With first place in Euroleague’s Group H already locked up, Xavi Pascual decided his superstar, Juan Carlos Navarro, could use a little rest.  With Chuck Eidson also out with a sprained  knee, things would look a little different in the Barca backcourt.

Enter: Pete Mickeal.  His 20 points, two threes, seven rebounds, two assists and 32 minutes all either surpassed or matched his previous season highs, and Barcelona eked out the 70-67 victory against their Israeli counterparts.

We talked after the game about staying aggressive, how Xavi Pascual manages Barcelona’s depth and about their upcoming playoff match-up with Unics Kazan.