Blogs

No better feeling!

Thu, 24 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Welcome back, basketball fans around the world. Once again, writing you all for the last time this Euroleague season, I am Kyle Hines, forward/center of the 2012 Euroleague champions, Olympiacos. Yes, you read that right! We did what many deemed unthinkable and impossible at the beginning of the season. We traveled to Istanbul, Turkey as the underdogs of the Final Four and left as THE CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!

Wow, this season has been truly an amazing journey. As many of you know, at the beginning of the season Olympiacos was far from being considered a favorite to win the Euroleague title. We were called too young and inexperienced. They said we lacked the star power and big-name players to be considered serious contenders, that if we reached the Top 16, it should be considered a big success. We used this as motivation throughout the Euroleague season to continue to defy the naysayers and advance to where nobody thought it was possible for us to go.

I've now watched the finals game against CSKA a few times since we have won the championship. Everybody I have talked to has said that they thought it was one of the best games that they have ever seen - and not only in basketball! We were able to somehow come back from 19 points down and get the win. That game basically shows what has made our team special through the entire season. Our team's character and resilience has been the key to our success this year.

It still hasn't quite sunk in that we are the Euroleague champions. It has always been a goal of mine ¬– as I'm sure it is for many other players in Europe ¬– to win the Euroleague. I just didn't necessary think it would happen so early in my career. Two years ago, I was playing in the second division of Italy, and now I'm a part of the best team in all of Europe... Wow, I still can't believe it!

I'm really happy that I had the opportunity to accomplish this goal with the guys on our team. I think one of the major reasons why we have been able to be so successful is because of the chemistry and relationships that we have been able to build with each other throughout the season. I can honestly say, I've never been on a team like this, where all 16 players, coaches and staff all enjoy being with each other both on and off the court. Even without winning the Euroleague championship, this has been the most enjoyable season I've had in my basketball life.

The Olympiacos fans have been amazing the entire season. When we returned to the airport, there was thousands and thousands of fans waiting to celebrate with us. They then followed us all the way back to our arena to celebrate even more, shutting down all the highways on the way. I was surprised at how many people were there celebrating. I've never seen anything like it before. That ride home from the airport is something that I will never forget. Even in Istanbul, our fans were amazing; it felt like we were playing a home game. The Olympiacos fans deserved this championship; it had been 15 years since they were last able to celebrate a title. I'm happy that we were the team that was able to bring the championship celebration back to Piraeus.

I want to say thank you to all the Turkish Airlines Euroleague fans around the world for reading all my blogs throughout the entire season and also for the continue support to you have shown to my teammates and me. We proved this season that it isn't important to have the biggest budget or the biggest stars in order to win. If you have a strong team desire and the will to fight and believe, then anything is possible. No longer can they call us too...

'No room for favorites'

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Hi everyone! I hope you are doing well… I am sure that you are looking forward for the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four tip off… We sure are! We are marching towards the end of our preparations for the semifinal against CSKA Moscow. We are all ready; Mike Batiste is back after recovering from his injury and we have been spending a lot of time at OAKA.

We have spent some time watching video, but we work a lot on the court too in order to prepare ourselves for the games to come in the best possible way. Our coaches have done everything to prepare us as far as scouting goes. We have a very difficult mission ahead, but in a Euroleague semifinal there is no room for favorites.

CSKA has a full roster. Its road through this Euroleague season was steady and we know that we have to do our best in order to claim a positive result. It’s a tough mission for sure, but we are optimistic. We believe in our team and our potential and we’ll do the best we can to get to the final.

We have the chance to defend our title and we want to defend our title. We have a lot of players that have been to at least one Final Four in the past, so we know what we have to do. But we are not the only team out of the four with experienced players. CSKA has players who know well what the Final Four means and the same goes for Barcelona and Olympiacos. I believe that we can handle this situation and that we can react to circumstances during the game. Our coaches made the game plan and we will follow it the best way possible.

I believe that this year we are looked upon differently than other years, since nobody has us pinned us as favorites. Last year after ruling out Barcelona, we were automatically pronounced as the favorites to win at the Final Four. Even in Berlin for many people we were the favorites. This year the situation is not the same. But all this is just extra motivation for us and we hope that we’ll be able to defend our title. I think that those who believe in us most are our fans. They have believed in us from day one, which we knew to be true and could see since they bought tickets for the Final Four early in the season. They want more titles, they want to celebrate again, they believe in the team. That’s something this team has earned through the years; the fans follow us everywhere and stand by this team through good and bad days. We hope to make them happy once more in Turkey…

So… I hope to see you there… Till then, take care of yourselves and your loved ones…

Comfortable as underdogs

Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Welcome Back to all the Turkish Airlines Euroleague and basketball fans around the world. Once again, I am Kyle Hines, forward/center for Olympiacos , writing you from beautiful Athens, Greece. After impatiently waiting for the past 30 days, it is finally………FINAL FOUR TIME!!!!!!! After all the hard and long practices and tough games that have followed us throughout this Euroleague season, it is finally time for my teammates and I travel to Istanbul, Turkey to compete for the Euroleague title.

