Home

Ok, we've been running around like crazy pretty much all day, every day (except for those SUPER slow, late mornings we always take...) so not much time on the computer, but just loving home! Spending a lot of time with Jodi and Morgan and friends, had a great Christmas with the fam, and just took our engagement photos today with our super-talented photographer of a cousin Boyd! Loads of pics to come :) Back in Italia Friday (will have to catch the second half of the LSU game in the Atlanta airport... hopefully...)

Hold those horses...

Ok, so I spoke a little too soon... The holidays will not officially start till we get HOME! We got held up in Rome and missed our flight to America, which was like the worst scenario possible. I could right a book right now on how stupid and frustrating airports are, especially the ones in Europe, ESPECIALLY the ones in Italy from my experiences... Through a series of frustrating events, it has been deemed MY fault we missed our flight, and I had to pay a penalty and out the "wazoo" for my ticket home because the other was restricted. But, we got to spend the day with Kiki because she was home, so she pretty much saved us. Things could have been a lot worse, so we just had to accept what we were given cause there was nothing we could do about them (we came to this conclusion after a lot of huffing and puffing and venting about how ridiculous all of it was, but better late than never, right?). Our baggage wasn't here in Atlanta when we arrived, so we will need to pray that those arrive magically in BR when we get there...

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I know this is weird, but the internet cut out on me in the airport... I even had a whole two paragraphs wrote out and everything. I thought it was interesting stuff, but if it really was, then I'll fit it in later. Oh, and our bags did not arrive, but should be delivered tomorrow. We shall see. Home is great! Shopping in a day will get interesting though. Merry Christmas!!!!

Holidays have officially started!

So we went 2-0 while Morgan was here! I didn't have great games, but in each of them I had a few minutes of spark in the second half to help propel us to victory. I can't complain :)

And now the day I've been waiting for--the day we've been counting down for weeks--is finally here. Mo and I will begin our 20 hour journey back to the states in about 4 and a half hours, so we're excited... Well I'm super excited, and he of course wishes he could spend more than a week in Italy.... understandably.

Ok, well here's a quick recap of the first half of our season: We are still undefeated in the Italian League! We've played everyone once, so now we will go back and play everyone again at the opposite site (home/away), then the play-offs start. In Euroleague we have pretty much secured 3rd place in our group which is good enough to qualify for the next round! We are excited about that.

On a more individual note, I had to go look up my stats because I try not to pay attention to them much. Basketball is a team game, and individual stats shouldn't be on the mind very much (especially someone who plays for a winning team and is under a 3-year contract!). Here we go for the Italian league though: In 11 games 9.3 points per game, and shooting 34% from the 3 pt. line. I went 19/20 from the free throw line. Not great, but not too shabby. For the 8 Euroleague games, I did a bit better: 12.4 points per game, and shooting 54.5% from the 3 point line (which is 4th in the league to go along with 3rd in the league in 3 pt. FG made per game). And I went 11/12 from the FT line. I can be proud of myself for that.

Plus this recent article from the FIBA website--http://www.fibaeurope.com/cid_KNce8jInH7Qj1EsyH5rjn2.teamID_92200.compID_jr6ZiXqeGhMBtfq1yxqV83.season_2010.roundID_7049.playerID_71492.coid_7,80fggBJU2zY8i1EbQYf0.articleMode_on.html

Our team has a lot of improving we need to do, as do I, but it feels great to be with the group that I'm with and I feel very privileged and blessed to be a part of what's going on this season.

Hope to see all my people while I'm home!!!

Countdown!!!

We can see the finish line!!! Well, you know, to Christmas time and a big fat 10 day break anyways! We are feeling the fatigue a little much lately, and a LONG trip to the middle of no where in Russia (Ekaterinburg) which is 4 time zones over, getting our behinds kicked by 30 and then traveling back to play a few days later did not help... We began that next game horribly and were losing by 20 on the road to the second place team in our Italian League. I didn't know it at the time, but they only had one loss going into the game, so it was more important than I thought.

Our team battled back despite an unruly fan coming and literally banging on the glass right behind our bench. I suppose he thought he was motivating us, but it was very disturbing and thankfully security led him away (someone from our team said that the person isn't allowed in our gym anymore, and I hope that's true). Our fans already don't get along with their fans at all, with fighting in their background, so it wasn't even like they just wanted us to win. I got the feeling from that crazy guy that he was pulling for us so that he could be talking the "smack" and he could be the one to rub it in at the end of the day. Anyways, back to the game. Our team battled back and were close enough with a few minutes left to give ourselves a chance. I, personally, didn't have a great game unfortunately, but I was in for the last few minutes of regulation and all 5 minutes of overtime that we forced mostly for my defense than anything I was doing on offense. Once again, our team just found a way to win. I love the way we finish games. I hated the way we started, but I'm still proud of our effort in the end.

