SPURTS – BALZERS GAME 2
A VIEW FROM ITALY
Here again at 2 AM. I shouldn’t have done it, but finding out that Pop goes to practice and mentors the team made me think I could do it too.
More and more often, in Italy and around the world, we’re always waiting for a hero or heroine to solve every problem. Someone who will take care of everything and make us feel safe. Or rather, someone who lets us look to the future without the anxiety that life seems to enjoy instilling in us.
Maybe it’s the effect of the narrative in which, inevitably, there’s always an individual at the center of everything. Maybe it’s the way we study history, which always seems to be written by some great person.
All of this makes us forget that the world, including the world of basketball, rests on everyone’s shoulders and that it’s the collective effort of the team, the community, the nation, or humanity as a whole that keeps us going.
Tonight, our boys proved it to us, even though they had to drink the bitter pill of defeat.
Our hero, as had happened this season, couldn’t lead us, but the rest of the team responded “present!”
And while this can be expected in the regular season, it wasn’t so obvious in the playoffs.
That’s why, despite the defeat, I feel confident. I certainly can’t be cheerful, not that, especially because I’m falling asleep. However, I’m confident, yes, because this group demonstrates how collaboration, attitude, and the courage to take responsibility can overcome any obstacle.
Does this sound like empty rhetoric? Maybe, but basketball, like any team sport, is there to prove us otherwise, game after game.
Wasn’t it enough? Of course, it wasn’t enough. However, we mustn’t forget that we were facing the Blazers, who did the same, and in this, I think I can say that Splitter’s hand, forged in the school of Pop, is truly felt.
The Blazers, in fact, fought as hard as we did, and given Avdija’s struggles, they found other solutions, stepping up to the plate, fighting for the little things: a rebound, a steal, a helper. Because this was a game where every little thing counted in the narrative. Every ball had its own story and importance.
Portland had a great Henderson who kept them afloat in the face of adversity, but I don’t feel like saying the victory was solely thanks to him. I think of what Williams III did, of Holiday’s presence and determination, of Camara’s defense on Fox (and I really hope our fans don’t start with the usual criticism and understand how difficult it was for De’Aron to deal with the Belgian).
So, it’s only right to congratulate everyone, including the Frost Bank Center crowd, as usual die-hard and engaged as few others, and who are also part of the great Spurs team.
It’s 5:00 a.m. and in this corner of Italy it’s raining. The sun that had illuminated my garden isn’t there, but it doesn’t matter.
One day, perhaps as early as Friday, Castle won’t hesitate on the 3-point shot, Harper will start strong, already knowing what to expect, Mitch will have thought of something new (and, in any case, he’s already made a good adjustment by severely limiting Avdija). And our alien will be back on his team.
GO SPURS GO!!!
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