See you in Turin!

May 26, 2012

Monday, March 16, 2009

See you in Turin!

Hello, Eurocup fans! My name is Renaldas Seibutis but friends and teammates call me Ronnie. I am 23, play for iurbentia Bilbao Basket and came from a city named Palanga in Lithuania. I have played professional basketball for almost nine years and this is my first Eurocup Final Eight, so I am very excited about it. I have been a big basketball fan since I was a kid. Basketball really is a big part of my life, and has been for a long time. I woke up dreaming about basketball every day, probably because I went to sleep thinking about it every night, too. One of my dreams was to win European titles and now I have the chance to do that. Going to the Final Eight with iurbentia Bilbao Basket is a big thing for me, but our work has just started. We have achieved a lot already this season but we want to do even better. This is a good feeling and obviously, when you love basketball the way I do, you see this as a blessing.

We finished the Last 16 with a big win against Lietuvos Rytas to finish first and face Zadar in the Eurocup quarterfinals. It was not the first time that I faced a Lithuanian team, but every time it happens, it is very special. You try to think that it is a regular game but actually it is not. It was a good feeling to play against and beat Lietuvos Rytas, because it was an important win for all of us. Moreover, we finished first in our Last 16 group and reached the Final Eight as a group champion, which is always important. It was a good experience for me but now it is in the past and our work is not finished yet. We know we can do even better and hope to show that in Turin.

We face Zadar in the quarterfinals and one of our players, Marko Banic, was born in there and played for that team for many years. He is very professional and talented, in my opinion one of the best players in the Eurocup this season, so I don't think that facing Zadar will affect him at all. Maybe he will be affected before the game, but once it starts, he will take the game as a regular one. It is the Eurocup quarterfinals, after all, so Marko is going to help us as much as he can. Marko is experienced, so playing against his old team will not be a problem. I really believe in my teammates and we have to get ready for the big game against Zadar!

We have become a difficult team to play against because everybody at Bilbao Basket feels important. It is not the kind of team that has two superstars and a couple of good players. For that reason, I think that we are very unpredictable as a team, meaning that any player can do some damage at any time. This is one of our strengths. A player can stand out one day and a different one can do it in the following game. It is tough for opponents to know how to play against us, because any player can step up big. There is a Lithuanian saying that being a real team is the biggest strength in basketball. For all of us, team goes first. We all go in the same direction, which is winning basketball games. I hope it will stay like this and that we can celebrate in the end, but we have a lot of work to do.

I have to say that Bilbao Basket is also a great group of friends, guaranteed, 100 percent. We are like a family - and a very big one, because I have to include our fans, who are unbelievable. I really feel good here, like I am in the right spot. I am very happy that I had the chance to be with this organization. The atmosphere could not be better and the team is full of good people, great individuals with the right mentality to become a great team and with great character, too. Being here means a lot for me.

Even when we are a Spanish team - and Spanish clubs always do well in the Eurocup -, we were also newcomers in European club competition. We always believed in ourselves, going out on-court to win every game since the start of the competition. We tried to gave 100 percet all the time and this is what we did. The fans helped us a lot and we all are very thankful for their support. It is a great thing to have fans like this, with thousands of them coming to see us at each and every home game. Until now, when I have been giving interviews, I always took the opportunity to say that Bilbao fans are great. Now that I have the chance to do this blog, I want to repeat it one more time. Our fans even travel to see us on the road and that helps us a lot, too. I can promise to all Bilbao fans who are planning to see us in the Final Eight that we will do our best to make them happy and rewrite history. Thanks for your support!

Like I said, this is my first time in such a big event like the Eurocup Final Eight is. I am very excited to go to Turin and see what happens. We still have some time to prepare for the big game against Zadar, but I just can't wait to get there to Turin and step on court. Eight very good teams will be there and anything can happen, so it would be an exciting weekend for any basketball fan. It will be a good show and I hope everybody will enjoy. See you in Turin!

POSTED BY

RENALDAS SEIBUTIS - BILBAO, SPAIN