We now have one Euroleague game to play tomorrow and one more Italian league game Sunday to try and finish off the first half of the season undefeated. And Morgan will be here for both!!! We had a very difficult time due to weather traveling back yesterday, but he's here and happy (and for the first time with his baggage!) so we will have a good time in Taranto before we make the journey home next Monday.

Rollin'

Someone asked me if I was enjoying my time here in Taranto. They asked me right after we just won another Euroleague game at home by 14 in front of a crowd of 2800 people, and I had 4 3-pointers in the game (which puts me temporarily in first place in the league in 3-pt. FG made), so my answer was, "Yeah, it's a blast!"

Now, don't ask me that question tomorrow when we're practicing in the afternoon, trying to jog out tired and sore muscles because we have another game Sunday, so no time for a day off!!! But I always make an attempt to enjoy our moments, soaking it all in, smelling those roses when they're blooming :)

A little info on Euroleague. There are 4 groups of 6 teams, each team plays against everyone in their group, home and away, and then the top 4 teams in each group move on to the next round of 16 teams, which is followed by the quarterfinals, then of course the semi's and finals. Seeding is important because a 1-seed team plays against a 4-seed. This win puts us in 3rd place now behind two VERY good and experienced Euroleague teams.

We also won a very close game in a very difficult gym to play in last Sunday. We probably should have lost because we didn't play well, but we got a bit "lucky" at the end. One of our guards had a 4-point play (a three point basket and a foul) with under 30 seconds to play to give us one of our first leads of the game. That game has driven me to quit always cheering for the underdog every time. If a team is better, works harder, is much more efficient as a unit, they deserve to win.

2 Wins

That last Italian game went as expected. They are a very good team that has the ability to do well in our league, but they are not better than we are, especially in our house! They were winning most of the game, and we weren't playing good defense at all, and struggled a bit with their mix of man and zone. However, one characteristic of our team that I LOVE is that whatever happens, we always think we are going to win in the end. It's an awesome thing to play with a "go-to" player like our American post player, and she was a BEAST! She had 26 points in the game. We made a surge at the end of the game against that box-and-one (which is a 2-2 zone and one guard plays man-to-man, and to my surprise the other coach respected my three point shot so much, the guard followed me wherever I went). I only got one three point shot off the whole night, but I made it :)

We travelled all the way to Lithuania this week, which took about 10 hours or so each way, and played against the worst team in our pool in Euroleague. They haven't won a game yet, so we should have killed them, but it was a much closer game. Because of foul trouble and injuries I ended up playing more than anyone even though my knee kept me from practicing the day before. I was probably a little bit fresher than the others, so no harm done in the end, I suppose. I had my point best in my short career so far in Euroleague with 18, so I was pleased with that. Here's my stats after the first round--http://www.fibaeurope.com/cid_KNce8jInH7Qj1EsyH5rjn2.compID_jr6ZiXqeGhMBtfq1yxqV83.roundID_7048.season_2010.teamID_92200.playerID_71492.html. We will go back and play everyone another time, and I would be a fool to expect to be able to play the same way as easily as before. Teams didn't know me at the time, so it's a different battle now.

Bar-B-Que

I've made some buddies around Taranto, which is just so good for the mental health to just get out of the apartment and forget about basketball for a while. It's our life! Plus, athletes are so lazy, myself included. When we aren't practicing, so often we just sit in our apartments, on the computer or watching TV. And in the words of one of my American teammates, "That's a lame way to live!"

Anyways, these buddies all surf and live near the sea (I know how to pick my friends, right!?); one even has a boat that we went on around the city. One of them had a Bar-B-Que last night and I insisted that we watch the LSU game that was coming on (which was my first game the entire season to watch... Thank goodness for the channel ESPN America!!!). Now, the entire group couldn't give a "flip" about American football, but one of the guys was watching with me and even joined in my "L-S-U" chant with me!!! It was a classic moment with his Italian accent and trying to mimic the "L-Sssshoe" sound that I was actually making that now that I think about it probably didn't make much sense. He was a good sport though and watched three quarters with me until I went home to watch the end and get some sleep. (Un)Fortunately, I saw the end of the game.... The clock ticked from 34 seconds to 9 seconds before LSU called a timeout and then Les said that they didn't have time to get the kicking team on, so that's why they decided to try and spike the ball with one second left on the clock at an away game!!! At home, you might get a little help, but come on... That was lame-o.....

Alright, we have a game today and my knee is feeling better. They are another top Italian team, so it will be a toughy!

Historical!

Ok, well, all is NOT going well, we played horribly but still won at home Sunday for our Italian league game, and I'm having knee problems, but any bad stuff that we've encountered thus far this season, has almost completely been erased from the experience we've just been through last night. It's so difficult to capture the moments we had in our last game against a top four Euroleague team (which basically means a top four team in the world...). We led the entire game and had enough of a cushion in the end to withhold their last run and still win by 9 points. Our coach said it was a David vs. Goliath kind of match, but I like to think we were much closer in matchups than those two even though they were taller than us at every single position...

