Andrews opened up about the challenging daily life foreigners sometimes face in Europe and encouraged Kyle Guy, who's currently dealing with an uncertain situation in Panathinaikos.
After starting the EuroCup season with 3 wins and 5 losses, Joventut Badalona have now won five games in a row. In the middle of it all has been Andrew Andrews, who led the team throughout the period.
Joventut Badalona / Schedule
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Joventut Badalona
Umana Reyer VeneziaAndrews has been averaging 16.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists for 17 PIR per game in the EuroCup. Nevertheless, he wasn't immune to the injury bug that had caught Joventut earlier in the season.
"Through this season, we've had our situations with being hurt, so we have to know how to play together, how to find some rhythm as a team, so it's been paying off for us," Andrews told BasketNews.
"Through most of the season, we've been hurt. In the second half of November and this month of December, we finally got the chance to be all together and try to figure out how to play together," he later continued. "We're still figuring that out, so we're thankful to get some wins, but we're still figuring that out, and hopefully, we'll be playing our best basketball later on in the year."
Andrews is now back in the EuroCup, a place where he made his name earlier in his career while playing for Frutti Extra Bursaspor. Last year, he played for Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens before returning to play for Bursaspor again.
Playing at a club like PAO is different. Both players and coaches are always surrounded by unprecedented attention both on and off the court. Additionally, the expectations are always high every single season, and the fiery nature of the club's fans sometimes doesn't help either. However, Andrews says that it didn't affect him.
"I wouldn't say that," he said when asked whether the atmosphere in Joventut is more tranquil.
For Andrews, personally, the last season was different in another way. He played in just 4 EuroLeague games and only 2 Greek League games in his entire tenure with Panathinaikos.
Throughout the regular season months leading to his departure in March, Andrews was in a silent battle between himself and the club.
With Andrews refusing to sign his release papers, PAO owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos accused Andrews of blackmailing the team, and even the EuroLeague had to step in for the two sides to finally terminate the contract. Despite a lengthy and most likely painful legal battle and a lack of playing time on the court, the 30-year-old feels no grudge.
On the contrary, Andrews is thankful for the opportunity to play in the EuroLeague and appreciates the help his teammates provided.
"Just perseverance," he said when asked what kept him going. "Those who were at Panathinaikos - myself and my teammates - kind of knew what was going on, they
