Nicolas Laprovittola has found in Barcelona and Saras the confidence he needed / News - Basketnews.com

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Wearing the shirts of two teams that are bitter rivals is special. Moving from one to the other can be even more so. Nicolas Laprovittola is one of those cases.

Nicolas Laprovittola

MIN:25.39PTS:12.5 (48%)REB:1As:1.5ST:1BL:0TO:0.5GM:2ProfileACB2021/2022

After two seasons at Real Madrid, the Argentine point guard is one of the protagonists of a great campaign with FC Barcelona. The Catalan team closed the EuroLeague regular season first and will face FC Bayern Munich in the playoff crossing.

Despite their recent loss to Unicaja Malaga, the Blaugrana are also leaders in the Spanish League and will seek to retain the title obtained last season.

Last year, Barca were the EuroLeague finalists, which means their focal point is obvious. "After winning the Copa del Rey, the EuroLeague is the goal we have in mind," Laprovittola clears up in a discussion with BasketNews a few minutes after Barca lost to Olympiacos Piraeus on April 1.

"Losing isn't nice at all," he says before adding that "things are going very well."

Besides, the team coached by Sarunas Jasikevicius is ahead of the most important part of the season and dropping games like the ones in Piraeus and Tel Aviv makes no real difference.

"We have been able to give some of our players the rest they needed and the team has finished first in the EuroLeague. I think we can rest easy. We hope to arrive at the playoffs with a full roster, maintaining our good rhythm," Laprovittola thinks.

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The measure of success is also easily definable, given the Catalans' overall run in the current season.

"This year, the team has more experience and is better prepared. Many players got to know Saras more. Having dominated most of the games in the EuroLeague this year, we have shown that we are the favorites to play another final and win it," the Argentinian guard maintains. However, the competition in the EuroLeague post-season will be strong.

Nicolas Laprovittola

Team:FC BarcelonaPosition:PGAge:32Height:188 cmWeight:88 kgBirth place:ArgentinaProfileNewsStatistics

"There are some very powerful teams in the playoffs, who have talented players. I think those who finished in the Top 4 in the standings are better teams, in the sense that their game is more collective rather than based on individual talent. That's definitely an advantage," Laprovittola claims.

The career of 'Lapro', who turned last January, has been a journey that included many destinations.

"I went to a lot of places, my career has been a bit crazy. It all happened because I didn't have a passport at the time. I wanted to leave Argentina, so Brazil (Flamengo) was the first step. I wanted to play in Europe at all costs and I left for Lithuania (Lietuvos Rytas). After half a season, Estudiantes brought me in," he recounted a couple of years ago to the Spanish outlet El Mundo.

From there, he moved to the San Antonio Spurs, spent a few months with Baskonia, and had a forgettable stint at Zenit Saint Petersburg before landing in Joventut Badalona in 2018. That's where his career really took off.

Having been voted as the ACB League MVP in 2019, Laprovittola had high hopes upon joining Real Madrid in the summer of 2019. Alas, his first season was uneventful and the next one, despite Facundo Campazzo's early departure for the NBA, didn't change Pablo Laso's mind about his role on the team.

In fact, if it hadn't been for Campazzo's imminent leap to the other side of the Atlantic, Laprovittola would have probably spent the 2020-21 season in the green jersey of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens, who had reached a verbal agreement with him. But Campazzo left Madrid, which meant that Laprovittola would have to stay under Laso's orders until further notice.

In the summer of 2021, it was clear that his future could not be in the Spanish capital. However, few could imagine that his next stop would be Barcelona.

Laprovittola says that highlighting the biggest difference between Real Madrid and Barcelona "is very difficult. They are two winning teams of the highest level, very complete, with great coaches, who aspire to win everything. They are on the same level. For me, staying in this type of club where you aim to become a champion and play for titles is what motivates me."

In any case, him playing some good games with Real Madrid, especially in his second season, wasn't one of the reasons that attracted Barca's attention.

"I think other factors have been more important," Laprovittola believes.

"I am 32 years old, I have experience and I am a player who could fit well into the team. I am different from Nick Calathes and Rokas Jokubaitis."

In fact, the fit couldn't have been better for both sides. In the ACB, Laprovittola averages 9.4 points, on 60.3% two-point shooting, 40.6% from behind the arc, and 93.5% in free throws, in addition to 2.6 assists per game.

In the EuroLeague, his numbers are quite similar: 8.9 points, on 54.5% two-point and 41.9% three-point shooting and 90.9% in free throws, plus 3.4 dimes. Unlike his role at Real Madrid, in Catalunya, he has been less of a point guard and more of a shooter.

As far as his contribution to both teams, the contrast is sharp. Laprovittola averaged 7.1 points and 3.7 assists on 44% two-point shooting and 34.7% from deep with Los Blancos.

His improvement is out there for anyone to see. 'Lapro' himself says it's mainly a matter of trust."Above all, it's because of the confidence that the coach, the coaching staff, and my teammates have given me," he says.

