The Romanian forward found a new source of self-belief after scoring 34 points against U18 Crvena Zvezda
Big game at ANGT Belgrade changed U18 Milan's Denis Badalau
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Denis Badalau had a Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade to remember, and an up-and-down day in Serbia changed the U18 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan forward, who now wants to make history for Romania at the ANGT Finals.
Badalau was extremely excited when he heard the news that Milan was given one of the wild cards for the season-ending tournament in Berlin.
“For me personally, it was great news, because it is a new opportunity to perform at the highest level. As a team, after our performance in Belgrade we are eager to prove that we belong there and to show again what we can do on court,” said Badalau, who was named to the All-Tournament Team as Milan took second place at ANGT Belgrade.
“It was the last chance for me to be at the ANGT Finals and I’m very pleased that we will be there along the best U18 teams in Europe. Every team is taking it to the next level and that means we have to as well.”
Milan will be appearing at the ANGT Finals for the second time after the club hosted the event as part of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in 2014.
U18 Real Madrid lost to U18 Crvena Zvezda Belgrade in the 2014 ANGT Championship Game. The 2015 ANGT Championship Game was a repeat between those teams and Real Madrid won the title - the first of its record four U18 continental crowns. One of the leading figures for Real in the 2015 final was Emanuel Cate, who collected 11 points, 8 rebounds and 8 blocks in a 73-70 victory.
Cate was also the first Romanian player to appear at the ANGT Finals. And Badalau will be the second - a fact about which he is very proud.
“I’m always proud and satisfied when I can represent my country in top-level competitions,” said Badalau, who averaged 21.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 5.5 fouls drawn for a PIR of 22.5 at ANGT Belgrade. “I take every competition as an opportunity to represent something bigger than myself and that carries weight. I’ve taken this concept with me everywhere I go. And I’m so grateful to represent also Romania and give it all my best.”
The native of Giurgiu - a city about 50 kilometers from Bucharest - left Romania in 2021 at age 15 and went to E3 Energy Todi. One year later he joined the Milan organization and last season played in the ANGT Milan and averaged 14.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.8 steals.
Badalau did that despite being a year underage for the event and expectations were high that he would play well at this season’s ANGT Belgrade. Badalau had a first game to forget against the U18 Next Generation Team Belgrade with just 7 points on 3-of-16 shooting for a performance index rating of 3 - albeit a 75-68 victory.
That game tipped off at 11:00 local time. By the time Milan faced host U18 Crvena Zvezda Belgrade at 17:00 later that day, Badalau had a completely different mindset.
The 1.97-meter forward connected on 13-of-20 shots - including 3 three-pointers - in scoring 34 points to go with 11 rebounds and 5 assists for a PIR of 38. The game was all the more thrilling as Zvezda’s Andrej Kostic scored 32 points, but in vain as Milan prevailed 97-90.
“That game has a special meaning for me. It was the second game of the day, and the first one didn't go as I expected. I was a little bit down and before the game, a very important person to me told me: ‘Give them something to talk about.’ And I just did it,” he said.
“Besides the points I scored and what I did on court, I can say that game changed something in me as a player and helped me a lot to really believe in myself.”
That new-found belief in himself will undoubtedly help Badalau as he looks to make more history for Milan - and Romania.