Now, we are NOT better than the Spanish team we just beat. They have two WNBA All-Stars on their team to go along with 2 or 3 other Euroleague All-Stars, and their Spanish players are BIG and well-rounded players. If we had to play them 10 times they might win 8 or 9, but luckily, with our crowd, we got'em last night! :)

Our team played "out of our minds" well (myself included--3 for 3 from 3). We just had no fear going into this game that most teams have when they face these guys. If I'm proudest of anything it's of that lack of fear and how much heart we put in to playing for a complete 40 minutes. If we had let up for a minute or two, they probably win the game. The crowd, which can turn on you at any second I've heard, treated us like rockstars, which was awesome. We still sign loads of autographs and take several pictures with people after the games, and they tell you how fantastic you are. I hope all of our heads don't explode with ego because we have a really tough Italian league game Sunday which is the only other Italian team also playing in the Euroleague. It will be a great chance for us to put some space between us and other teams. My knee is still bothering me, so please say some prayers!

First Euroleague win!

So, we won the team's first ever Euroleague game on the road at Riga, Latvia. I could not have told you exactly where it was until my dad explained it was one of the Baltic states with Lithuania and Estonia. We got pretty close to Russia up there! We are still not where we want to be as far as playing in rhythm as a team, but this was a big step for us. I set a personal best of 5 three pointers with this team in the game, so I was happy with that :)

We also won our last Italian game in Naples. It was probably the worst game we've played so far this year, partially because we struggle against teams that play a lot of zone (which they did most of the game...). I could not make even one three point shot (so the Law of Averages caught up with me last game!) but we still won, keeping our undefeated Italian League streak alive at 5!

Sunday we play at home against Milan, a team that is known for playing 30 out of 40 minutes in a zone defense, so hopefully we can get our zone offense working well with attacking it and knocking down jump shots.

Lastly, I had to share this picture. This is probably the smallest player in our league; she's a very crafty (sometimes dirty, but mostly annoying...) player as she is caught here red-handedly grabbing a defenders arm to then continue to flail and flop over to get fouls called (including this possession here). She's a good player, and I don't think she needs to stoop this low, but whatev... Thought you guys would appreciate it.

A Victory within a Loss

Wow, what a high I was on last night. And I'm not talking about being on anything because of the stomach flu I had this week, but a natural, just happy with the world type of high. We played against a Russian team (which is one of the top teams in the world when they have Cappie Pondexter, arguably the best player in the world healthy and playing) who were supposed to kill us even at our house missing a couple of players. I think they had two or three players over 6' 3" tall, and they were just taller at every other position as well. I wasn't expecting to play a whole lot (remember last Euroleague game? 15 min...) however, a normal starter was out due to the flu, so someone else started in her place and I came off the bench. I had an ok first half, and then I blew up offensively in the second half. I finished with 16 which may as well be 30 against almost any team in the Italian league. We were winning most of the game as well, but in the last few minutes they made a run, and we lost a post player to an injury, and we ended up losing by 5 or so....

Our crowd was fantastic as usual. One knew it was going to be a great game when that person saw the mascot battle 30 minutes before the game. Their mascot was a fox (they actually had fans there!) and our's is a dolphin. The fox had a blow horn like many of our fans, and was going around having little beeping battles while we were warming up. Well, dolphins don't have hands much less opposable thumbs, so what were we to do??? Well, the "delfino" poked a hand out of course! Our president gave him his blow horn and the battle continued.

I'm really proud of our team and how we fought. We showed that if we can play with this team, we should be able to play together and battle against pretty much anyone. And I had the opportunity to show that I can play with some of the best as well... on national TV :) Obviously, I hope we always have a healthy team, but God was looking out for me to have this chance to shine. Now that other teams may be expecting me, the job gets a bit more difficult! Gotta keep working hard :)

Istanbul, Turkey

Well, there's not much to report on the game (we lost, and I didn't play much, but did hit 2 three's) but Istanbul was a city to report about! It was more "Americanized" than we thought with many chains available including McDonald's (which are everywhere!), KFC and Popeye's, Domino's, and Starbucks just to name what we saw of this humongous city. I also did not know that half of Turkey is considered part of Europe, and then across a body of water, the other side is considered part of Asia. Very strange, and they accept both the Euro and "Lire", I believe it's called, in most places.

The Americans took a taxi out to downtown the day before the game, and we were able to go into one of the hundreds of mosques (their places of worship) and a bazaar, which is like their version of a flea market, I suppose. One of the strangest rituals, and at times scary if you don't know what's going on and you get woken up in the middle of the night, is that every 5 hours or so, the mosques get on a loud speaker and sing out their prayers to where the whole area hears. If you are near two mosques, it's almost like they are competing to be heard.

