The teams’ arrival at the Cologne headquarter was completed late on Tuesday evening. Efes got to the hotel for second, after Olimpia, then CSKA Moscow came and finally FC Barcelona. And then the structure was suddenly populated with people, polo shirts with team logos, players, staff members. The anti-Covid rules are tight. For example, the presence of more than 24 people at a time is not allowed even in the dining rooms, so teams had to split the attendance. The first official moment is the traditional photo session involving the four team captains. The common trait is not just the recognized seriousness, professionalism, and longevity of all four. Each of them is a product of their team’s country. Dogus Balbay is the captain of Efes, Nikita Kurbanov is the captain of CSKA Moscow, Pierre Oriola of FC Barcelona. Our Andrea Cinciarini takes his time to talk mostly with Balbay, maybe there is some position affinity, friendship born on the court, while guarding each other.
The team had its first meeting this morning. It took place at 11.30 in the hotel of course and was useful to break up an otherwise very long day. A nice interview by Sergio Rodriguez appears in the Spanish newspaper Marca: “The EuroLeague is a very tough competition, not comparable to others: you play 10 months to reach the playoffs where in a few days you have to move another step and then everything is possible during a single week-end. Personally, I have played the Final Four almost every year, except my first one, when I was at Estudiantes, and at the end of my second year at Real Madrid. Going to the Final Four is rightly celebrated as a win, but then you go play them and if you don’t win, you feel bad. Every time you play one Final Four, you are aware that it could be the last one so you try to live it to the fullest, because you don’t know if there will be another. But the best thing is to always deal with it naturally.” “I have seen many times – Kyle Hines said – the underdog team leaving from here with the trophy. They are special games, in the semifinals, in the final, anything can happen, you just have to be prepared “. “The guys have had an amazing season so far, our veterans have helped the young players to improve, and they are the ones who brought us here, we just travel with them,” says Coach Ettore Messina.
Before lunch, it’s time for more interviews. Gigi Datome and Malcolm Delaney submit themselves to a series of questions in a relaxed atmosphere in which one can easily wander. “Playing the Final Four with a team from my country is special, and it is also one of the reasons why I came here, that is to bring Milan back to the elite of European basketball – explains Gigi Datome – For me, playing these games is easy, in the sense that you are naturally super excited, super motivated. The difference is that the opponent is of a high level and has the same ambitions.” “You should play it like a normal regular season game, but the level of preparation, mentally, is higher, but I don’t have a huge experience,” says Malcolm Delaney. The Olimpia point guard also talked about his activity on social media: “As a kid I could not talk to my idols, now there are these platforms that give you the opportunity to interact with the fans, gives them the opportunity to approach me and be somehow friends. At the beginning of my career, I had fun with it, now I’m single, I don’t have the family with me, and I have time to have fun, reply to kids, it is important for me and for the club.”
Practice lasts about 90 minutes, CSKA Moscow took the floor right before Olimpia and Barcelona comes right after. The team worked intensely at both ends of the floor. After the huddle and the classic “Insieme” shouted in unison, the free throws close the session. Everyone has to go 2-for-2 shooting to both baskets. But as always it never ends so easily. There is always someone who works on shooting. Michael Roll, Jeff Brooks and Shavon Shields, for example, make cuts away from the basket to receive and shoot in one single motion. Zach LeDay works like every day on his three-point shooting, Malcolm Delaney works from different spots all around the perimeter, Kevin Punter on his three-pointers off the dribble to reproduce situations that might arise in the game. At 7.45 pm the Leverkusen arena is behind. It takes thirty minutes to get back to Cologne, jostling among traffic hours. “Day 2” is now behind.
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