When I last wrote on this blog, we had defeated Montepaschi Siena in the Euroleague playoffs to clinch a trip to the Euroleague Final Four. Since then we had almost one month to prepare to go to Istanbul. The first step in our team's preparation for the Final Four was the Greek League playoffs. We played both the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of those playoffs. Even though we were clearly the favorites in both of those series, we wanted to use those games to help us to become better prepared for our matchup against Barcelona in the semifinal of the Final Four.

Barcelona has been the top team throughout this Euroleague season. They have one of the most experienced groups in all of the Euroleague and their core players have been together for many years. They have one of the best players in Euroleague, Juan Carlos Navarro, and a very strong and deep frontcourt. Coming into the game, they will be considered the favorites by many people, but to our team that doesn't mean anything. We are comfortable playing the role of underdogs and we all know that anything is possible one game.

In Athens, we weren't the only people counting down the days until the start of the Final Four. All the Olympiacos fans are maybe more excited than us. It seems like every day in Athens, no matter where I go, I meet fans who are excited to tell me how much they are looking forward to the games in Istanbul. Judging from the fans' excitement here, it should be a great atmosphere at all the games. Just like us, the fans have been waiting for the opportunity to see our team compete for a Euroleague title.

Now finally, the time is here. This is what we all have been waiting for since the beginning of the season………The Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four…………….As I said in my last blog, my teammates and I are looking to make this trip to Istanbul a memorable experience. As long as we continue with the same energy and effort we have shown all season, I'm confident that we will accomplish our Euroleague goals. See you all in Istanbul!!!!!!!

Time to get fresh!

Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Ok, so the brass over at Euroleague.net have asked me to write a little checkup blog for you guys and I told them I would be happy to oblige. I obviously can't tell y'all about the three new players we have signed for the Final Four, or the full-court triangle-and-two defense we plan on implementing throughout the weekend, but I should be able to give you some other insight into what has been going on over in Barcelona these last couple days.

Yes, the preparation for Olympiacos is a work in progress. Our coaches have done a great job in managing the practices the last couple weeks so we can prepare for both the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four and the Liga Endesa domestic games (double-bonus for sponsor shout-outs!). And while we already have a pretty good understanding of the very good Olympiacos team we will face on Friday, we still have several days of practice to try and become even more prepared. The supremely talented Xavi Montolio has been tasked with organizing and managing the barrage of family and friend ticket requests, figuring out team and family transportation to and from Istanbul, the buses, the hotels, and the obviously large demand for CJ Wallace memorabilia. His job is not easy, but as I expected, so far it appears that everything is operating smooth and sound.

Juan Carlos Navarro, Fran Vazquez, Chuck Eidson, Joe Ingles and Victor Sada: What do these solid individuals have in common? Think long and hard. The answer is they all have recently had their hair cut. And yes, CJ Wallace will be joining this elite group of players tomorrow. My hair can no longer be controlled. There is a salon-type establishment next to my apartment building and they have been informed to warm up their scissors, clippers, various highlighting creams, and also that machine that heats your head up. It's time to get fresh. Hopefully my court vision will improve, but unfortunately, I will most likely lose some of the effectiveness of my head/hair pump fake.

There are many other important things other than my hair cut, but they are all top secret. Our whole team is excited to come out to Istanbul this week and see all the other participants and great fans that will be involved. Four monster teams and only one winner. You guys know who my prediction is. FC Barcelona Regal.

Hopefully I will write one more blog after the conclusion of this weekend, but for those of you that skipped over all the above writing to get to my pop culture suggestions on how to fit in, here's an abbreviated version for the sake of tradition.

Song to Download: This was tough because I have two tunes that I like right now. One is "Payphone" by Maroon 5, and the other is "Balada (Ao Vivo)" by Gusttavo Lima. By now everyone has heard "Ai Se Eu Te Pego" and learned the dance. I don't know if this song has a dance, but it's super legit and should be played on high volume. Regardless, I would download both.

Person to follow on Twitter: @urybonsoms our team occasionally gives him a hard time, but he is a legendary Media Guy, a master behind the barbecue grill, and actually throws a decent spiral with an American football.

See you guys in Istanbul! Fly safe and cheer hard!

Som-hi Barça!!!!