More About Our City

We had a little time off over Christmas so Teri and I were able to see more of the city. I thought I would post a few pictures so you all could see a little bit of what the daily life looks like around here.

This first picture below is taken from the edge of the mountains which surround Belo Horizonte. It is overlooking the part of the city where we live, but it doesn't even come close to showing how large our city actually is. This is just a small part of it. To put it into perspective, the metro area here has more people than the entire state of MN.

These next few photos are just simple shots taken around our home. It gives you a feel of what the climate is like in December here. The photo of Teri in a park is taken a block from our apartment. We enjoy going here often since it is so close and it is a nice place for a casual walk. One of my favorite pictures is the one of Teri looking very nervous standing next to a few wild monkeys. These small primates are not shy...Teri had a sandwich, and it is hard to tell in the picture, but a couple of them were definitely eyeing it and were getting ready to pounce. The last picture is a scenic view of our city at night, but I can't take credit for that photo...I found it in a Google Images search. I just thought it was too nice of a pic to pass up.

I hope you liked the pics. I will likely add more in the future when we have them.

We wish you all a safe New Years! Look back on 2010 and appreciate the people and experiences you had!! God Bless!

My New Home for the New Season

I decided to play the 2010-2011 season down in Brazil.

I know I haven't done a great job updating my blog...well, let's face it...I haven't updated my blog at all since the conclusion of last season. I am sorry about that. It has just been a busy summer and I wasn't even sure if I was going to be blogging this year. But a lot of friends and family have been on me to write on here so that they can see a little bit about what my life is like abroad. So, here we are at last: an update...

I really enjoyed playing last season in Italy and Poland, so I thought I was going to be heading back across the pond to play in Europe. I was in negotiations with some teams but didn't exactly find a great fit. That is when a team from Brazil asked me if I would be interested in traveling South rather than East to play this season. Ironically, just a week prior to that, my wife and I (most of you know this but I married my beautiful wife, Teri, this past summer) were talking about where we would like to travel and live this year. We both had not been to South America at all, and we had talked about how Brazil would be a place we really wanted to visit sometime. Everything seemed to fall into place for us. So we agreed to play for the Minas Tenis Clube in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

The Club is actually in the middle of the city and has a few different professional teams that compete in the Brazilian top leagues. We have the men's basketball team, obviously, and we compete in the top league known as the National Brazilian Basketball league (or NBB). We also have a men's and women's volleyball team, swimming, tenis, gymnastics, indoor soccer, and maybe even a couple more that I can't think of right now. The Club has been around for over 80 years and has had a lot of success. We have very nice facilities and a professional administrative staff which makes playing here a lot of fun. I am thoroughly enjoying it so far and am happy with my decision to play in Brazil this season.

Our team is made up of mostly Brazilian players, our coach and team captain are from Argentina, and we have two Americans (including myself). We have a solid team and have started the season well so far. Our record is 5-2 and we most recently beat the team that was at the top of the NBB standings. It was a great win right before the Christmas break.

We are now on our Christmas break which has allowed my wife and I time to see the city more. We are really enjoying the city, climate, and culture. Belo Horizonte has the 3rd largest metro population in Brazil...quite a change coming from small town Minnesota, but we are adapting well to it. The weather is amazing; 80's everyday. Kind of interesting to go swimming in an outdoor pool in the middle of December, but we are enjoying it. This will be the first non-white Christmas for Teri and I.

I will be posting some pictures later and talking more about our daily lives here in Brazil, but I just wanted to share with you guys about where we are and that we are doing well. God bless you all. Enjoy your Christmas!!!!

Top 10 From the Last Month of the Season (Playoffs)

Finals Game 4

Facing elimination we began Game 4 with a lot of energy and passion. We were not going to give up that easily. We wanted to play Game 4 as hard as we could and not let Prokom just walk in and take the title from us on our home court. We began the game on fire jumping out to a 16-4 lead. We carried our lead throughout most of the game. We fought and scrapped for every rebound, lose ball, and basket. As the end of the game neared however, Prokom cut into our lead. They took a one point lead with 14 seconds to go in the game. We had a couple tries at winning the game but could not get great looks and ended losing the final game of the season by one point 79-80.

