ESP/IRL – Moran’s Spanish adventure

MADRID (Copa del Rey) - This is a hugely important week for the teams that have booked places in the Copa del Rey in Spain.

One side will string together three consecutive victories and capture a major trophy. The players in that team will be able to look back on the 2010-11 campaign and say they celebrated a title.

For Gran Canaria’s Jim Moran, to win the Copa del Rey would be a dream. It would be the crowning achievement for the native New Yorker in his Spanish career.

Who knows? It could be his last chance to win the Copa.

“It's been a long, long 10 years,” Moran said to FIBA.com.

"This is the last year (of Moran’s contract) but I'd like to continue playing.

“It's been a difficult year for me, though.

“My minutes and numbers have been down and I've been struggling a little bit, and you always get worried because it's a contract year.

"But I do talk to friends back home and they remind me that I'm playing in the ACB and not just any league in Europe.

“It's a challenge, and I'd like to continue playing as long as my body will hold up.”

Moran has a reputation for being able to knock down open jump shots, something that has helped him keep his place in the Gran Canaria squad.

Yes, he’s struggling a bit this season but still having fun.

"It's basketball and it's something you love to do,” he said.

“I talk to my brothers every day and they remind me that they sit behind a desk every day and that there's really no rush (to return).

"Home will eventually be back in New York.”

The Irish Connection

It’s not just all things Spain for Moran in Europe.

He also possesses an Irish passport and has played for the country in European competition. Moran was in the line-up when they tried to win promotion from Division B several years ago.

He’s not sure if he’ll ever wear the Irish shirt again, though he’d love to have the chance.

"They've been having some problems financially, especially with the economy in Ireland,” he said.

"It's been awhile since I played with them. I do miss it. The summers that I played over there, we had so much fun.

"The group of guys we had was fantastic - Jay Larranaga, Pat Burke, Marty Conlan, Cal Bowdler - just a great group of guys.

“We always had fun going over there and it was kind of tough when we had to leave each other. We were all playing in Europe.”

There is nothing quite like playing for a national team, he says.

"I do hope that they can get some funding and get the team back together,” Moran said.

“It's hard to describe the feeling of playing with the name of a country on your jersey and not a supermarket or a bank.

"You always play hard for your team, but when you're playing for a country, you're representing something so much more."

Moran never had an Irish twang.

"I didn't," Moran said with a smile. "I tried, I tried.

"It's funny. I was born and raised in New York and went to college (William & Mary) in Virginia.

"When I'd go home to New York, they'd make fun of my southern drawl which I didn't think I had, and when I'd go to Virginia, they'd make fun of my New York accent.

"Now I have this Spanish sound.”

Speaking Spanish

Life becomes much easier, and more enjoyable, when players are able to speak the native tongue when they go overseas.

Learning the language wasn’t compulsory when Moran moved to Spain.

"I was on and off with lessons,” he said.

“But one of my biggest regrets was I waited a little while.

"Every year, there are so many Americans in that locker-room environment. Everyone speaks English.

“It's kind of a necessity, though, to pick up Spanish, when going to the bank or the supermarket. I'd find myself hiding in the house a lot because I couldn’t communicate in Spanish.”

Moran ended up getting some help from his teammates.

"I started to take some lessons and told the Spanish guys in the team to start speaking to me in English and I'd speak to them in Spanish. And it worked.”

Moran noticed something else.

"The Spanish guys enjoy it so much more because they're picking up English and it kills me when you have a guy over here that speaks very little English and by the end of the year, he's speaking American slang,” he said.

"With the hip-hop music in the locker room and the words they start to learn, it's funny and I tell them, 'Wait a minute, don't use that word, use this word.”

Gran Canaria suffered a big blow ahead of their Copa del Rey opener against Real Madrid on Thursday. Captain Sitaphe Savane ruptured his Achilles tendon last weekend in an ACB win over Caja Laboral and was lost for the season.

But hopes for the end of this season remain high. The team is in the Last 16 of the Eurocup and is also chasing a place in the ACB play-offs.

They will have no fear taking on the Copa del Rey hosts Madrid in their first game.

“In years past, we've gone on the road and gotten beaten bad,” Moran said.

"But we've played very well on the road this season.”

FIBA