game against Granada the following day. I played well and we won the game. I took a lot of heat from the media for leaving the team. They said, “Oh, he only plays for money.”
Well, they were wrong about me. Now you understand who I am, and I wasn’t the player they portrayed me to be in 2005. The same people who said that now say I’m a winner and a leader. Go figure.
I’ve never talked about this situation before. People say a lot of things about me, but some people who saw me everyday said the opposite. My coaches in Lugo, the people who know about basketball… They supported me a lot. The fans too. Moncho Lopez, one of my coaches that year along with Moncho Fernandez, was later the Spanish National Team head coach and now he coaches the Portuguese National Team.
That season I averaged 20 ppg and 7 rpg. Still the media was coming at me with negative stuff. I got paid at last when the season ended. And then my agent started to receive calls from great European clubs.
Hi everybody!
Hello everybody!
Hi everybody!
Hi everybody!
Hi everybody!