Five or 10 or 20 years from now, when all those who care about the basketball team here talk about the gloriously unexpected winning streak that began in October, stretched until mid-January and covered 28 games in six countries, they will talk about the upset in Madrid that started it all. Or the late comeback in Germany. Or maybe the overtime game against Bilbao.
Then they will talk about the beard.
The beard, otherwise known as the unkempt, untamed, unruly thicket of wires located on the cheeks and chin of forward John Shurna, became the unofficial mascot of Valencia’s winning streak, a lucky charm that inspired everyone around it but — unlike most other furry mascots — also seemed to grow like virulent kitchen mold.
“He looked like Shaggy from ‘Scooby-Doo,’ but on steroids,” said Luke Sikma, one of three American players on the team. “The hair was everywhere, the beard was everywhere.”
Sikma added: “There was some homeless drifter to it, some mountain man. It was very solid.”
Shurna did not mind these descriptions, in part because they were true but also because he is proud of what the beard represented. Valencia’s winning streak, which ended last Tuesday night in a defeat to Limoges of France (and was followed by the beard’s death Wednesday morning), was unlikely on so many levels.
First, there is the matter of the team’s finances. Unlike Real Madrid and Barcelona, whose basketball teams are linked to their more famous soccer counterparts and thus capable of spending with relative abandon, Valencia has as its majority owner Juan Roig, a supermarket magnate who became fascinated with Spanish basketball while watching the national team win a silver medal at the 1984 Olympics and, shortly after, decided to start a club in his home region.
Roig is a generous benefactor, but with an operating budget of about 12 million euros this season, or about $13 million — the team reportedly loses about 8 million euros per year, or about $8.6 million — Valencia is succeeding with a payroll that is less than half that of Barcelona or Real Madrid.
That disparity leads naturally to perpetual roster turnover, as Valencia’s best players routinely leave after one year for more lucrative opportunities. Consider: The Golden State Warriors, who ripped off 24 straight victories at the start of the NBA season, did so with a roster largely the same as last season’s title-winning group. Valencia’s surge has come from a team with seven new players, most of them either unproven or journeymen, as well as a new coach who has bounced from team to team during a 25-year career.
Most Valencia players are uncomfortable with comparisons to what the Warriors accomplished (primarily because the NBA’s level of play is consistently so much higher), yet their streak was undeniably impressive. Valencia’s run actually took place in two leagues — the Spanish league as well as the Eurocup, a season-long tournament involving teams from around the continent — and required adapting to an ever-changing array of opponents as well as referees of varying quality.
“There’s no comparison to the NBA in terms of quality across the board,” said Justin Hamilton, a former Iowa State and Louisiana State center whose 49 games with Charlotte, Miami and Minnesota give him the highest professional pedigree on Valencia’s roster. “But in the NBA, the game is also familiar each night. Over here, the challenge is how different every game is and every team is. It takes work to be ready.”
Valencia’s new coach, Pedro Martínez, is certainly well versed on the preparation required in the Spanish game. Since becoming a head coach for Joventut Badalona in 1990, Martínez has changed jobs 15 times and led 13 clubs. He joined Valencia at the start of this season and brought a reputation as a coach who runs demanding training sessions — Hamilton said his teammates often joked that Martínez “likes the practices way more than the games” — but he also gives the players plenty of room to make their own decisions on the court.
Rafa Martínez, the team’s captain, said Pedro Martínez’s philosophy worked well for a team with changing pieces because “no player tries to be the star.”
“The plays we run are not lined up for one player,” Rafa Martínez said. “In different games, different players are important, and that makes everyone pay attention.”
Pedro Martínez said he sensed this group’s chemistry was “better than most” early in the season but acknowledged that he never imagined going so long without a loss. His previous best run of victories was a nine-game streak, with Gran Canaria four years ago, and so he allowed himself to revel a bit in how his players enjoyed this season’s run.
Sikma grinned as he recalled the train trip back from the capital after Valencia held off Real Madrid in the season opener. Hamilton said he would never forget the game against the German team Ulm, in which Valencia trailed by 15 points at halftime and was struggling so much in the third quarter that it seemed as if its first loss was inevitable. “Then we came all the way back and one of our guys hit a 1-foot, off-balance 3 at the buzzer and we won,” he said.
As the winning streak gained momentum, the club found itself in an unusual spotlight. Ángel Francisco Martínez Raga, Valencia’s chief executive, said the team had a base of about 7,500 season-ticket holders but had seen a noticeable surge in ticket and souvenir sales in part because “we are winning so much and the football team has been in a difficult time.”
The team’s media office was busier, too, as the streak began to make news around the continent: France’s sports daily, L’Equipe, did an article. So did Italy’s Corriere dello Sport. There was more radio coverage and more interest from television stations as well.
The players found most of their enjoyment in one another, with Shurna’s appearance a particular source of amusement. The story of the beard’s genesis is modest: Midway through October, a teammate asked Shurna when he might shave, and on a whim, he shouted out that he wouldn’t shave until the team lost. He never imagined that three months later, he would be so hirsute that a group text chat involving many players on the team would be dedicated almost exclusively to side-by-side comparisons of Shurna and other woolly people or things.
(Among the favorites: Shurna next to a fully-grown African lion and Shurna next to Tom Hanks’ character in the movie “Cast Away.”)
“My sister came to visit over the holidays, and she was embarrassed to be seen with me,” Shurna said, adding that it took nearly a half-hour to shave the beard after the team finally lost last week.
That defeat was a surprise, if only because Valencia was playing at home yet was blown out in the second half before losing by 20 points. At the final buzzer, the home fans gave the Valencia players a standing ovation anyway, cheering long and loud for the team that has captivated them this season.
Martínez said he was touched by the gesture from the fans, but he quickly shifted his attention to Sunday’s game against Barcelona. Valencia is only halfway through its league schedule, so its hold on first place — just ahead of Sunday’s opponent from Catalonia — is tenuous. Success against the other top teams will be critical if Valencia hopes to win its first Spanish league title.
The players say they prefer not to dwell on the euphoria of the streak’s existence or on the disappointment of its inevitable end. Sikma said the mood at practice Thursday was upbeat and focused, while Rafa Martínez said the mood in the locker room was light.
Several players, in fact, found time to take selfies with the freshly shorn Shurna (“I want a picture with the new guy on the team,” one shouted) while Shurna, in response to questioning, made clear that he did not envision reprising his no-shaving pledge even if the team should begin another winning streak.
“I think it was a one-time thing,” he said. “Plus, it’s been nice to see my chin again.”
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