By Alex Molina/ info@eurohoops.net
Marcelinho Huertas is undoubtedly one of the great legends of our basketball, but his love story with the BCL is even more special.
The point guard from La Laguna Tenerife, captain of the “aurinegro” team, spoke just hours before a new Final Four with Tenerife, a milestone that, although recurrent, is no less remarkable.
“We know how difficult it is to be here, you have to be there mentally. It’s difficult for us to be here, everyone wants to beat us, and we have to be there every night. We value everything we have achieved greatly, as a team, as a club, and for the island of Tenerife. We are proud of everything we have achieved these years and hopefully, we can extend our legacy with another title.”
At 42 years old, the point guard is the oldest but not the only veteran under Txus Vidorreta’s command, but age is not at odds with ambition.
“Of course, we joke about age, we are a team with a great sense of humor. We are the oldest team in the world. It’s very nice to have a group of teams with the same mentality, with things in common and day-to-day life is much better. The atmosphere is fantastic, we’ve been together for a long time. It’s a big and old family, we have many things in common and we know basketball. We take care of ourselves a lot and we are here because we deserve it, hopefully, we can make jokes next year too.”
Twenty years after his first European title, the Brazilian point guard returns precisely to the home of the club with which he achieved it: Asisa Joventut.
“I’m coming back here at Penya, where I started my international career, where I have many friends and incredible respect for this club, which opened the doors to the world for me. It would be an incredible award, a pavilion where I feel very loved.”
The “verdinegros” will watch “their” Final Four from home after being eliminated by AEK, making this Final Four more open than ever.
“In this type of format, there is no clear favorite. It has been seen in previous occasions that the host rarely wins. Pressure can weigh heavily. People here were very excited and Penya was having a great season. Now we are on equal terms and it will be a very open Final Four, with many details that can decide the tie. The team that is more focused will have a slight advantage.”
Txus Vidorreta also spoke out before Final Four
Txus Vidorreta also spoke in the press room, highlighting the great season his semifinal rival has had so far.
“Rytas Basket has done a great job, that’s why they are here. But we have also done a good job in the BCL, we have only lost three games. It’s important for us to know that they score a lot, but we also have offensive capacity. We know that Nymburk did a good job in defense, it wasn’t easy for Rytas to score in the playoff games. We have more experience, we are a more veteran team. Rokas Giedraitis told me that Rytas is a good team, they play very fast. In my opinion, they are very good in five-on-five, a good coach with young players who have been taught to play as a team. When they can run, they run, but they can also play in static. It’s no surprise, Harding, Gudaitis, Sargiunas… They are important players with a great impact. European players are the key to Rytas.”
The Basque coach highlighted a big difference compared to other Final Fours.
“We are in better condition than on Saturday, Jaime Fernández has been able to train and Fran Guerra has been able to work with the team. We are in the best condition of recent years: we have no casualties. That has never happened in previous years. In terms of play, a bit of a roller coaster, capable of having great games against great teams and leaving others. We’ll see what image we show, with the hope of showing our best version.”