BADALONA (Spain) - Rytas Vilnius opened Season X in the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL, at home against Legia Warszawa. It was the opportunity to see some new players in town.
One of them came in the summer from MoraBanc Andorra, and he had already proved his talent in the BCL with ERA Nymburk. Wearing No. 10 on his back, Jerrick Harding looked unstoppable in his first appearance.
In 20 minutes of action, he had already collected 20 points, shooting 7-of-12 from the field and 5-of-5 at the line. Then, midway through the third, he attempted a dunk and landed dangerously on his upper back.
Immediately, fans in the Lithuanian capital realized something alarming had just happened. Could Jerrick Harding's season be over already?
Could his career be in trouble, maybe?
Sensible questions, one would say.
I'm just grateful, that's all I can say.
If you haven't caught up with the action in the BCL Semi-Finals or on the way to Badalona, you might think he recovered, but lost his spark. Well, it's pretty much the opposite.
Facing two-time champions and seven-time Final Four participants like La Laguna Tenerife in the Semi-Finals, having to go up against legends like Marcelinho Huertas and Patty Mills, Jerrick Harding was fearless.
He led Rytas to their first-ever BCL Final with 29 points and 5 assists, delivering the second-highest scoring performance in a BCL Semi-Final (Kyle Guy, 34).
"Right now, I can't even describe how I'm feeling. I can say that my teammates and I are really competitive. We came here to win games. We came in, and everybody said we are the underdog. But we belong. We deserve to be here, and we showed it today," he commented after securing Rytas' first Final appearance.
"I feel like I can be a lot better, but I'm happy I was able to help my team get the win. But I can be a lot better offensively, for sure," he humbly followed.
But how?
"I haven't made a three all day. I've missed free throws, a couple of shots I normally make. I can be better."
Getting to the club's first-ever BCL Final Four, carrying the Lithuanian powerhouse with an unlimited range of offensive solutions, wasn't really in his mind once he had to leave the court at the beginning of Season X.
"That wasn't a thought at the time; I just wanted to get back on the court," he commented.
"That's what I was working towards every day. Once I got back, I knew we had high aspirations and that we could be there one day, eventually. I took it day by day."
The constant attempt to be better and make sure they could be ready for the final stage of the season worked collectively for Rytas, not only for Harding.
"It's amazing. This season has been a rollercoaster; we were at our ultimate low four months ago."
"But everybody stayed hopeful, and nobody panicked. We kept working every day, and we ended up improving and showing the team what we showed tonight. Hopefully, we can win this thing," he crossed his fingers.
Among his teammates, Ignas Sargiunas is the one who knows the most about his abilities, having to observe him each and every day very closely on the court.
That's not surprising. I'm guarding him in practice every day, and I don't know how to guard him. He knows how to score; that's his bread. He knows how to score.
Talking about Lithuanians, Giedrius Zibenas had to wait six years to finally coach Rytas in the BCL Final Four, and he's now reaping all the fruits, also thanks to Harding.
"I can't praise him too much, because he will feel too good before the Final. We need to be so humble and still hungry," coach joked in the post-game press conference on Thursday.
"It's his game; he had a really tough season due to injuries. He's a fighter. He's a really talented player, that's why he's with us and why we're extremely happy to have him."
"He maybe hasn't had the best performances in some games, but we trust him, and all the players are waiting for games like that. This is why they play for, this is why they work for, why they have their own routines, why they sacrifice their own personal life. I'm so happy for Jerrick," he commented.
Moreover, a huge factor that might have positively boosted Harding's performance against Tenerife was the outstanding support received by more than 2.000 black-white-and-red fans in the stands.
"They bring everything to us. We don't want to let them down. They show a lot of passion at our games when they see us," he said of Rytas supporters, who had a rocking parade in Badalona before the game.
"They want us to be hungry; they have high aspirations for us to go out there and fight for the whole game. Never take a possession off, just be hard working out there. I think we try to just give it back to the fans."
It always feels like we're in Vilnius. The fans always travel and show amazing support. We couldn't be more grateful to have them as our fans.
Heading to the BCL Final, the most anticipated 40 minutes of the whole campaign against AEK BC, the 28-year-old guard wants to see even more of those colors.
"They'd better get their tickets. We want to see them here," he said about uncertain fans traveling to Badalona.
They took down Tenerife with a high-tempo game, paying attention to every detail contained in the coaching staff's scouting report.
"The game plan was to keep it at a high pace. That's our style of play; we didn't want to adjust and try to get on their rhythm. They're a really good team, but we tried to play our basketball, and it worked out in our way."
And after such a dominant performance, emotions ran high.
"I'm feeling relief, excitement. Everything. It's a lot of emotions. I think tonight I'll probably sleep on it and think about it more. Right now, I just want to celebrate with my guys; it's a big step. We'll get ready for the next one."
Exactly, the next one - that might turn into the best memories of his basketball career, thus far.
For sure, no question. Maybe Saturday.
Maybe Saturday, Jerrick. Indeed.