Fotbalul A Fost Totul

Povestea mea in baschet a inceput ca orice alt copil nascut in Europa.

Jucand fotbal.

Aproape toti copiii incep prin a jucat fotbal inca de la o varsta foarte frageda.

Soccer is the predominant sport in Romania. Every kid has a soccer ball at their house. If you do not have a ball, a plastic bottle will do.

No goal with posts to shoot at? No problem. Two big stones will do.

I was crazy about soccer. My classmates as well.

Cat de nebuni?

Well, we were supposed to start school at 8:00 am. So what we decided to do was that we would sacrifice half an hour of our sleep, and meet at 7:30 am on the high schools’ soccer field and played until we started the first class.

Dar asta nu e totul.

Intre ore aveam o pauza de 10 minute si pauza mare de 20 de minute.

Dar in loc sa ne relaxam, noi SPRINTAM spre terenul de fotbal sa nu cumva sa pierdem o secunda din a juca fotbal.

Cand se terminau orele, stateam din nou sa jucam fotbal!

In timpul weekend-ului, mergeam la Ictar-Budint sa joc fotbal cu prietenii mei din copilarie.

Daca iei in calcul regula celor 10.000 de ore, atunci ar fi trebuit sa fiu mai bun decat Messi la varsta de 14 ani. Atat de mult fotbal jucam. Am fost si in probe la echipa juniorii a lui Poli Timisoara.

Ce e Baschetul?

Nu m-am gandit niciodata la baschet.

Inainte sa aleg baschetul, am incercat tenis, handbal, judo...

Da, iti poti imagina un judocan profesionist de 2m si 13cm?

Asa e, nici eu.

Tatal meu, canotor profesionist, voia ca eu sa urmez aceeasi cariera.

De asemenea consideram si volei, inot, dar niciodata baschet!

Devina a fost mama mea, care imi spunea ca nu pot juca baschet pentru ca ma va inalta si mai mult!

Dar adevarul a fost ca nu am avut de ales. Vrand nevrand, tot inalt as fi ajuns.

In clasa a 8-a aveam deja 2 metri inaltime.

Am “inceput” sa joc baschet in curtea scolii.

Pe atunci, baschetul pentru mine era doar o joaca de copii.

Nu vreau sa zic ca baschetul era deja super usor pentru mine de jucat caci eram deja talentat.

Pe atunci aruncam la cos cu doua maini! Dar faptul ca eram deja mai inalt decat toata lumea, mi-a oferit intr-adevar un avantaj. Imi era destul de usor sa recuperez mingea, sa pun capace, sau sa arunc peste aparatori.

Eram cel mai bun de pe teren!

Nu...

Eram doar cel mai inalt... si atat.

Nu stiam nimic despre baschet.

Si cand zic nimic, vreau sa spun ca ZERO!

Nu stiam despre CSS Bega, sau despre BCM Elba. Nici sa nu vorbim de NCAA sau NBA.

Cine era Michael Jordan?

Cine e Kobe?

Habar nu aveam.

Si Asa a Inceput

I was selected to be part of the 7th-grade team at Jean Louis Calderon. We started to play against other schools from Timisoara. We manage to win every game and qualified for the West Regionals Tournament in Arad.

Locul in care pot spune ca a inceput cariera mea.

Just the fact that we qualified for that tournament, it was an amazing feeling. Everyone at our school was hyped, including us. We were stars.

For those of you that don’t know, high school competitions are nothing like high school competitions in the U.S. My high school gym had no seats for fans. The only benches were the ones where the players were sitting. The out of bounds lines were part of the wall. So if you hit the wall, the ball was out. If you went for a layup, 9 out of 10 times you would hit the wall.

No cushion, no nothing. Straight into the hard cold wall.

We never practiced as a team. We would gather at our games, our coach, or even us would make the starting lineup. There was no strategy, no plays, just hoop.

But for me, it was so fun. I felt some sort of pride in being part of a team. A team that made it to the regionals. I was representing our school. I was ready to give it all for my school, for my teammates. I became a competitor.

At that tournament, we were playing in a bigger gym, with some fans at the games. There was an atmosphere. My first game where they were also recording stats. It felt real, it was the most gamelike experience I ever had. It was amazing! I loved it! I enjoyed it every moment of it. I wanted more!

My school finished second at that tournament and won the silver medal. My first medal, I would never forget it! I was sad, but happy at the same time. I was thrilled to have this achievement but angry because I didn’t win the gold medal. I became a competitor. I also won the Best Rebounder Award in the tournament. It clicked to me. This actually can work! Basketball can be a thing!

Afterward, my classmates and I, some of my teammates and me, depends on the availability, we would not go to play soccer, but instead hoop.

From there, I had a teammate, Mogosanu Ovidiu, that also played for CSS Bega. He heard of me, he saw me, and he told his coach, Mircea Albu, to see me. He came, he recruited me, I went to CSS Bega and on 14th of March, 2008, I was licensed at CSS Bega Timisoara at the age of 14.

“Alex let’s go play soccer!”

“I think I’ll just hoop.”

And the rest is history.