Hello again, everybody! This is Mario Fernandez, point guard of DKV Joventut. The first round of games in this year's Last 16 is already over and all teams in our group still have chances to advance. Everything is up for grabs, really, as Aris, Le Mans, Alba and my team have the possibility to make it to the Quarterfinals. Being strong at home is always considered the key to advance in such a short group stage as this one. Well... it is not happening in our group, and I give you some examples. Le Mans lost at home to Alba in Week 1, but bounced back with a road triumph against Aris in Thessaloniki, Greece. Then in Week 3, we managed to get an important win at Le Mans and Aris downed Alba in Berlin to stay alive in the Quarterfinals race. Moreover, all the winning margins have been quite narrow. No team has won a game by more than 8 points! Like I said in my last blog, this Last 16 group is crazy!

I would like to write about how streaks are seen in a team, not only the winning ones, but also the losing. When a team is on fire and the dynamic is good, everything works well and several wins in a row can accumulate. Everyone adds something valuable to the group and gives his best, and there's no kind of fear around the team. When you are on a winning streak, you feel you are able to beat any opponent, anytime, anywhere. No matter if you play at home or on the road, your team faces the game with maximum confidence, a product of all those consecutive wins. On the other hand, if you start losing one game after another, the situation is completely opposite. Pessimism fills most players' minds and you never seem to find the moment to start winning again. Everyone... more

Hello everybody! This is Mario Fernandez, playmaker for DKV Joventut. It is good to be back! Those that follow Eurocupbasketball.com regularly may remember me, as already blogged for the competition's official website last season, when I played for Gran Canaria. I joined Joventut this summer and by making it to the Last 16, I already went one step higher in the competition. Now, we all hope to go as far as possible! It seems like it just started yesterday but January 2010 is almost over and we are already facing the final stages of this great competition. We already left behind all the suffering of a really hard pre-season, getting know our new teammates and worked hard to get good vibrations as a team. It has been hard but I think we did a very good job so far. We are now reaching the final three or four months in all competitions. Everything is up for grabs and I really hope that we will have something to celebrate with our fans at the end of the season.

First and foremost, let me try to tell you what basketball means to the city of Badalona. I am just trying to tell you, because it is something you have to experience by yourself and it is difficult to express with words. Basketball and Badalona have been together throughout the decades, you cannot think of this city without having the sport on your mind. It has to be that way due to the club's historic background not only in Spain, but also in European club basketball. The team is nicknamed "La Penya" in the city because its original name was Penya Spirit of Badalona. Joventut has won a lot of important titles, including a Euroleague in 1994, two Korac Cups in the 1980s, as well as many Spanish League and Spanish Cup trophies. All that... more