ESP vs SEN; 10 Victor CLAVER (Spain)
22/03/2015
Jeff Taylor's Eurovision
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The glass is half full for Victor Claver

VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - It was strange, even a little surreal seeing Victor Claver back home in Valencia this past Tuesday night.

Valencia-born and bred, the former captain of the team, the 26-year-old Claver was back in La Fonteta, the same La Fonteta where he shot to fame almost a decade ago, casually dressed in a pair of jeans and wearing a blue polo shirt of BC Khimki.

His NBA experience cut short a month ago when the Denver Nuggets acquired him in a trade with Portland and then promptly waived him, Claver, with no other takers in the league, packed his bags and returned to Europe.

He joined a Khimki team with a recent history of having ties to Spain, one that is led by Lithuanian Rimas Kurtinaitis.

Sergio Scariolo, the ex-national team coach who brought Claver into the Spain set-up, once held the reins of Khimki and both Jorge Garbajosa and Raul Lopez, two other players with NBA experience, competed for the Russian club, too.

A Spaniard, Jenaro Diaz, who was on Scariolo's national team and Khimki staffs, is still with the Moscow-based team as a scout.

Now it's Claver's turn to wear the Khimki shirt.

He's looking to spark his career into life.

His arrival back to the old continent has come too late for him to play in the Eurocup, so he'll have to be a spectator at those games and settle for minutes in the VTB United League.

On Tuesday, for the first time in his life, Claver sat in La Fonteta as a player for the other team.

He heard the same band and the same fans that used to shout his name.

What must have been his emotions when Valencia mounted a late comeback from a double-digit deficit to lose the first leg by a single point to keep the tie alive?

The second leg is this week in Moscow.

Claver knows there are journalists and fans in his hometown that say he failed in the NBA, that he should never have gone in the first place.

Though he did not play on Tuesday, there were plenty of questions for him after the game.

One reporter gave him his phone to do a radio interview.

Not that long ago, Claver believed he would make it in the NBA.

He had thought that EuroBasket 2013 was going to be launchpad for a great second year in the league.

Then coach Juan Antonio Orenga used him at power forward in Slovenia and Claver played well, helping a Spanish team that was without Pau Gasol, Juan Carlos NavarroFelipe Reyes and Serge Ibaka reach the podium.

His primary job was to do the dirty work, to rebound, play defense and scrap.

I remember an interview we had.

"It's going to help me play (in the NBA) with more confidence," he told me.

"To play for the national team is very important for me."

If Portland coach Terry Stotts was impressed by Claver's EuroBasket, it didn't translate to more opportunities with the Blazers.

Claver was often this season not included in the squad for games, never mind getting minutes.

Some will believe that Claver wasted two and a half years of his career while others, and I'm in this category, will say it was a chance that he had to take.

What matters is what Claver thinks.

I don't regret anything - Claver

"It's been two and a half years of highs and lows, the highs very high and the lows quite low," Claver said.

"But you have to learn from everything.

"I believe I am better than when I left."

What Claver must do now is play.

He needs to to start writing a new chapter.

"You have to be prepared for these changes and try and make the most of what happens," he said.

"You have to try and find the positive side of things."

Most important for Claver is that he has the right attitude, and he does.

For Claver, the glass is half full.

Jeff Taylor

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.

Jeff Taylor

Jeff Taylor

Jeff Taylor, a North Carolina native and UNC Chapel Hill graduate, has been a journalist since 1990. He started covering international basketball after moving to Europe in 1996. Jeff provides insight and opinion every week about players and teams on the old continent that are causing a buzz.