By Antonis Stroggylakis/ astroggylakis@eurohoops.net
Valencia has proven almost from the start of the season that it’s a force; right now, it can be much more.
Sitting comfortably in the second spot of the EuroLeague standings together with Barcelona and having an 11-5 record after beating both Panathinaikos and Olympiacos on the road, the Spanish team can dream of much more.
Still, this doesn’t change the outlook of Valencia and specifically of Darius Thompson, who re-emerges as one of the top EuroLeague guards after returning to Spain from Efes and Turkey.
“I mean, a lot of people counted us out from the beginning, so we kind of just block out all the noise and take it one game at a time and see what we can do to come out here”, Thompson explained to Eurohoops, “win two games in Greece is tough, not an easy thing to do, so I’m proud of the team for doing this”.
Among those who counted Valencia out was also Eurohoops, which had them just second to last on the pre-season Power Rankings, one of the not-so-proudest moments of predictions.
Thompson doesn’t hold a grudge; still, he loves proving it wrong: “In preseason rankings, they had us, I think, last place. So you see things like this, and it’s like, OK, now they didn’t have any hope, no belief in us. Let’s just prove everybody wrong, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re just taking one game at a time. We never get too high or too low and just kind of enjoy the moment.”
Speaking specifically about the Eurohoops ranking, Thompson was almost understanding about the line of thinking, even if his job is to do much better and he is currently doing much, much better: “We didn’t speak about it, but I mean, yeah, you see it at the beginning of the year just to see like what they think. It’s a special EuroLeague season with 20 teams, new teams coming in, so just to see what they think. A lot of our team is inexperienced in the EuroLeague, so I can understand in a way, but it’s like, OK, we just gotta prove you wrong.”
On a personal level, Thompson admits that the style of Valencia and Spain fits him better, and that’s the difference compared to Efes, where he signed a big contract and ultimately was let go: “It’s just me playing more in a style that fits me. That’s really the only thing I can say about that.”
That’s why parting ways with Efes was the right decision for both parties: “Yeah, I think it was mutual. Both parties kind of understood it wasn’t working for me. I kind of wanted a new situation. I’m sure they wanted the same thing, so it’s something that benefited both parties.”
And with everything already in place, getting a headstart in the season with an 11-5 record doesn’t change much either for Thompson or for Valencia.
Asked what this record says about the ceiling of the team, Thompson was blunt: “Nothing. We just prepare for the next game in ACB or EuroLeague and take it, like I said, one game at a time. Don’t get too high. Don’t get too low.”