We found some great deals at the Bazaar, but then found out that we got gypped because we didn't shop around first... Anyways, they specialize in mostly scarves, and we bought several of them with a very soft material that would cost you 70 bucks or more in the states for about 10 to 20 there.

We won big Sunday in our Italian league game even though I had one of the worst shooting nights ever! It's nice to spank people when they come to your gym though. It's like back in high school where you're so good you do get a lot of team's "A" game when they play you, but there are those teams that already think they lost when they walk into the gym to play you, which is fantastic! :)

3-0!

Ok, I don't really want to write about every single game because, "A" games and places start running together even in our heads, and things can get boring. And "B", let's face it, some games I don't want to talk about, much less even remember! This game, however, was NOT one of those games, thankfully... but it did start out that way.

We travelled down to Sicily for the only remaining team on the island because my ex-team doesn't exist anymore to play against Priolo, who is known for being near impossible to beat at home for reasons that will remain unmentioned on the world wide web at this time. They have, however, already beaten one of the top three teams in the league on opening day, so they are a team to be reckoned with, especially at home. Priolo throws all kinds of defenses at each team, sometimes without any type of organization or rules, which instead of putting their team at a disadvantage, puts opponents without enough patience to find the open person in a lot of trouble. This was the first game that I didn't start (we seem to be rotating the starting 5 even though I have hit a three in each game on the first possession!) which is totally fine with me because we have so many "legit" players. I didn't really ever get comfortable in the first half, along with our team, and I went scoreless to the locker room at half time thinking this may be another bad shooting performance in Priolo (I never shoot well there... the lighting is bad or something...) I didn't start the second half (this time for good reason) but my coach just told me to shoot more "tranquillo", more relaxed, and some how I found that rhythm when I entered the game. I couldn't miss for the third quarter and the first minute or two of the fourth. I didn't score the whole rest of the game, but within that spurt, I had 19 points to lead our team in scoring. I think I went like 4/5 from three and 5/5 from the free throw line, which only adds up to 17 I know, but either I forgot something, or they gave me two extra points on our website... not sure which :) Anyways, I just wanted to recount about my little personal victory tonight, overcoming what could have easily have been an "off" night of bad shooting. Oh yeah, and we also ended up winning by 5 points even though the refereeing was borderline horrible.

This next game will be a great test for us because they just signed a WNBA star Katie Douglass, and we just need to hope that she's not ready to play for them yet!!! We are going directly to Istanbul tomorrow though, and then we play Wednesday, so that should be exciting. Say some prayers for us!

Now for the "real" part

Ok, we leave tomorrow for a game on the road at Priolo (Sicily), and Kiki is coming for sure (Yay!), not the family from Ribera because of car trouble, and maybe Simona who also played with us last year from Agrigento. The "real" part of the season starts because Euroleague starts next week, meaning in this case that we go directly from Priolo to Turkey for our first Euroleague game. Taranto has history with both teams, first of all just hating Priolo period, and then the Turkish team, Galatassaray, beat them in the EuroCup finals last year (with the help of Seimone Augustus, who is still out with a knee injury and not playing with this team anymore). Instead they have another WNBA player who should give us much to handle. My job is just to stay calm, and play. Sometimes oblivion is a player's best friend in order to not realize the pressure, and that's how I feel right now. Hopefully, it will help more than hurt.

On another note, we did a jumping test yesterday to test our strength and "hops", which I've never totally excelled at, but I'm not "grounded" either. I need to keep my legs strong to prevent further knee problems, so I lift weights pretty hard and consistently throughout the year. I also took part in a "Speedology" program this summer for a month that did a lot of jumping and running with elastic resistance that I really enjoyed and believed in (Karl Frank in Baton Rouge is the owner of it). All that, I believe, contributed to me out-jumping everyone there. The short white kid had the highest vertical. That's just crazy, and I even thoroughly surprised our strength and conditioning coach, Mimmo, that I had more power than our American post player who is a beast of an athlete. Old injuries play a part, as well as age, but who doesn't have old injuries at this point in our careers? I guess I'll keep doing what I'm doing!

2 down, lots to go.

We are now 2-0!

I had a great first half hitting 3 three pointers and a lay-up to help put us up by many points at half time. Even without our true point guard, we were on our way to a blow out even though we were on the road. Our two Americans make up the the last two season Most Valuable Foreign players, one of them a real WNBA threat, who is a beast inside. The other team went to a zone, which is fantastic news for a shooter. Taranto needed more of a 3-pt. threat last year, and I am here to help!

We need work on keeping our focus and playing hard for the entire game. There were times in the second half when we all checked out for a bit (unfortunately, I was guilty as well...) because we can't concentrate on who we are playing. We have to focus on us getting "reps" in and making ourselves better.

We play against a team in Sicily this weekend, so I will get to see Kiki because she is playing with an A2 division team in Ragusa, which is very close. Hopefully I will also get to see Daniella and Fabrizio who were the amazing family we visited many times during our time in Ribera. That group of people is one of the few positives that came out of that situation.