Our fans, coaches, players, owners, and all of Wloclawek proudly accepted our silver medals which represented a great year of success for Anwil Wloclawek.

Finals Game 3

Game 3 was in Wloclawek for our first home game of the Finals. The atmosphere in our arena was wild! We have the best fans in Poland and they were behind us the whole way. We played very hard and it was a back and forth game. With many lead changes it was going to be coming down to the wire. We had a 7 point lead in the 4th quarter but couldn't find an answer to stop Logan for Prokom. He was able to score late in the game and lead his team to the win 76-79.

Finals Game 2

Game 2 was an away game for us. We played well and had a lead for a large part of the game but Prokom shot the lights out and got us in the end to beat us by 7 points again.

Finals - Game 1

We lost the first game of the Finals on Prokom's home court. The final score was 86-93. The second half began with a very poor shooting performance by us which resulted in a 25 point deficit. We had a 'never give up' attitude as we got within 5 points with under two minutes to go in the game, but we couldn't get any closer than that.

Game 2 is tomorrow night, May 24. This game is also on Prokom's home court before we return home gor Game 3. The city we are staying in, Gdynia, is on the coast of the Baltic Sea.

WE ARE GOING TO THE FINALS!

We completed the semi-final series with an 80-76 win at Polpharma on Saturday. It was a very difficult and hard fought game. Both teams played with a lot of passion and intensity for the full 40 minutes.

We fell behind by a few possessions early but we kept the game close throughout the first half. The rest of the game neither team could go on a run to separate themselves. As I mentioned before, it was a very physical game and we got into some serious foul trouble. All of our big men had 4 or 5 fouls by the end of the night. But we persevered through until the final buzzer to hold on and win the game, and in turn, the series.

We now are in the Finals which will start this coming weekend. We are playing the #1 seed, Prokom.

Game 3

We suffered our first playoff loss of the season last night (Thursday) as we played Game 3 on the road against Polpharma. The final score was 89-99. It was a tough night from the start as Polpharma was hitting all their shots and we were struggling to get into our regular flow. We found ourselves down 33-55 at the end of the first half.

We wanted to come out in the 2nd half of the game and play our game and get things back on track. We started chipping away at the lead and cut the lead to single digits towards the end of the 3rd quarter. We were within 8 several times, but unfortunately for us it proved to be too big of a hole for us to dig out of as we eventually came up short of the comeback.

To make matters worse, our captain, and main 3 point threat, went down with an ankle injury. But we all are staying together and are ready for Saturday's Game 4.

Highlights from the first game of the semi-finals...

Game 2 of the Semis

We won Game 2! That makes the series 2-0. We need one more win to move on to the Finals! We play Thursday night at Polpharma.

First Game of the Semi-Finals

We got the win in Game 1 of the Semi-Final round against Polpharma! The final score was 86-75. Polpharma is a great team, but we played very well throughout the match. Our team chemistry was flowing as we were getting great looks on offense as well as fighting hard together on the defensive end. It was another night of balanced scoring which is difficult for our opposing teams to defend. Our fans were also there again in great force to help us along to the victory. Game 2 is schedule for Monday night (May 10th). Hopefully we can get the win and go up 2-0 in the best of 5 series.

Highlights from Game 3 (round 1)

Highlights from Game 2 (round 1)

Highlights from Game 1 (round 1)

Sweep

We finished off the series on Saturday with a 103-54 win in Warsaw. With the 49 point win, it was the highest margin of victory in the league this season. We now move on to the semi-final round which will begin later this week. I will be posting the highlights to these past three games soon.

God bless you all.

Game 2 of Round 1

Our second playoff game ended with a game winning shot opportunity....

The first half of this one began a lot like our first game did. We started the game shooting really well taking a 56-40 halftime lead. The second half cooled off for us however as Polonia (Warsaw) chipped away at our lead.

