“The secret is the trust they have given me.”

If there is one player who is causing a sensation at the start of the Endesa League, it is UCAM’s Swede Simon Birgander. After his time in Joventut, he emerged as the ratings leader and arguably the rebounding lord, averaging almost 10 per game, a number rarely achieved in history.

Did you expect to be this efficient in the league?

Well, the truth is no. I had some discomfort at the beginning of preseason and wasn’t at my best, so I didn’t expect things to go well so quickly. We are playing at a good level now.

In other words, he wasn’t in “Supermanager.”

No, no (lol)

What’s the secret?

A little bit of everything, the style of play, how my teammates support me…but the most important thing is the confidence that my coach, Cito (Alonso) and my teammates give me. When a player has that confidence, he is not afraid and that means he plays his best basketball.

He’s also playing an average of nearly nine minutes more than he did a year ago in Joventut…

By playing more minutes, you can make more shots and stand out more on your team. Not only does it save me time because I can play less and do more on the court, but this way I can do everything my teammates and coaches ask me to do.

Will it be difficult to maintain this average of almost 10 rebounds per game?

I was a little surprised, but yeah, it’s going to be very difficult in ACB because it’s complicated. Now, by playing good defense and inducing mistakes from our opponents, we are now able to get rebounds. But I have a challenge to see if I can do that, and it will be difficult.

The chemistry within the team is very good…

Because we’re eight new players and we wouldn’t have played like this without that chemistry. The players here are excellent on and off the court. When this happens, you can also play better.

They will play Peña in two weeks. What does this match mean?

You’ll be playing against people you’ve spent much of your life with. They are a good rival that will test us, so I’m looking forward to playing against them. But I loved Badalona so much that when I play there in front of the fans, it will evoke more emotions.

Are you expecting good reception?

i hope so.

Tomic is injured heading into this game. Are you hopeful that he will recover and be able to compete?

Yes, that’s right… Just like Ferris and Brodianski, they are my friends too, so I hope they all get well soon. I’ve been training with Ante every day for two years, so let’s see if I can play against him. It’s going to be like those training sessions.

What’s the best thing about the past six years at La Penya?

The first year I won the match that secured my salvation. It was an incredible feeling to take a weight off our shoulders and celebrate with all of our fans. It’s something I’ll never forget. It was also great to play Copa del Rey in Badalona. We have played in the semi-finals many times in various competitions, but that year of the Messiah was the most exciting one.

Did you think in the summer that it might not last any longer?

On the one hand, I thought I would leave, but on the other hand, I thought I would stay. I thought that if I left, I could change things and stop being the player in Tomic’s shadow and be myself. I’m not that young. That’s the change I made. I think I knew it when the other teams started talking. Because we were talking about the role and in Peña they also wanted something new.

Compared to what happened in Joventut, it seems like he made the right choice.

I’m very happy with my changes and I’m also very happy with my teammates, Cito, the whole club and the city. In Peña, they are out of luck because they no longer have a signed player in my position. It might work, it might not. They thought a change was needed, and perhaps the good thing is that they can sign now.

Do you think you will return to Joventut someday?

I don’t know, it depends. My daughter and son are Catalan and Catalonia is a very loving place for us and I also have a lot of love for the club. It’s not known. If in the future they love me and I get along well, why not? But right now I’m happy in Murcia so I don’t think about that.

Is UCAM an intermediate station to play at another level? Where do you see yourself in two years?

I’m not thinking about that right now. I’m just thinking about UCAM and where I can play like this because there’s a lot of enthusiasm here.

This year he is playing in the Champions League. Do you think it will be much different from the Eurocup?

So far, I’ve only been able to play one game yet. I think it will be pretty even and the best teams from each tournament will be able to compete against each other.

Will he return to the national team in February?

Yes, I want to qualify for EuroBasket, so if everything goes well, I plan on participating. That is the path we want to take with the national team and we have talked about it with Ruud (Hakansson). Slightly older players like Čerapovic and Tobias Borg were hoping to play in one last European Championship. It’s complicated because Germany, Montenegro and Bulgaria are also in the group. But I think it’s possible.