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.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
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!!
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!!
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