David Jover and Marta Campderrós, two former sports reporters for the newspaper ARA, are among the ten Catalans working within Dubai Basketball's structure. The club, which began competing in the EuroLeague this season, is experiencing difficult times, as the city in the United Arab Emirates has been bombed and its airspace closed for days.

A Barça side with more courage than legs came within a hair's breadth of an impossible comeback. The Blaugrana, who were not far from overcoming a 20-point deficit, lost to Fenerbahce (78-82) and have now suffered four consecutive defeats. The EuroLeague leader and reigning champion remained calm in a high-voltage final stretch in which Sarunas Jasikevicius stopped the game to file a protest. Jan Vesely was unable to celebrate his 400th EuroLeague game with a victory. Kevin Punter (24 points) was the best player for a Barça team hampered by a poor performance from Will Clyburn, who missed 11 of his 12 shots. Xavi Pascual, who included Darío Brizuela in his lineup, tried countless tactical solutions. "We reacted too late and only fought in the final stretch," lamented the coach.