A little extra info here. 3rd year in a row I've flown into the Pisa airport and haven't gotten a chance to see the Leaning Tower! One of these days... Also, we woke up at 4:40 this morning after our game to catch a 6:25 flight, except that we got lost on the way to the airport... We missed our flight and had to DRIVE 9 HOURS to the southern part of Italy. Do I have to tell you how a sleepy, hungry, spoiled group of professional athletes react to that??? It wasn't pretty, but we didn't complain as much as I thought we would have, knowing that our only off day of the week was completely ruined. Next week we start playing in the "Big Dog" games, the Euroleague games, so we will be playing double time. After our game in Priolo Sunday, we go directly to Turkey. I've heard about the religion and culture, and how hostile of an environment their gym can be, so it will certainly be an interesting experience. One more thing-- I did my first phone completely Italian interview with a journalist from the Taranto newspaper this afternoon when I got back. If we're talking about basketball stuff, I would say I'm pretty fluent, it's just the other areas, I still need to improve on. Still a great feeling though :)

One and "O"!!!

We won our first official Italian League game. All first games were played in Naples, so all the teams were in one place, even staying at the same hotel! Can we say social overload?!? It was still a stretch for me to be amongst 100 players, most of whom I know who they are but have never spoken to them, a small part are only acquaintances, and an even smaller part I know enough to go have a conversation with. That group is so small because all but like one player that I've played with in Ribera are no longer in Italy, or just not in the first division any more. Needless to say, awkwardness happened...

But we all got through it. Our team won by like 24 points, and since our mid-week Euroleague games don't start until the end of this month, we have a whole week of practice ahead of us! It's normal for me, but for my teammates who are used to being on an awesome team and playing in two leagues, it's like torture to practice so much. We joked that we Americans had a case of the "Mondays" yesterday AND today :)

Italian Lesson of the blog: "Bello". This can mean the obvious "beautiful" (Jodi's favorite saying is also "Ciao Bella!!!), but it can also be used in the way we use the word "nice", but not in the "she's a nice person" kind of way, but more like "it was nice to meet you" way. I bring this up because my mom saw that someone wrote on my facebook wall "Che bello vederti in tv", and she thought it was some Italian guy saying I looked beautiful on TV... Instead, it was a teammate from last year saying that it was so nice to see me on TV... Mamma mia!!! (Literally!) No more trying to translate people :)

Italian Super Cup Champs!

Ok, so I think this is a rather meaningless title as it is last year's winner of the Italian Championship (us) against the winner of the Italian Cup (Faenza), plus it's the beginning of the year, and the teams aren't exactly the same, but.... it felt great anyways :)

During warm-ups I felt more calm than I thought I would, which is so key to playing well for me. Feeling "at home" at our home gym is still in process for me, and it will be another adjustment to play in front of so many people. When we ran out of the tunnel 30 minutes before game time, the gym was already electrifying. Music was boomin', the crowd went nuts, and it was already pretty packed. There were more people that early than Ribera pulled in about 5 games (Attendance reached to 2200 last night!). Most of my teammates are already used to that, but it was an amazing feeling for me. I tried to soak it in.

I had a pretty good game according to my standards (13 points). We had injuries, like I said, so I played A LOT! We all did with such a short bench. We were winning most of the game, but it was pretty close at the end, and we won by 3 points. There was a celebration afterwards. Cameras were everywhere, kids were all around our bench asking for autographs and pictures. And since I'm new, I think I had even more of a crowd because people were wanting to meet me and tell me how awesome I was. I can totally see how stuff like this goes straight to people's heads. I almost couldn't get back to the locker room! I was trying to be the sweet, representative of Christ player that I strive to be, so I wore my smile and patience for everyone. I'd do just about anything for those sweet kids though. There was this one little boy, still in the stands with his dad right above the tunnel where I was heading, and he wanted a picture. Quick thinking told me that no good picture could be taken through bars plus me being 4 feet below. I climbed up for the picture, and they thought that was fantastic. I need to always keep in mind the amount of influence we as players have on these youngsters. When we were there, we certainly looked up to people like us.

Anyways, well, I heard that things do get ugly with the fans when things go bad. They yell and curse, and want the coach fired just like LSU fans do when they don't play well. But one can't think about shooting slumps and losing streaks. When the fear of those are present, that's when they happen for sure. But last night, they treated us like rock stars. Mamma mia, life's crazy...

There's a highlight video right now on our main website page right now. Just give it time to let it load. It's at: http://www.tarantocrasbasket.com/site/index.asp

Italian lesson of the blog: "Prego". This word is not just the name of the spaghetti sauce. Italians use it for many things including, "you're welcome", "go ahead" (as in "can I take your order" or like "after you" when holding the door). Did you say "grazie" for the lesson??? Prego :)

Prague!!!