With a couple minutes to go in the game we were still holding on to a 9 point lead. But that lead was not safe after a couple desperation shots by Polonia at the shot clock buzzer somehow found the bottom of the net. One of the shots was a banked in 3-pointer which brought Polonia within 3. Then after we did not get a good look on the offensive end, Warsaw had the ball with 24 seconds left in the game with Anwil still holding on to the 3 point lead. We did not want to give up a 3 pointer and give them a chance to tie the game, but in doing so they were able to connect with a back-door layup to make it a 84-83 Anwil lead. We went to take the ball out and as one of our players was trying to get free for the pass, he pushed off his defender and got called for an offensive foul.

So now it was Polonia's ball to inbound with just 6 seconds to go (Anwil still up by one point). We were switching all screens and in doing so ended up having our 5 man, Alex Dunn, defending their scoring guard. He crossed over and got past Alex for what was looking like a game winning lay-up, but then out of nowhere Alex recovered and blocked the shot out of bounds from behind. There was still about 2 seconds left on the clock so Polonia had one more shot at it. Their point guard got the inbound pass and put up a floater in the lane as time expired...the ball was up...hit the backboard in the middle of the square.....and rimmed out! Talk about some drama!! The final score was 84-83.

This win puts us ahead in the series 2-0, so we need one more win to move on to the next round. Game 3 is Saturday in Warsaw.

First Playoff Game

We had our first playoff game tonight. Our first round opponent is the team from Warsaw. The result of tonight's match was a 108 to 83 victory for Anwil. We played hard and well throughout the game as we extended our lead to as much as 35. We had a very balanced scoring game as we had seven players reach double figures and two more with 8 points a piece. So that is nine guys with 8 or more points. A great team win for us.

Game 2 in the best of 5 series is tomorrow (April 28) at home.

The league website is http://www.plk.pl/ if you would like to stay updated (although the site is in Polish so you may need a translator).

Our team website is listed at the top of my blog.

And if you would like to keep tabs on the tournament bracket you can find one by clicking here.

Playoff Trailer

Our Fans at the Last Home Game...

Prokom Game

The much anticipated game between the #1 and #2 teams in our league (us and Prokom) was finally played this past Monday (April 19th). The arena was filled to the max and was extremely loud; a fun experience to be a part of. The game began Prokom's way as they jumped out to an early lead. We fought back though and made it a close game be the end of the 1st quarter. The second quarter both teams played basically even on paper as we closed out the half down 34-38. The game was very physical as both teams fought hard to claim the top spot in the league. There were several hard fouls, intentional fouls, and technicals throughout the match.

The 3rd quarter belonged to our side as we scored efficiently and were able to hold Prokom to just 12 points. The start of the 4th quarter had Anwil up 58:50. Prokom wasn't going away however as they clawed their way back to even the score with a couple minutes to go. We couldn't connect on our last few possessions as Prokom capitalized on a couple turnovers to take the lead. After hitting the free throws after we were forced to foul, the final score was in favor of Prokom 73:78.

It is now playoff time. We are the number 2 seed in the tournament and play the winner of the #7 and #10 teams. The game is scheduled for Tuesday the 27th.

Sold Out

The tickets for our game against Prokom went on sale Saturday (two days before the game) and were sold out in about an hour. This photo shows our fans waiting in line to get their hands on the tickets. It should be a very fun atmosphere at the game.

Last Regular Season Game

Due to the tragedy that Poland endured last Saturday all the Polish basketball games were postponed. Our final regular season game against Prokom was rescheduled for this coming Monday, the 19th of April.

The devastating events that took place this past weekend should remind us of how fragile life can be. Be thankful for the people you have in your life and never take friendships or family for granted. Our prayers are with the families that were affected by the plane crash and the country of Poland as a whole. God bless.

Yet another win for Anwil

We kept the winning streak going as we went on the road to claim another victory. This time it was against Stalowa Wola. We went into the game playing without our starting Polish point guard due to a small injury. And from the start things were a little rocky for us. We went the first few minutes of the game without scoring and found ourselves down by about 10 early on. We kept our focus though and started to play our game as we got it back to just a one point deficit at the end of the 1st quarter.

