Hear from Beqa Burjanadze of Herbalife Gran Canaria, who returned to play in the 7DAYS EuroCup this season after seven away, in his new EuroCupBasketball.com blog.
Beqa Burjanadze: 'The team is really motivated'
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6 mins read
Beqa Burjanadze of Herbalife Gran Canaria was born in Georgia and moved to Seville, Spain, in his early teens. He made his EuroCup debut in the 2011 semifinals and also played the 2012-13 season with Cajasol Sevilla, but did not return to the competition until this season. In that time, Burjanadze battled injuries and missed the 2017-18 EuroCup season with MoraBanc Andorra, but he bounced back and at age 26 is an experienced power forward ready to take Gran Canaria deep in the competition. Burjanadze will share his take on this season all the way from the Canary Islands through his new blog on EuroCupBasketball.com.
First of all, it is great to be back in the EuroCup. I last played it in 2013, when I was a kid. It is exciting to be back, mainly because I was supposed to play it with MoraBanc Andorra a few years ago, but I was injured for the entire season, so I couldn't be a part of it. I played five seconds in 2011, that was my debut, but we will talk about that later. The last time I played in the EuroCup was with Sevilla in 2013, coached by Aito Garcia Reneses. And I had not been back until now, so I am really looking forward to this season. We had a good start in the EuroCup and I hope we can advance to the Top 16 and keep playing at a good level after that.
So, my EuroCup debut was in 2011. I played 5 seconds in the EuroCup semifinal in which my team, Cajasol, beat Benetton Treviso and advanced to the championship game. It was probably the biggest win in European competition for the club and the city of Sevilla. It was historic and I am very proud to have been a part of it; it is still remembered by fans. It meant a lot to me, too. I was 17 years old and Coach Joan Plaza gave me the chance to play in a EuroCup semifinal. We lost against UNICS Kazan in the final. Marko Popovic was at his prime and Maciej Lampe also had a great game. The best two teams reached the final and we gave our best, but didn't win.
"We are playing with confidence."
We already won a couple of games on the road this season, in Patras and Bursa, and rank second in our group with a 3-1 record. We are going step by step, focused on both competitions, the EuroCup and the Liga Endesa, in which we are trying to bounce back after a slow start. But we are doing well in the EuroCup and playing with confidence. We will do everything we can to make it to the Top 16 and try to keep building in every practice, in every game, to be better and reach as high as possible.
I followed the EuroCup a lot while I was away. It is a very tough, very physical competition, and it only gets better every year. All the teams play with a lot of energy and it is a great competition. I like to play physical, but also very focused. Playing physical is great, but you have to keep your head cool at all times. What I learned during my career, with the great coaches that I had, is that you have to play hard but also stay focused on the game. If you combine both, you can help your team with whatever it needs.
It is also great for Gran Canaria to be back in the EuroCup. It reached the semifinals a couple of times and even went to the finals in 2015. It is a special competition for the club. We couldn't play it last season, but are back now and everyone on the team is motivated to play well and reach as high as possible. It would be great to return to the semifinals and even make it to the finals again, but we have to keep our feet on the ground. It is a long season and there is a long way to go. We are working hard every day to do that.
"There is a long way to go."
We play against Trento this week. Trento is undefeated and has the best defense in the EuroCup. I think it is a great opportunity for us, a great game to play. It is like an exam for us which will tell us where we stand in the EuroCup. They are great on defense and really organized on offense, so it is a challenge and we will give everything we can to try to protect our home court. We have to worry about playing our game, with good defense, rebounding and a lot of transitions. On defense, we must make them miss shots so that we can play our game. If they score a lot, it is difficult to play as fast as we can. We have to worry about that: limit them as much as we can with good defense, and that will give us the chance to play our way on offense.
I've had the luck to live in some of the best cities in Spain, such as Sevilla, San Sebastian and La Coruña. And now, it is great to live in Gran Canaria; the weather is great and it is always sunny. It is hot in here! My family and I are trying to enjoy every moment and every day we spend here. Sometimes I spend entire weeks away; when we play on the road in both the Spanish League and the EuroCup, we don't come back to the island. When we play EuroCup road games, we usually fly to Madrid or Barcelona, and then to the final destination. For instance, we had a long trip to Bursa, but ended up winning the game, so traveling is not an excuse.
And before I forget, the food is great - you have to try Gofio when you are here! Until the next time...