Well, first things first, we won!!! We played three games in three days (two within 14 hours of each other--BRUTAL!) and won all three... without a point guard because ours got hurt in the first game, and our other two are not well either. None of the teams were complete though. It was basically "our new, incomplete, and still not in great shape team was better than yours" kind of thing. We beat a really good Prague team (the home team of course) to start things off, then we beat a team that's actually in our Group for Euroleague from Lithuania, and then our 9:30 in the morning game was the one we almost lost, but beat a team from Turkey in overtime. Almost none of it was really pretty, but what I am proud of is that we just found ways to win the game, and that cannot be coached; it's just something that individual players, and hopefully the team collectively, has, and that's huge. I played a lot, not the greatest, but I'm improving and growing more comfortable, so that's all I can ask.

(After we won the tournament!!)

Now, the city was FANTASTIC. We actually got two chances to go into the city and see things for a few hours. I didn't think the Czech Republic would have a whole lot to offer, but the city of Prague was BOOMIN' back in the day. It was 3 times the size of Paris three centuries ago (I guess maybe it still is!) and so much of the architecture is still intact after all this time. It was almost as if you felt you were walking down the streets of the center of Prague in the 18th century, and the squares of "The Lesser Town". It wasn't like Rome, for example, where there is the Coliseum in the middle of the city, and then another monument, surrounded by sometimes chaos and modern buildings. We just kind of got lost in the environment of the palaces and cobblestone walkways (a lot of it was mostly for pedestrians only). Easily, one of everybody's favorite cities in Europe, I would say. It also didn't hurt that most everyone there spoke some English, it being a huge tourist city and all. We took many pictures, so I'll put up only some here, and then the next few Blogs may contain some more.

(Prague was not without it's 200-store, 5-story shopping center!)

Czech: Dekujeme (Jeh-que-yeh-meh) I try to learn at least one word for every country I visit, or for every teammate I have from a different country, and that is "Thank you". Czech seems very difficult to learn, and I'm missing some type of punctuation over the first "e" but I'll try and remember it :)

Tourney in Prague

This has been another tough week of practice, but two out of the three remaining Americans have arrived. I'm hanging in there, but I've never had so many bumps and bruises... It is rough! The price to pay for being on a team with big time players (worth it!). This long weekend, however, we will be playing in a tournament in Prague consisting of 3 other teams that will be playing in Euroleague as well. Hopefully they don't have their full roster yet like we don't (the WNBA is in the play-offs at this point), but it should be a really good test for us. I've also always wanted to go to Prague ever since my cousin, Ella, and her husband, Joel, went across Europe and said Prague was their favorite! As usual, I'm sure we won't have much time to be tourists, but I'll feel more comfortable visiting later if I've been there once already. Here's to adding another country to my list of traveling!

Italian lesson: "Ti amo!" (Italians like other countries have different ways to say I love you to your significant other, and other people you love in your life. This is the "I love you" for that special person).

Strategically Gradual...

We just lost a scrimmage against one of the teams in our league. It doesn't mean a whole lot because we only have 3 guards right now and a younger girl as a sub, and then 4 post players... not quite a whole team especially when the three missing are our three American players. On top of that we aren't in shape like other teams, but I think that may be a sacrifice our team is willing to make.

I haven't spoken to anyone directly about this, but our strength and conditioning coach was very clear not to have us doing any "sprints" (running at 100% of our velocity) until the last couple of practices. In fact, last year this team that ended up winning the Italian championship lost their first 3 or 4 games of the season. However, they weren't burned out at the end of the year, and probably were just peaking in their physical fitness when other teams were on the down side. I'm hoping that's our strategy this year, so no reason to fret.

The picture above was taken at my first practice. The media will be every where this year, so that will take some getting used to. I have already been through other interviews other than my press conference, and really don't like them, only to be told later that after every game the press ask for two players to be interviewed, so I better get used to them... It's not really a bad thing to get pushed out of one's comfort zone, but it's certainly not enjoyable at all times...

Back to Taranto!

We had a scrimmage Saturday night against a division A2 team, and won by like 50 something like we should have. It felt great to get out there and reap some of the benefits of practicing for 9 straight days! Obviously mistakes were made, but our goals were to play like a team and take high percentage shots, which I think we did.

Probably the best thing our coach could have said was said in the locker room before the game. When I shoot totally relaxed, I'm tough to beat, so my personal goal was to be calm through all the excitement of our first "official" game with the team. Our coach, Roberto, said that the new people (only me and another foreigner were new and actually playing) didn't have to show them anything. Meaning, we didn't need to feel the pressure in performing for them to demonstrate what we can do. We are here on this team for a reason. I felt like weights were lifted off my shoulders already in a sense. We were able to go out there and give the dedicated fans a little taste of what we should be able to accomplish this year.