We continued to play well, especially on the offensive end, for the rest of the game as we were able to consistently extend our lead. The final score showed Anwil 107 and Stolowa Wola 78. The largest point spread for us this season.

It was another balanced scoring game as we had 6 players score in double figures. With this win it puts our record at 22-3 with just one game left in the regular season. Prokom has a record of 23-2...and guess who we play at home for the last game...yep...Prokom. It should be a really fun game. If we win then we would be tied for first in the league. So then it would come down to a tie breaker. And in order for us to win the tie breaker we would have to win by 14 points or more. This would be very difficult considering Prokom was in the Finals for the Euroleague this year, but we are looking forward to the game next Friday night (the 16th).

Highlights from March 17th Game

Break

If you all are wondering why I have not been posting anything on here it is because we had a long break between games. After our last game we had three full weeks before our next game. April 7th is when our next game is scheduled. It is a road game. Then we play a week later at home to finish out the regular season.

God bless you all.

Home win

After a big win on the road this weekend at Turow, we came home to play Znicz Jaroslaw on Tuesday, March 16. We played good defense from the start as we went into the halftime break up 41-20. The second half wasn't as pretty though as we turned the ball over and allowed Znicz to shoot their way back into the game. They gradually came back and with under a minute to go in the game we found our lead dwindle to just 3 points. We ended up holding on to the win with a final score of 72-68. Although we had too many turnovers, we did out-rebound our opponent 42-27. With that win our record stands at 21-3 with two games remaining in the regular season.

Win this weekend locking up 2nd place

We had a very important road game this past weekend on Saturday, March 13. We played Turow...a team in which we lost to during the Polish Cup tournament a few weeks ago in the same arena. If we were to win the game we would lock up 2nd place in the regular season in our league.

Another obstacle we had to face was playing the game without our leading scorer who was not playing because of illness. But we were determined from the start as we fought hard and went blow for blow with them ending the 1st quarter up by two: 24-22.

The game was much anticipated in the public eye as Turow is a very good team and they had already beaten us a few weeks back. Many rowdy Anwil fans actually made the 8 hour trip to support us which gave us a little extra adrenaline from time to time. The game was nationally televised as well. And the viewers received a good show as there was plenty of emotion and hard played basketball. The game remained close throughout the first half ending with Turow up by 2 at the break.

The third quarter was ours though as we outscored Turow 24:14 and took a solid lead. We held on to this lead with some timely three point baskets and defensive stops. The final score was 88:80...a very exciting win for our club.

As always we had very balanced scoring on our side. We had 6 players in double figures including 16, 16, 15, 11, 10, and 10. I personally had 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 steals.

As I said before, with this win we have now locked in second place in the regular season standing with a record of 20-3. Prokom has a record of 20-2 and we have yet to play them at home. We now have a home game Tuesday before the all-star weekend. After Tuesday's game we have a long break before our next game.

As a side note, the weather is nice here. It stays in the upper 30's and lower 40s most of the time. God bless you all!!

Highlights from our last home win (March 6, 2010)

Polish National Team

My coach here was just named the Polish National Team's coach. Congrats. We also have a couple players on our team who have played or who are still playing on the national team.

Another Win!

Anwil got another win this past weekend! We played Energa Czarni at home. The game began with us jumping out to an early 10 point lead as we were effective on offense and held them on D. Our point guard was getting to the rim and finishing well, and our big man also had good looks inside. We gave back the lead however as we neared the end of the first half down by 5 points. With time winding down I set a screen for our point guard and popped out to the wing. He hit me with a throw back pass and I made the 3 pointer to draw us within 2 going into halftime.

We were not happy with the way we gave back the lead so we were determined to come out in the second half and correct the score. It took a little while to regain the lead for good, but we shot the ball well lead by our other 4 man hitting 3-3 from behind the arc as we took back the lead by the end of the 3rd quarter by 7 points.

