Relaxed and confident

May 17, 2012

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

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 that way, too, because I have played in Greece every season but two since I came to Europe in 2001. My first experiences were with good teams here and that's why I keep coming back. The people respect me and I respect the people. Plus, it's a great country to be in. It's like a home away from home for me now. I learned a lot along the way about the basketball here. I think teams here are well coached and well prepared, because of playing against tough competitors in the Greek League all the time, for anything they find on courts around Europe.

Speaking of well coached, I have to give a shout to our coach, Ilias Zouros. He was named Eurocup Coach of the Year last week, and I thought it was a great accomplishment for him. He was modest about it, came to us and said: "It was you guys who got this, I wouldn't have won it without you". But I say hats off to him. He's one of the hardest-working coaches I have ever played for. And he's always thinking basketball, 24 hours a day. For the point guards on the team, it does feel good to see him get the award, though. We're an extension of the coach on the floor. I am the starter and Georgios Kalaitzis comes in for me, or sometimes we play together. Coach Zouros has confidence in the guards and we have confidence in coach's game plan and try to execute it on the floor. We're another version of him out there when we're playing.

The big date is just a few days away. A lot of us will be playing for our first trophy at this level, and behind that is the motivation to reach the Euroleague by winning it. I plan to arrive in Vitoria relaxed and confident. It's 80 minutes to become champion, but in the end, it's basketball. You've got to play well, and to do that, you need to be poised and confident in your abilities. I always believed in something my college coach told me: Great players play, and they have supreme confidence when they step on the court. As point guard and one of the team leaders, that's what I will try to relate to my teammates. It's a bigger stage, but in the end, it's just basketball.

POSTED BY

ROD BLAKNEY - ATHENS, GREECE

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