It was crazy after the game. People want to take pictures of us, they want to talk to us after the games, and that's not even the reporters! I had over 50 people from Taranto "befriend" me on facebook this summer before I even arrived. These people are die hard, bleed red and blue (Taranto's colors, of course) fans. Now, they aren't in the numbers of purple and gold fans, or soccer fans in this country, but I can't keep track of everyone I've met thus far already. It's a cool feeling, but something not to get caught up with.

Ok, I got the internet finally, so things should get a little more stable and constant. We play against the Italian National Under-19 Men's team tomorrow evening. That should be interesting... Then we also have a scrimmage against one of the Italian Div. A1 teams Saturday, I believe. And then the two American guards should be arriving next Monday or so. Good stuff to look forward too :)

Half-way through the tough stuff

This part of the season is the most difficult in many ways. For one, I've only been through a training camp like this for the national team two summers ago, so it's not a normal routine you easily get into. However, on one hand, we are being spoiled like college athletes-- they feed us, put us on a schedule for the entire day, drive us together to practices twice a day, and we are also away from distractions of the press, learning the new city, etc. But on the other hand, what makes it so difficult for me is that I'm very eager to get into a comfortable routine. A big part of that is to be comfortable with my teammates and the rest of the staff we spend the entire day with. Another part of that will be having an established role on the team, whether it's what I want or not, at least I'll know something. And also, I'm waiting for someone else to speak english as a first language!!!!! The team's leading scorer, American guard, Megan, will be coming in about 5 days now, so that will be a big plus as well.

Don't get me wrong though. Our Euroleague games WILL BE DIFFICULT. This is what Wikipedia has to say about Euroleague--"The Euroleague (EL), also known as Euroleague Basketball is the highest level and most important professional basketball competition in Europe, with teams from up to 18 different European countries....Clubs from Israel, entirely within Asia, are also part of the system.
The league usually, but not always, includes domestic champions from the leading countries."

So there you go...That part will be difficult too, but if this is the hardest part of the season besides the games, then I feel much more confident now (especially after my best performance in practice so far!) that this will be another great year of great experience.

Italian word of the blog: Schiffo (Ski-fo) meaning "gross" or "disgusting" (Jodi's favorite saying in Italian so far is "Che schiffo!"... "How gross!")

Back in Italia!

Wow, it had been a great summer! I meant to blog, but I really only do so because it's so hard to keep in touch with everyone while I'm over here, so if we missed out on communicating this summer... it's our own faults... :)

Ok, it was a LONG trip over here--longest breaks ever, but almost everything was on time (except for the ONE italian flight, but whatev). I like the no stress and rush of almost missing flights when you cut it close, but over 30 hours by one self... not so preferable either. But everything is going great so far. I'm the only American here so far, and I already like my teammates and coaches. We are at a 10 day training camp at another city, staying in a hotel and practicing at a higher altitude because it is ridiculously hot in the city of Taranto, and a bit cooler here.

Two really cool things that happened. The first MADE MY DAY when I got into my apartment after travelling for so long. I opened my huge bag of gear they gave me, and was so pumped when I saw my old number that I've had since I was in like 8th grade... #11!!!!! It really shouldn't make any difference whatsoever, but it was just comforting, can't really explain it.

The other awesome thing was that my first day in, a press conference was held just for me. It was so crazy, reporters were everywhere, news cameras and flashes were all in my face, and they were asking me a bunch of questions. I still needed a translator, but I'm doing really well with my Italian still. The picture above is (from L to R) our president, vice president, me, our head coach, and my translator, Simone (I'm pretty sure they wanted him OUT of the picture, but he was a nice guy...)

It was such a humbling experience to hear the things they said about me. Both the pres. and vice pres. said that they are looking to make the team younger and build it with good people as well as players and I was one of those "dream" players they were looking for. My coach said similar things that it wasn't by chance I landed in Taranto, but they were totally pursuing me as a player, and they were very pleased with my physical and mental toughness, even though I am an undersized shooting guard.

I'm just amazed at how blessed I am. I am so fortunate to get an opportunity like this. This season will be very defining for me, and it's a little scary, but excitement totally overcomes it.

Getting Back into it! and Africa

Ok, that's it!  Break's over!  Well, for the most part anyway... Vacations ARE already scheduled.  But work has begun again.

I've been home, I've traveled to two softball tournaments.  I've been to a couple LSU baseball games and now a couple of Zephyr baseball games (my first ever!).  I've visited a handful of important people, but there are several still to cover.  It's been about three weeks since I've done a basketball work out, and it about killed me!!!!!  I've done weights a couple of times and jogged a couple of times, but there is no substitute for a 2 and a half to 3 hour basketball workout, complete with quick (hopefully!) full-speed offensive moves and a whole lot of jumping that just isn't in the normal daily routine otherwise.  Needless to say, the "quads" are killing me!  And it's all thanks to Eddie Palubinskas today.  He's been my shooting coach since high school, and although I give so much credit for developing me as a person and a player to my CLA coach, Coach Dallimore, Ed gets "props" as well.  His passion for the game, and his ridiculous confidence in me as a player are just contagious, and I LOVE going to work out in his clinics.  It's SO crucial to have people believe in you, even when you don't feel like you deserve it sometimes.  I've said it before that I have a lot of work to do, and I do, so here it is.  Not every player improves over every summer, but I make it a point to.  It's so exciting to get better isn't it???!!!