The lead was extended to double digits in the fourth to give us more cushion. It seemed that we had the game pretty much under control by midway through the fourth. There was a lot of scoring done by both teams in the 4th quarter (28 points scored by each) as we cruised in for the win: 96-89.

With that win our record stands at 19-3. Good for second place so far in the league. The first placed team, Prokom, has a record of 20-2. And Polpharma, with a record of 16-6 has the third place spot. My first game here was against Polpharma when we beat them by 17. Later this month we are scheduled to play Prokom at home. Prokom is also in the Euroleague. For those of you that don't know...here in Europe teams belong to their own leagues in their country (Our's is PLK...the top league in Poland). And sometimes the top team(s) from each of the major leagues in Europe also play in what is called the Euroleague. The Euroleague is known to be the best league in the world aside from the NBA. So there is good competition here.

I hope all of you back home in the Midwest have a great last couple weeks of winter! Stay warm! God bless you all.

Pics from last game

For more pictures visit our website at: http://www.wtkanwil.com.pl/ and click on 'Galerie'

Road Win

We played on the road this weekend and picked up a big win. The opposing team got off to a very fast start the first quarter as we found ourselves down 30-22 after the first 10 minute period. We knew we had to dig deep defensively and put a stop to that...and that is exactly what we did. We held them to just 6 points in the 2nd quarter as we went into halftime with a 42-36 lead.

The second half was solid all around for our team. We continued to play tough defense as well as get good looks offensively. As the final buzzer sounded it was Anwil 88 and Kotwica Kolobrzeg 74. I know I have talked about this already in past posts, but I really enjoy how everyone on our team is a threat offensively and can score. We have such a balance in the team that it is tough for opposing defenses to contain all of our guys.

We have a home game this weekend on Saturday. Only 5 more games to finish out the regular season before we begin our rigorous playoff schedule.

Helping out around the community

Earlier this week a few of us on the team participated in the opening ceremony for a local gym in the area. We played in a friendly game against a local team and just hung out with some of the fans.

Anwil Team

Polish Cup Game

We had a game earlier this week. It was the semi-final game of the Polish Cup. The Cup is a tournament that is played in the second half of the year against the best Polish teams. It is kept separate from the league record, but most often the games are played against teams within our league. We had to play away so we drove by bus close to the Germany border. It was over 7 hours in the bus, but it wasn't bad due to the fact that we took several breaks.

Our opponent, Turow, was a very good team and they showed this by jumping out to an early lead. The substitution rotation this game found me playing the entire 2nd and 4th quarters. My teammate in my position played the 1st and 3rd quarters. After the early lead taken by Turow, we fought back and made the game close towards the end of the 1st half. But by halftime we were down several possesions again.

The atmosphere in the gym was VERY loud. Noise-makers are not banned from these games, so my ears literally were ringing long after being on the court. It reminded me of the cow-bells that SDSU used to use in their arena. The gym was small and packed which added to the hostility. The game was also aired on Polish TV. It was a fun atmosphere to play in.

The second half was very similar to the first. They jumped out to a lead as we came storming back to make it a close game, but we couldn't quite take the lead back. So after fouling several times at the end we ended up losing the game by 9 points. The championship game is being played Sunday in Warsaw.

If you want the offical write-up of the game, along with stats, click here.

We now have until next Saturday (the 27th) until our next match. It is a road league game.

God bless you all!

Highlights from last game

We are the team in white. I am wearing the number 32 in this game, but I think I will be number 22 for the rest of the season.

First game with new team!

Tonight was my debut with Anwil Wloclawek of Poland. It was a very important game for us because we are in 2nd place in the league and the team we played tonight, Polpharma, is in 3rd place. Going into tonight's match up we had a record of 16-3 while Polpharma was 14-5. So as you can see it was very important to get the win to seperate ourselves from them in the standings.

