BLAKNEY VIDEO

Well, the Eurocup Finals are finally here. I'm not counting the days anymore, but the hours. It won't be long before we're on the court in Vitoria for our semifinal against Power Electronics Valencia. Before I talk about the game, I would like to mention that this is a big moment for many of us who have been in this sport a long time and always kept working for an opportunity like we have this weekend to play against the best and try to lift a major trophy. In my own case, my pro career started far from all this, in the Dominican Republic. I thought when I first got there it was like a paid vacation, but I learned quick. It was so hot, and there was no air-conditioning in the gyms, so before the season even started I lost six or seven kilos! Then the games started, and it was run and gun all the time, people in the crowds getting rowdy, a hectic atmosphere, neighborhoods against neighborhoods. Come to think of it, that was a lot... more

Greetings from Athens. I'm Rod Blakney, point guard for Panellinios BC, and if you don't know our team so much, that's OK, I understand. Some people say we're the surprise among the four Eurocup Finals teams, and that's OK, too. You can sort of say we are the surprise, because of us being new at this level in European competition. But I can tell you that we aren't surprised to be going to Vitoria this weekend. From the beginning of the season, even though we started outside the Eurocup and had to play our way in through qualifying rounds, this has been one of our goals. The idea was simple: to compete and do well in any competition we play, to go out on the floor as challengers, home or away. We have done just that, and I had an idea we could be successful. When we got together early on, I knew we had a good team. Usually, when you join a new team, you don't know how well everyone will fit in and jell. But things went surprisingly well from the start with Panellinios. Everyone took to their roles and did well. After that, winning was something we knew we could do together. Other people may be surprised by our success so far, but we're not.

Even if people around Europe don't know us so well, I am sure they know that any Greek team knows how to compete. Greek teams definitely are known for bringing a lot of toughness and basketball knowledge to the court. They play the right way. I experienced that last year when I was on Turk Telekom and playing against Panellinios. There was a big difference in budget between the two teams, in favor of Turk Telekom, but the budget doesn't play the game of basketball. We had our hands full against Panellinios in both games we played. I knew it would be... more