Barca Baby!!

Sights from Las Ramblas, the spot in Barcelona

Having been on air for the last month, staying up every Tuesday night until 6am, I really needed to recharge my batteries. A trip to Barcelona was the perfect remedy - a good way to see some hoops, experience good weather and eat in really nice Tapas restaurants!

The plan was to watch DKV Joventut as Andy Betts, Andrew Sullivan and Robert Archibald are all members of the squad clocking major minutes. But in recent weeks Betts has been sidelined due to injury. Archibald is recovering from another off-season knee surgery and is being rushed back due to Betts’ untimely sick note. Meanwhile Andrew Sullivan is currently playing a very undersized power forward position; hence not clocking the kind of minutes he has been accustomed to.

On my arrival DKV Joventut were on the road in their Euroleague match-up against Lottomatica Roma on Thursday night. They lost to the Italian side 71-69. My return flight was scheduled for Sunday morning, so I was unable to catch their ACB league encounter against Etosa Alicante; which they won by a comfortable 81-63 margin.

Having not seen the guys play I had to at least call them to see how they were getting on in Spain. Apart from the obvious injuries and lack of court time, the English cats seemed very upbeat and in good spirits. Their team are currently 2-2 in Euro play and 6-4 in their domestic league, so it’s not all bad news.

I was unable to hang with the guys; however we did manage a phone call. I did have time to catch-up with Ed Scott. Ed is now working for FIBA Spain and is based in Barcelona. We chilled at Starbucks on Las Ramblas and parlayed about world basketball, the UK side to be precise! We agreed this is where we would like to see things develop.

Ed and I kicked it for a couple of hours whilst I chugged on a Mocha Frappaccino. As my trip in Spain came to an end, it was time to hit the road and head back to the howling wind and rain of South London!

Now fully recharged and ready for a full week, I have the NBA match-up of the Knicks @ Bulls on Tuesday night to look forward to. Bulls are failing to live up to the hype as they sport a rather dismal 4-9 record, whilst my New York crew are just continuing on their downward spiral from last season. They are the proud owners of a 5-10 record, which is not good news for Coach and GM Isiah Thomas! It will be interesting to see how the soap opera in the Big Apple develops…

Andre Alleyne

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