Going into the game I wasn't sure how much playing time I would get because it is a new situation and I just arrived earlier in the week. I just stayed ready if coach called on me and cheered my team on from the bench. We got off to a good start as we raced out to an early 8 point lead, but that lead diminished as we closed out the first quarter up by only 2. The second quarter stayed close as well as we went into halftime up by 5 points. I didn't play at all in the first half, but it was a good chance to get a feel for the game and the atmosphere. The Anwil fans were great. They filled up the seats and were loud.

As the 3rd quarter progressed it became a back and forth battle. We just couldn't pull away. I think we were down by 1 when coach looked to me to enter the game for the first time. I went in with 3 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter. Right away I got a quick garbage basket from a loose ball put back, and then I hit a 3 pointer on a pick and pop a little bit later. I then got a pass from our center and put in a short jumper as we jumped ahead by 7 points at the end of the quarter. Coach played me the rest of the game as we eventually won by 17 points. It was a great team win.

I knew my playing time would be limited so I just wanted to play as hard as I could and give 110% effort. The first few buckets I got were a nice little added bonus with the win, but I did miss a few more shots than I wanted to in the 4th. :) But that is what I like so much about this team. It is very well balanced. There isn't just one or two guys they look to. It is a very well-balanced attack on offense. And this style has obviously brought a lot of success to the team so far.

So now our record is 17-3 and we stand alone in 2nd place in the league. Our next game is Wednesday. This game is for the Polish Cup. The Polish cup is a season-long tournament that is played throughout the year. We are in the final four right now, so if we win on Wednesday on the road then we will be in the championship game for the Polish Cup title.

This video is a promo video on the team website. I am wearing number 32 in the video but I will be number 22 for the rest of the season I believe.

The picture in the header is our arena.

New Team!

Hey everyone. Sorry for the absence of new posts on my blog. I have been trying to decide which direction to take my career. And I have finally decided...

After turning down a few basketball job offers that did not catch my attention, I have decided to sign with a team in Poland. After leaving Pavia I was waiting for the right offer to come along and not just dive into something too fast. So after much deliberation I accepted a job from the team Anwil Wloclawek. Don't try to sound that last part out...trust me...I have asked my teammates 100 times how to say it and I STILL can't pronounce it correctly.

So I am now living in Wloclawek, Poland. Anwil is the sponsor. The team currently is in second place in the top league in Poland. What interested me about this team is that they have a winning tradition, a good fan base, and great facilities. This team also had offered me a job before the season started and I was very close to taking the job then instead of going to Italy. The Pavia job and this Anwil job were my final two possibilities that I had to choose between. So luckily, it seems, the team still wanted me after I left my Italian team.

I signed the contract a few days ago and flew out here. I even brought my parka with me as Poland can get quite cold. It is not as cold as MN or ND, but it is definitely not too far behind. The past fews days I have spent getting to know the coaches and my teammates and getting settled into my apartment. We have had several practices already and I like everything so far. Coach here is an intense guy and really wants his players to go hard all day. I don't mind the hard work, so this shouldn't be a problem. The head coach doesn't speak English so the assistant coach translates for us at practice.

The team website is: http://www.wtkanwil.com.pl/ if you want to check it out.

This picture below is of me and the coaches talking when I first arrived in Wloclawek.

Something New

Hello everyone. If you have been checking into my blog the past few weeks, you have probably noticed that I have not been writing many updates lately. This is mainly because there were some developments going on that I did not tend to share with the public until I knew for sure what was going to happen.

In this business (overseas pro basketball) there are often personnel changes that are made throughout the year. It is almost guaranteed that a team will get new players a few times during the season. Our team has been struggling to win the close games and as a result we had a poor record. We played well with the best teams in the league...as an example, we played the top ranked team in our league a few weeks back and we had the game won in the last minute of the game until some misfortune fell upon us. Regardless, our record was not great and therefore new players were brought in at times. Through December I think we signed a total of four new players and, since there are only a certain amount of roster spots for players with certain nationalities, other players needed to decide what was best for them for the remainder of the season.

