By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
The year 2015 was “magical” for Pau Ribas and after winning the gold medal in the EuroBasket with the Spanish national team, he aims to win every title with Barcelona.
After 41 years Real Madrid won every title they laid claim to and Barcelona fell into a… depression. Pau Ribas spent last season in Valencia, but he’s a Catalan and he now knows firsthand how much motivation last year has given this year’s Barcelona team in order to “respond.”
“Of course it’s an extra motivation to win as many titles as we can. This is our objective goal. Last year the team didn’t win a single title and so we started out this year with that in mind. We started with the Super Cup this year and even though we didn’t face Real Madrid, we won the title and that was good for us psychologically. Every year Barcelona and Real Madrid want to win all the titles and so when you you’re coming from a… bad year, you have a greater desire. We have made steps in this direction and I think that after our latest win over Real, we’re more confident,” the 28-year-old guard told Eurohoops.net, a player who’s increasingly taking on a bigger role in his team.
For the first time after many years, Barcelona didn’t finish at the top of their group in the regular period of the Euroleague, but found themselves in the “group of death” in the Top 16 and now have to make an even bigger effort to qualify and get the home advantage, as it has been happening consistently all these past years.
“I believe that the two teams at the top are going to lose several games. So, it’s important to win the home games. The more away games we win the higher we can finish. But we can’t be talking about a home advantage, because our goal is to qualify. Besides, we have to see the couplings in the playoffs and I’m sure that no one wants to face the teams in our group in the Top 16 in the quarterfinals.”
Are the Catalans, and Pau Ribas himself, ready for the challenge and for even better performances after the premiere with Olympiacos at the Peace and Friendship Stadium?
“We’ve reached the key point of the season. In the first phase we’re all trying to grab one of the top spots, but the most important thing for every team is to find their chemistry, to incorporate the young players and to create a unified whole. We now have to show what we are as a team, our talent and how hard we’ve worked all this time.”
Ribas was born in Barcelona but he managed to sign with Barcelona at 28 after he’d first shown his credentials in Badalona, Laboral and Valencia. He didn’t have a leading role from the start with the Blaugrana, but he gets better with every game and proves that he can become one of Barcelona’s trademark players for many years to come.
The emblematic player of the Blaugrana for almost 17 years, Juan Carlos Navarro, will soon retire. Does Pau Ribas think of himself as Barcelona’s next player-symbol?
“I try to earn an ever greater role in the team every day. Every day I receive the respect of my teammates. More and more each time, too. Of course, there’s no comparison there and I’m not trying to become like Juan Carlos. I’m trying to advance in my career in my own way. I have ambitions and I hope to fulfill them in Barcelona.”
Has his transfer to the Catalan team and winning the gold in France with the national team of Spain “marked” him, or else, has it given a new dimension to his career? “Of course the past summer was amazing for me. I signed with Barcelona and then I won the gold with Spain. It was very hard because we had several injuries, but at the crucial moment we showed character and won the title. We want to do the same with Barcelona. We made several changes to our roster and we want to prove that we’re one of the top European teams and go a long way.”