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Focused on the Final Eight!
 So the 2008-2009 basketball season is winding down and the summer is drawing near. Spring has decided to join us, the sun is shining bright, CJ's cargo shorts are coming out to play, and the bravest of the girls out there are donning their shorts and skirts. It's a great time of the year. I've got my friends from Princeton planning the annual summer Vegas trip, also known as GDOI 2K9. Then my friends from Atlanta have a group e-mail chain; known as the SERV, offering me daily insights into Atlanta golf weather, weekend bar domination, and where I can locate the best looking bikini-clad women on the internet. One would think that my focus would be tested. Yes, one would think.
But part of being a professional basketball player is having the ability to juggle the intensity and hard work of practices and games with a need to relax and recharge the body. Yin and Yang, right? For me, the springtime is the best of both worlds. Here we are, a week from the Final Eight of the Eurocup; and here we are, the sun is peeking out from behind the clouds. As an athlete and a professional, I have the opportunity this weekend to compete against some of the best players and teams from around Europe. As a young adult and inhabitant of Treviso, I have a chance to take in a little sunshine (I need a tan desperately) and peep the springtime dress of the Italian female population. It's a good time of year, right?
Right. And though I am joking a little bit about the potential distractions out there, I think the best basketball players are the ones who are able to leave all the "non-basketball" stuff outside of the gym. When you walk into practice each day, you have several hours in the morning and evening where you have an opportunity to make yourself a better player. The professional basketball life allows more than enough time away from the court, so for the time you are there, staying focused and working hard shouldn't be too much to ask. I think I work as hard as anyone (in my humble opinion), but I won't pretend that I'm a saint (in the basketball sense.) Hey, everyone makes mistakes.
And for the very few times when CJ Wallace's brain isn't right where it needs to be, a five-hundred Euro fine here (kicking a ball because our team lost a practice game) or a shouted "CJ!" surrounded by Serbian curse words there (various situations) goes a long way towards correcting my mental state. The recently-crowned Eurocup Coach of the Year is more than willing to help me resist any deviations from on-court focus. Of that I am certainly appreciative, but I and the rest of the team are still waiting to be treated to a nice dinner for helping someone win that award…(cough!)*
But alas, the Final Eight has finally arrived! These are the types of games we work so hard in practice to be ready for. Eight teams from all over Europe will convene in Torino this weekend for what certainly will be a very competitive tournament. The winner will need talent, execution, depth, focus - and probably a little luck, too. I thought about breaking the games down and making my predictions for how the tournament would proceed, but then I received an e-mail from ESPN telling me that I was last in the NCAA pool with a bunch of my friends from home who haven't played basketball in maybe one full decade. Due to this alarming lack of credibility in regard to choosing the winners of games, I threw this potential blog idea out of the blog window. However, I will talk briefly about our first opponent, Lietuvos Rytas.
Fortunately for me, I have had the pleasure of playing with at least one Lithuanian dude, as well as having had two years with a Lithuanian coach (a former coach of Lietuvos Rytas, actually), in each of my previous seasons. They were all great guys, top to bottom; and all very tough, hard-nosed, but skilled players. It's always difficult to play against a team with these types of players, and throw Eurocup MVP Chuck Eidson into the mix, and it's not difficult to see why these guys made the Final Eight. So where can we find an advantage? How can I use my Lithuanian experiences to tip the scales in our favor? Well because of my Lithuanian connection, I have picked up a variety of native phrases and sayings that will surely cause confusion and distraction should the game become a free throw battle down the stretch. If you see a confused look on the free throw shooter's face before he steps to the line, you will know that CJ Wallace has just asked him "What time is it?" or "Do you know if lunch is ready?" in Lithuanian with a southern drawl. You can't expect a player to make two free throws dealing with that kind of bewilderment.
As for the other games, all the teams look good from what I have seen. In particular, I think the Russian teams look strong, and I could definitely see one of them making it to the final. Against who you ask? Duh. Benetton Treviso. I am obviously hoping for us to win the Final Eight, and I have told you a little bit about what it would take to win it, but maybe a better question is why I want to win it? Some of the possibilities…
Is it for fame? The personal/team satisfaction of winning the Eurocup title?
No. But I will be very satisfied should it happen.
Is it for the bonus money and automatic spot in next year's Euroleague?
No. But it could make the aforementioned Vegas trip more exciting.
Is it so THAT gorgeous girls throughout Europe will come up and say: "Hey, aren't you CJ Wallace, power forward for Benetton Treviso, winner of the 2008-2009 Eurocup?"
No...
Is it so Coach Mahmuti will give us two days off?
No. I don't think that is possible.
The reason, my friends, is simple. It's because there is a chair in our weight room that I get yelled at for sitting in sometimes by wily old European veterans (Nicevic, Soragna, Bulleri, etc.) because they claim you can only sit there if you have won a championship. They refuse to accept the validity of my Ivy League titles from college, and thus, in order to not be bothered while I sit in this comfortable chair (the leg extension machine), we, Benetton Treviso, are just going to have to win the Eurocup Final Eight championship. Now you know.
Quick Mario Kart update: I regained my title recently and Roberto Rullo has taken the MK Rising Star Trophy from Andrea Renzi as the best young Mario Kart player on our team. Andrea is a determined competitor though, and I know he will be practicing for hours at home to get back on the winning track.
Alright guys and girls, the end has come. I know we are all sad that the blogging must end. I definitely am. It's been a good ride, we've had some ups and downs, but remember, in the words of my main man Alfred Lord Tennyson: "'Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all." Emotional stuff, I know. Seriously, it has been a pleasure blogging for the Eurocup fans over the past couple of months. I want to also offer my respect and praise for the other bloggers, because this blog stuff is certainly not easy. Hopefully everyone had a good time, and hopefully I will see a lot of you in Torino. You know who to cheer for...Forza Treviso!
*Coach Mahmuti brought the team some nice snacks and drinks and thanked us a couple days after I originally wrote this. But….you had to read the whole blog to find that out…
CJ Wallace, on the road to Torino!
POSTED BY
CJ WALLACE - TREVISO, ITALY
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