I won't get into too much detail on this public blog, but if you would like the inside details from me first hand, you can definitely e-mail me and ask. Basically what happened was that I was playing a lot of the 4 position this year due to the fact that we did not have many post players. My natural position is the 3. I accepted this role even though it wasn't my primary position. However, with the team continuing to lose games, and after many other personnel changes that didn't seem to work, it was decided that more size was necessary in the low post. Getting more of a true 4 position became the new goal. We tried to sign a true 4 man and move me back to the 3, but we could not find an Italian big man to fit the mold. So, since we needed to possibly look at bringing in an American big man, we decided that it was best if I left the team to look for other possibilities in order to free up the American roster spot that I held.

The team and I had a meeting and left everything on good terms. I am still in Italy weighing my options for the near future. I have had a few offers from other teams, but I have not yet decided what I will be doing for the rest of the season. If I decide on a team, I will likely post it on here within a couple days of making a decision.

God bless you all. Ciao.

We were on the road this week in Brindisi. It is the farthest road trip of the year, but we flew so it wasn't the longest trip. Brindisi is in the southeast corner of Italy right next to the Sea. They have unbelievable fans...it was a packed house and they were filling up the gym well before we got there.

I should also mention that we signed a new American player last week to our team...Joseph Forte. Forte played at UNC a few years back before being drafted to the NBA. After a couple years in the NBA he came over to Italy to play abroad. I have gotten a chance to get to know him and he should be a great addition to our team.

The game was well played throughout. Our largest lead came in the 3rd quarter when we were up by 15 or so. Brinidisi answered though with some streaky three point shooting. Before we knew it, the game was tied. The 4th quarter went back and forth until we found ourselves down 3 with about 40 seconds to go. We got an important stop on defense to set up our offense. Forte drove and kicked the ball out to me for three. When I let it go...I 'knew' it was going in...but it rimmed in and out a couple times before somehow falling back off the rim. We were still down three and needed another defensive stop. We collected the rebound so we had another shot at it still down by three with 19 seconds left. Joe had the ball and shot a pull up three for the tie, but it hit back rim and came off. There was a scramble for the ball and I got my hands on it and tipped it back out to a teammate. Brindisi then fouled us on the floor with 3 seconds to go because we were not yet in the bonus. We had a sideline inbounds with 3 seconds left. We got the ball in to Forte at the top of the three point arc...he shot faked and threw up an off balanced shot for the tie. The ball looked like it was going in, but similar to my shot, rimmed in and out as time expired. Another tough loss to swallow. It was a well played game by both teams.

Back in Italy

Well, I am back into my routine over here in Pavia. I finally made it back after some tough holiday traveling. And I was right, there was a little bit more to go wrong for me. I finally got back to Milan and my luggage was lost. I eventually got it back though a few days later so it was not that big of a deal. Although, I did have some American food in there which was a Christmas gift from the parents so it would have been dissappointing to miss out on that.

We had a week after I got back to get ready for our next game against Sassari. They are at the top of our league standings so it was a good test right away for us. We played amazingly well. We shot 55% from three, 62% from two, and even 91% from the free throw line. It seemed like every shot we took was going to go in. I personally started to get into a rhythm from three point range and hit my first 5 out of 5 shots from behind the arc. Everything was going well but we somehow still found ourselves tied at halftime 46-46. The second half started the same way as the first...everything going in the hoop. The problem was that the ball did not have a preference as to which basket to go in. Both teams were making shot after shot. Although we were ahead by a possession or two the whole game, once again we found ourselves making a couple mistakes late in the game that would cost us. We were up 95-94 when one of our players was forced into a trap. The ball was stolen and they went to the other end to take the lead. We had another chance with the clock winding down, but unfortunately we did not even got a shot off. After a few free throws the final score was 97-100 in favor of Sassari. Nobody really likes 'moral' victories. This win would have been huge for us, so we were all very dissappointed. It is tough to play so well and still end up losing the game. But I guess that happens sometimes in pro sports.

I hope you all had a great holiday season celebrating Christmas and bringing in the New Year. In 2010 try to make this world a better place somehow. Whether it is something you want to get better at personally, or something you bring to others...let's not take this year for granted. God bless you all!!