By Achilleas Mavrodontis / info@eurohoops.net
Marcelinho Huertas opened up to Eurohoops about life in quarantine during the lockdown, being a rookie in the Basketball Champions League and how he evaluates the league’s decision to suspend all action until September. The 37-year-old Brazilian guard also looked back to his successful career and highlighted some of his favorite moments, while he shared his journey in veganism and how it has improved his physical health.
Eurohoops: How is life in Tenerife in the times of coronavirus?
Marcelinho Huertas: The situation is different from region to region. Fortunately, in the Canary Islands, we are good. There are only a few cases and the situation is under control so we slowly get back to our day to day life. According to the government, we are currently in stage two of the plan, while there are many cities in Spain still in the first one. When it comes to basketball we have started individual practices, as well as team practices in the last few days. Thankfully the situation in here is better than other places.
EH: Are you optimistic about the next day?
MH: When it comes to basketball it’s tough to say anything. There are many factors that will determine whether we play or not and it’s not in our hands. We have to follow certain protocols both for games, as well as for practice and our everyday life. However, I’m optimistic that we can reach a solution and everything will return to normality. Basketball will return to normal and our life will do so too. Things are complicated now and people are confused and we have to see the glass half-full and be hopeful
EH: Let’s go to BCL now. It’s your first year in the competition. What is your opinion about its level?
MH: The level is great. Especially in our group, we faced teams that are structured to go far. I was surprised by how tough the competition is. It’s a tough competition to play at and it has a lot of contact. Even more than the Euroleague has. Referees allow this kind of game which is good because it raises the level of the competition. To achieve that you have to be ready to fight every night. when it comes to us, we had a good season and we have one more game ahead of us so we are waiting to see what happens. Of course many times we struggled to win games in the end, it wasn’t a stroll in the park. It took hard work in order to get there.
EH: BCL was the first competition to announce its plan to hold a Final Eight in September. How do you evaluate this move?
Maybe it was the smartest decision that they could take if we consider how many countries participate in the competition. It’s tough to find a way to continue the competition under these circumstances. We see how things are now and I truly believe that it was the smartest decision they could take. Of course, it’s tough and maybe even unfair for some players that will not be in these teams next season, but as I said, this situation was unprecedented and nobody could know what would happen. Of course, everyone wants to finish the competition and fight for the title.
EH: You have had a long career, could you select one season as your favorite?
MH: My friend! Okay, with Barcelona we reached three Final Fours and I always remembered great moments. One of the most important ones was when we were losing 2 to 1 in the series with Panathinaikos and we won in OAKA in Game 4. The court was nearly on fire by the fans. It was a tremendous atmosphere, maybe the best I’ve ever experienced in my career. We had a great game there and then we also took the game in Barcelona and eventually reached the Final Four. Of course, we remember the Final Four because we had the chance to reach the end but lost some important games and we couldn’t win the trophy. There are many moments in my career that I could select and the one that we mentioned is one of them.
EH: Would you consider returning to the Euroleague if you had an offer that would satisfy you?
MH: You always have to consider things and you cannot close the doors on anything. You can never say no to the possibility of it happening. This would be wrong. Of course, there are many factors that you have to take into consideration, but I wouldn’t be negative to an offer. Now I’m very good with Tenerife and it would be tough to convince me to leave the island.
EH: We’ve heard that you’ve changed your diet to vegan, how has that changed your life? Would you recommend it?
MH: In Brazil we like meat. I’ve researched that and I’ve seen many documentaries. Many athletes from many different sports turned vegan and continued at the top level. Personally, it has helped me a lot and saw results immediately. I’ve lost fat and eating only vegetables and protein helped my muscle gain. What my body realized the most was the process after the workout. I’ve always had pain in my joints and other body parts from my practice. when I stop eating dairy and meat, the pain also stopped. I’m 37 so this kind of pain should increase and not decrease. This was the most important part. I changed my diet about 3 years ago and for sure it’s tough in the beginning. You need time to adjust to it but it’s something that made me happy. When it comes to me and my career it was the best choice for me and it has helped me to have many years of basketball ahead of me.