Por Alex Molina / info@eurohoops.net
Barcelona got two veteran leaders from Virtus Bologna, in Toko Shengelia and Will Clyburn, raising a lot of eyebrows.
There was the matter of age, Virtus’ mediocre last season, and a feel of urgency for the Catalans to return to the Final Four.
Can Toko and Will deliver? Clyburn’s answer is a definite “yes” as he explained to his interview with Eurohoops just before the start of the season, during his adaptation period to a new environment in a club where the pressure is high and the goals are always lofty.
How have these first (and rainy) days been in Barcelona?
It has been great, very welcoming. It’s been refreshing. The management has been good, the coaching staff… Obviously, the players, we have a lot of vets on this team, so there is always a good environment here, a lot of good energy. Living-wise, family-wise, it has been a good adjustment for us; we are enjoying it.
You have been around the league for a long time now, so it means that you have played in Palau Blaugrana a lot of times. What memories do you have of your new home court?
Well, I don’t know how many wins I have got in this arena, very few! Always struggled playing here as an opponent; for some reason, I don’t know why. Hopefully, we can change the tides and it will be different now as a Barça player.
Barça comes off a rocky season, with no titles and a lot of injuries. What can you say to those who are already impatient with the team?
Don’t have tunnel vision. Don’t be all in when things are going well and out when things are going bad. That’s life; everyone who is experiencing life has good and bad times. I really can’t tell them how to feel, but it’s a new year, a new season. We are going day by day. If you are gonna have tunnel vision and only see the good and not be willing to go through the bad… that’s not how life works.
Despite everything, Barça was only two points away from reaching the Final Four. The team’s expectations and goals will be as high as always. How important was it for you, after a couple of years with Virtus, to get back on a team that will fight to win it all?
Very important, that’s what my decision came down to: being somewhere where I had a chance to win. They lost last year against Monaco in game 5… I just wanted to be a part of a winning situation, have those goals of getting to the Final Four, winning championships. We finished the Italian league as champions, but I still want more; that’s why I came here. We play this game to win, for championships and legacy. This was a reason I came here, a big club and a big team with aspirations of winning. We have some good pieces; we definitely give ourselves a chance if we play right, stay together, and fight through adversities.
There are a lot of people who are already worried about Barça’s roster age, saying that it’s too old for a season this long…
You can’t worry about what they say, to be honest. At the end of the day, you are out there playing, and they are watching. We could always switch places, and they could try to do the same thing we are doing… Everybody has their opinion, but at the end of the day, we are going to be on the floor playing. The management trusted us to go out there and play, and that’s what we are going to do.
You played with him in Moscow, played with him in Bologna, and now you will play with him in Barcelona. What can you tell us about Toko Shengelia?
Off the court, he is a great person, great guy, and great friend. It’s hard not to like Toko off the court. Period. He is exactly what you see, no fakeness. And on the court, you are getting a warrior. You can’t take that away from him; he is a competitor who wants to win. For him, winning is mandatory, and that’s what he wants to do while he is.
You also played with someone who is very loved in remembered here: Cory Higgins. Did you speak with him?
We had some conversations about it, but I have talked to Cory throughout the years when he was here; he never had anything bad to say about Barcelona. He loved it here; his family loved it. When we talked about me coming here, it was nothing but positive words.
Were you expecting a two-year offer from Barça at this point in your career?
Yoy really don’t know what you can expect during the summertime. You can only focus on finishing your season, recover… I knew someone was going to call. I didn’t know who it would be. I was glad I got that call, and we got this done. I don’t think I was expecting it, but I knew somebody could use my talents and what I bring to a team.
That’s exactly what I wanted to ask you: what are you going to bring to this team?
Hopefully, I can take some pressure and load off from the guys like Lapro and Kevin Punter, bringing different aspects to the game: get to the basket, shoot threes, post, make plays for others… Hopefully I can relieve some pressure off them and make sure the bigger defenders aren’t guarding KP trying to take him out of the game, and at the same time make him a better player aswell since he doesn’t have to do it all on his own, and that goes for any of the guards, who are being defender by some of the best defenders of the league.
You have been around the Euroleague for a long time now. Do you think the league has gotten better?
Yes, I wanna say that definitely there is a lot more talent, it’s getting more athletic. Euroleague is tough every year, no matter 16 teams, 18, or 20, it doesn’t really matter; it’s a competitive league. There are a lot of great teams that are very well coached; it’s always hard to get wins, especially on the road. It’s about who comes together the quickest, who fights through adversity, because there are going to be tough times for every team.
What would your individual goals be for this season?
Individual goals… I really don’t have any, to be honest. Show my worth, prove my worth… I am too far in my career to be chasing individual goals. I feel like I have done enough individually. Right now, I am just chasing championships, chasing legacy, and have my name stamped in the Euroleague as a winner. Individual goals? I have already done that.