BADALONA IS DIFFERENT

May 17, 2012

Thursday, January 28, 2010

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 experience, memories and good times make Badalona BREATHE basketball. In Badalona, kids don't go to school with a football jersey. Not at all! They wear the Verd i Negre jersey of our team. This is one of the secrets of why our fans truly identify with their players. All that forces us to commit to work harder and better, knowing that there are a lot of people behind us. To put it simply... Badalona is different.

If there is something characteristic about this team throughout the years is that it always features young, talented players. Joventut gives a lot of importance to its farm system. The fact that La Penya always has stars that came from elsewhere is, of course, undeniable: from Joe Galvin to Reggie Johnson, Corny Thompson, Elmer Bennett and now Clay Tucker. It also features, however, its very own homegrown superstars, proudly raised in the club. Are you looking for examples? The Jofresa brothers, the Margall brothers, Jordi Villacampa, Raul Lopez, Rudy Fernandez, Ricky Rubio and many, many others. Joventut invests a lot of money and time in its youth program, and seeing the caliber of the players that came out of it, it is obvious that the had work has paid off in all these years, with excellent results. Now that I am here, I have been able to see how young players behave at La Penya. No matter whom they play against, or whom they practice against, no matter which superstar you face, all Joventut youngsters are able to learn from it and become important players in the professional basketball world. There is a tough road in front of them, but if they are patient, they know they are in the right place to succeed.

As for the Last 16, we had our first game against Aris BSA in Badalona and managed to get a big win in a very difficult game. I believe that this game is the perfect example of what can happen in this phase. You cannot relax at any minute of any game, no matter what the scoreboard says, because you can pay a very high price for it. At some point during the second quarter we were leading by 19 points but ended up winning by just 2. Basketball is amazing like that! We are now getting ready for a tough Spanish League game, following by a big road showdown against Alba Berlin. Only one undefeated team will be left in our group after that game, and I hope it will be us! Alba beat Joventut in Badalona last season in a do-or-die battle to make it to the Euroleague Top 16. Well, it could be payback time for us! Having the chance to play at the O2 World in Berlin, where last season's Final Four was played, is also a plus. I heard great things about that arena!

See you soon, friends. Good luck!

POSTED BY

MARIO FERNANDEZ - BADALONA, SPAIN

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