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!!