"It is incredible how Calathes, Mirotic, and Higgins, players of an important stature in Europe, have received me. I think they enjoy playing with me, and it's a key to the performances I'm having."

Saras having been one of the most important point guards in the history of European basketball, pays a lot of attention to those who play in that position. Laprovittola, among other Barcelona guards, could be no exception.

"Nico is Argentinian, he is a fighter. He's very cheerful. If he defends well, he will play a lot. He's watching a lot of video with my assistants," the Lithuanian coach said back in October 2021. Then, Nick Calathes got injured and Laprovittola's role got upgraded."Saras is indeed paying a lot of attention - to the details, to how the point guards make the team run. It is a very important position in his system," he says.

On the eve of the last-to-date Spanish El Clasico between Barca and Real Madrid, Jasikevicius praised Laprovittola's contribution, pointing out that "he's given us many things - game with the ball, defense on the ball, many three-point shots and this ability to break some games because when 'Lapro' is on a roll it is very difficult to stop and he's able to make three or four shots in a row in a very short period."

One day later, Laprovittola returned the favor with a 20-point performance against his former team. However, his season highlight had come a bit earlier, at the expense of another of his ex-teams, Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz.

The Argentinean guard went off for 24 points and 8/11 on three-point shots, not only breaking his personal record but also forcing his coach to take a bow in appreciation of his player's performance, before shaking his hand.

On other occasions, however, Jasikevicius has not been so courteous.

"Well, that's how Saras is," Laprovittola says with a big smile on his face.

"I'm really enjoying playing for him. I think he has pushed me to be a better player, to compete at the maximum in every game. I think it's okay for a coach to point out both the good and the bad things. Of course, it's better when you do what he asks of you."

Of course, Real Madrid's bench boss Pablo Laso has also been a remarkable point guard. Laprovittola ponders on the differences between the Basque tactician and Saras, pointing out that "their teams play differently. Also, they depend a lot on the players they have. They are two of the winningest coaches in Europe at the moment. Luckily, I enjoyed playing for both," he remarks.

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Speaking to El Mundo Deportivo about Barca's obligations in March, Jasikevicius noted that "it has been a crazy month. This cannot happen anymore, it is unacceptable. We're killing the players. It's too much."

The two-time EuroLeague champs played 15 matches in 5 weeks, something that didn't go unnoticed by Laprovittola either. "It is true that the month of March was very crazy, with many games and high intensity," he underlines.

"But we're Barcelona and everyone comes very motivated to play against us. We have a lot of players who can cover many positions, for a lot of minutes, and who can take responsibilities. So it's a matter of performing and playing at the best possible level."The 32-year-old admits that he didn't expect to see "the level of commitment to work" upon joining the club last summer.

"All the players are very involved in the team's goals, making sure that the squad works well, that the machine rolls and that each one accepts his role. That is very clear to everyone. It's what makes us play well and win."

This is the second straight season with COVID measures in place, despite the fact that over the last weeks, fans have started to make themselves more heard than ever before during the pandemic. "It's another very rare season, with unexpected changes, with some external things happening," Laprovittola thinks.

"In the end, people are still enjoying basketball. In Piraeus, it has been a very good atmosphere. It's also very nice to see how people enjoy every game at Palau. European basketball has that - a lot of adrenaline and pressure."

Having started his playing career at Lanus Buenos Aires, Nicolas Laprovittola crossed his country's borders in 2013 and never came back to play. That doesn't mean he's not feeling homesick after almost a decade away from home."I miss Argentina very much; my house, my family, my friends. But it's the life I chose. Playing basketball is what I know to do best and I have my wife and my daughter who are accompanying me," he admits.

In 2012, he played with Argentina's national team at the 2012 South American Championship, in Resistencia, where he won the gold medal. He's been a regular ever since. His credits include the 2014 and the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cups, as well as the 2016 and 2021 Summer Olympics.

Nevertheless, the team didn't manage to make it past the quarter-finals, as Luis Scola wrote the epilogue to an illustrious career in the 59-97 blowout to Australia. Laprovittola's highlights included scoring 27 points in a preliminary round loss to Spain. He was second only to Facundo Campazzo among all his team's scorers with 13.8 points per game.

"For us, playing in an Olympic tournament is never going to be a failure. Of course, we didn't play well, we didn't perform as we expected to," he concedes.

"We arrived well prepared but the team didn't play well. We want to compete against all the teams as equals. This year we have Copa America and we have to win it to qualify for the next World Cup."

'Lapro' says he'll keep playing with Argentina for as long as he possibly can, following in Scola's footsteps. "For me, the national team is about family, friends, and moments that I enjoy a lot. Obviously, spending every summer there is a little bit hard as it increases the number of games in the season, but representing my country is a very nice thing."Having played alongside Manu Ginobili at the Spurs and also with Argentina, Laprovittola wasn't surprised to hear that the country's biggest player ever is about to enter the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.

"I had no doubt that he was going to make it. I think he deserves it. For us in Argentina and for the whole world, Manu is an example in every sense. Even without playing, he can achieve great things."

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