May 20, 2012
Friday, April 16, 2010
Ready to go!
Adam Chubb - Alba BerlinWell, fans, the crowning of Eurocup champion is just a couple days away now, a couple days in which we can all expect some really exciting basketball in Vitoria, Spain, where we landed on Thursday. Of course, none of us on Alba is thinking beyond Saturday, because we have our work cut out for us against Bilbao in the semifinal. In order to get the trophy, you have to win on Saturday first. Semifinals day in a back-to-back tournament like this is always fun. There's a lot of hype and energy for that first game. Everyone is fresh and the adrenaline is pumping. It's going to be exciting for sure. Everybody asks what we'll have to do against Bilbao, but the truth is that a lot of players don't concentrate much on another team's situation. Personally, I like to focus on what we have together and what we do, rather than to compare and contrast ourselves with other teams. We're a team that has played together a couple years, and we want to put that glue and confidence to use on the court.

Our glue was looking a little unstuck earlier in the week, when there were a lot of unresolved injuries on our roster, but I am happy to report that we all made the trip. So even if there are a couple doubts about who is 100-percent, we are together and we know that whether on the court or from the bench, we can deliver a great team effort. The truth is, I think motivation is like medicine in these situations. In big games like this, it's all about coming focused and mentally ready, even more than knowing everything about the other team. That's where motivation comes in. You feel it in practice, since everyone knows what we're working for and what a big opportunity it is. The opportunity alone helps you focus, but it's also important come game-time to remain calm, not get overexcited and not do crazy stuff your team is not used to doing. I think as a team we're way past those mistakes. We've won big games on the road to get here. That's the biggest thing: we know how to win.

Of course, as everyone knows, Bilbao is not far from Vitoria, site of the Eurocup Finals, so the fact that our opponent will have a lot of fans at our semifinal game is going to be an added thing we're going to have to deal with. It's just like going to another team's home court, only it happens to be the finals round. But like I said, we have confidence that we can win on the road. To get through the Last 16, we played and beat DKV Joventut away in Badalona. Then, in the quarterfinals, we were down 20 against Hapoel in Jerusalem and we were able to cut it close enough to win by more in the second game. To me, Jerusalem was one of the loudest places I've been in a long time: small gym, a lot of people, fans on top of you. That was loud, but like I said, we were able to overcome it. For me, personally, the more fans the better. There's a lot to be said for having so many people jacked up for a game in the same place, even if they're not your supporters. It creates a little more energy, gets loud and helps you focus more. So the numbers of Bilbao fans won't intimidate us. These are the fun games, and I am pumped up!
POSTED BY
ADAM CHUBB - VITORIA-GASTEIZ, SPAIN
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ADAM CHUBB
ALBA BERLIN

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