Nate Reuvers spoke exclusively to SKWEEK about Valencia’s remarkable comeback against Panathinaikos in last season’s EuroLeague playoffs. He explained that, despite falling 2-0 behind, Valencia remained confident after losing the opening two games by a combined three points and only needed to make a few minor adjustments to complete the reverse sweep.
Reuvers also praised former Panathinaikos guard TJ Shorts, who is now his teammate at Valencia. “You can’t look at last season and say he is a bad player. He is a great player,” he stressed, adding that Valencia’s playing style is similar to the one Shorts thrived in at Paris and predicting that he will “fit perfectly” with the Spanish side.
Life in Valencia
«It’s good. I’m going into my fourth season here. I was in Valencia all summer with my wife, and we just had our second child. Our son was born this summer, so both my daughter and my son were born here in Valencia».
A memorable season
«I don’t know if I would say that it was important to make a statement. I think we simply had a great locker room and a great team. Everyone was willing to work together and make sacrifices in order to win, so it was a pretty unreal season».
Seeing teammates leave
«I’m still on good terms with my old teammates. It is kind of crazy. When I look back to two years ago, Josep Puerto and I are the only two players who are still here from that team. It is crazy to see that happen, especially after losing all those guys from last season. I wish the best for all of them. As I said, we had a great team and they were great teammates. That is professional sports, so I always wish everyone the best going forward».
Staying with Valencia
«I re-signed with Valencia pretty quickly during the season. I’m sure there was some interest, but I couldn’t really tell you how serious it was. That is probably something my agent would know, because I’m not in contact with those teams. Once we reached a point in the agreement where I felt comfortable, we decided to continue together. My wife was pregnant during the season and we knew we were going to have the baby that summer, so it was good to have that security going forward».
The comeback against Panathinaikos
«The way we play is always crazy and up-tempo. We lost the first two games by a combined three points, so we knew that if we changed one small thing, we should be able to win the next game. We didn’t make any dramatic changes. There were definitely adjustments, but they were only small tweaks and different things we needed to clean up.
From there, we ended up winning the next three games, which was pretty crazy. I think that after winning Game 4, we knew that once we returned to Valencia, Game 5 wasn’t going to be as close as the previous games had been».
The impact of Valencia’s fans
«Definitely. When the games are important, the fans bring even more energy. It was obviously very different last season compared with my first two years, when we played at the old arena, La Fonteta. Moving to the Roig Arena, especially while returning to the EuroLeague, helped take everything to another level».
A future EuroLeague Final Four in Valencia?
«Yes, I think they will definitely bring a Final Four here within the next couple of years. I also wouldn’t be surprised if they brought the EuroLeague SuperCup here at some point, if they continue holding that event. Especially after the way the Spanish Cup was staged here last year—and with it being held here again this year—I think Valencia has shown that it can put on a good event involving multiple teams».
From four sports to basketball
«A little bit. I played four sports while growing up in America, which is much more common there. I played soccer for a while, then baseball, and later returned to soccer. By the time I chose basketball, the final two sports I was playing were soccer—as a goalkeeper—and basketball. I also played some American football.
It was pretty easy to choose basketball over anything else, being as tall as I was. I was also quite good at it compared with everyone else my age. As a kid, I had a small concrete court outside my house. During the winter, I would shovel the snow off it and go out there to shoot. It didn’t matter if the temperature was below zero degrees Celsius; I would still go outside and shoot».
The move from the United States to Europe
«Coming from college, the games were pretty similar in a sense. There were some small rule changes, but the difficult part was that there were no other Americans on my team at Cibona. The good thing was that it was a young team and my wife came over with me straight away. We were dating at the time, but she stayed with me throughout the entire experience. It was great to have her there and to be able to adjust together, because Croatian is not an easy language to learn. My teammates told us, “Don’t bother.”
It was a good experience to play in the Adriatic League because I had the opportunity to face some strong teams, including EuroLeague-level opponents. We also played in the Croatian League, which was not as strong, but it gave me more games and more experience. I think I played around 60 or 70 games during my first season, and that really helped me».
Reuniting with TJ Shorts
«He is a great person and a great teammate. The main thing is that he is returning to a style of play that fits him very well, because we play in a similar way to Paris. Coming back into a role like this will help him showcase what he can do.
Right now, he is our main point guard. You can’t simply look at last season and say, “He had a tough year, so he is a bad player.” He is a great player. Sometimes it is just about the fit and things don’t work out. I think he will fit perfectly here».
Family over legacy
«To be honest, I don’t really care too much about leaving behind a legacy. The more I have grown as a person, a husband and a father, the more I feel that I simply want to leave my children with memories they can look back on.
It is difficult to talk about legacy because I don’t have any desire to be remembered as some great basketball player. At the end of the day, it is what it is. I’m doing this for my family and to provide for them. One day, I will be happy to return home to the United States, retire and hopefully have a good life»
