FCBARCELONA.CAT

04.07.2010 10:21

Ricky: "It’s been a season to remember"

Miquel Agut / Sònia de Alba

It’s been a fantastic first season for Regal Barça center Ricky Rubio in which he collected four winner’s medals and a runners-up medal.

He was the big signing of last summer for the basketball section but this year he can look forward to a short but well-deserved break. He told us: “It’s been a season to remember”.

For Ricky, the connection between the fans and the players has been one of the highlights of the season. “The players saw that the fans were enjoying themselves and so did we as well. We were winning and the titles came. Just the last one was missing. The people who came to the Palau wanted to watch the team not just because we were winning but because they wanted to see good basketball. And we enjoyed that too”.

The unity in the squad has been key: “It would be great if we could remain together”. But Ricky knows that’s impossible. For the moment there’s the departure of Lubos Barton and the agreement in principle with Kosta Perovic . "He’s an incredible player. He did us a lot of damage in the Kings Cup. I’m sure he will be a great recruit”.

At home in the Palau

"I’ve felt at home playing here. I knew that Barca is a huge club but you don’t realize how big it is until you’re here. Sometimes, as an opponent you don’t see this”.

USA the team to beat

Ricky will have to cut his holidays short to join up with the Spain squad for the World Championships in Turkey. In his opinion, the USA will be the team to beat: “No matter how many players they have missing, they’re the clear favourites. Their standard of basketball is excellent although in recent years we’ve seen that if they’re not at 100% they can be beaten”.

Just a few days before his 20th birthday, Regal Barça will face the Los Angeles Lakers: "It’ll be a really exciting game and a festival for us all, though we’ll do our best to win".