Also, Morgan, my fiance is over in Africa right now on a church missions trip, so we are missing him, and praying for him.  Please do one or the other (preferably prayer!) for him :)  I'm so proud of him and the team for raising all that money to go over there and make a difference for that church over in Mozambique.  I only wish that I will have an opportunity one day soon to make it on a missions trip of my own.

Summer!

Ok, Jodi's team lost in their regional... but not before she made some pretty gutsy plays to keep her team alive!  She had the game winning run in their second to last game to keep them alive, and then she got on base again in their season's final inning of play, and then beat out a throw to second base to again keep them alive.  We're proud of her!

So now, we are all home, and the summer has officially begun.  We both have a bunch of unpacking and organizing still to do.  Vacations are planned, and promises are made to better both of ourselves for next season.

On another note, the team I signed a contract with for next season won the Italian Championship!!!!  That is so exciting for them, and it means they will play in an additional league next year with the best teams in the world.  It will be with the best teams in the world, so I have a lot of improving, but a lot of motivation to get better this summer as well.  I will be playing in the big games next year.  The big ones that everyone in the basketball world cares about and watches on TV around Europe and Russia and all over.  Honestly, it is a little scary, but isn't that what playing is all about?  Getting to the big games and pushing yourself to the limits to see what you are made of???  I'm grateful for the opportunity, and I hope and pray that I can stay healthy, and that I take advantage of my opportunities to perform to the best of my ability.  That's how John Wooden defines success anyway: "Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming"

So that includes my preparation this summer.

LC Conference Tournament

I wish I had great news from the reason I detoured my flights to instead of home, but I only have good news.  Jodi's team made it to the championship game of the NCAA Division-III ASC Conference Championship, but got rained out.  If they would have went to any other tie-breaker method other than the one used, they would have won anyway... but they didn't...

They were cheated out of a chance for another ring, partially because of weather and playing field, but also from the conference officials.  I'm sorry for them, but they are tough kids and should get a bid for a regional anyway because of their national ranking.  We find out in a day or two where they would play if they do get that bid.

Jodi wouldn't say she was happy with her performance, but she did earn $50 from the pops for a big double in the semifinal game!  I'm against this type of reinforcement, but obviously Jodi's happy to get some cash :)

I'll keep everyone posted!

And That's a Wrap!

Well, it's all over.  We lost.  And in an appropriate fashion if I might add.  I mean, it just wouldn't be right if we went out with any more than just another thing to say "NOW, I've seen everything", or just a simple "UN-believable..."

We were playing well up until half-time.  We were actually winning by 2.  Fast-forward to a minute left, down by 6, our captain and point guard scores 6 straight points to tie us up with 30 seconds left.  The other team comes down, scores 2, and for some reason our "inbounder" throws the ball to our very uncoordinated guard (her best friend...) instead of our calm point guard (a huge "no-no" in basketball) who continues to dribble across half-court one step and launches it at the goal with 15 seconds left on the clock.  Instead of going to foul immediately, we all stood there for a few seconds paralyzed, not believing what the heck just happened.  The girl made both free throws and we lost by 4.  Unbelievable...

So, the team has to go down a division, so I feel bad for the staff and players that have to remain, but fortunately, I'm off to bigger and better things (God-willing as always).  Somehow I finished 3rd in the league in points scored with 16.1 per game, and I think top in the league in 3 pt. shooting %age at 45.5%.  A personal victory for me.  Points really aren't indicative for me as to how the season has gone, but it did give me a ticket to basically choose my next team.  I have signed another contract with a team still playing in the semi-finals this season.  It will be my biggest test ever!  I'm scared, nervous, and excited at the same time, but I have a whole summer to rest, relax, and improve.

The plan is still to fly into Dallas the day before Jodi plays (Wednesday), and one of my best buddies Kelley Alford will come and pick me up from the airport so we can hang out!  I was accepting the fact that I might be by myself my first night, but that is not the case since she goes to school about an hour away :)  Dad and maybe Morgan will meet us there the next morning before the game.  Jodi's team, by the way, is still 2nd in the nation, so Go Wildcats!

hang tight

My internet's out right now.  We lost Game 1, so if we lose tomorrow, we are finished.  I'll write more either when I get home, or after the season if I can "mooch" some more internet off a teammate.  Say some prayers for us!

Home Stretch!

I think it's pretty obvious what time it is from the picture above.  That is an actual picture of my room in the middle of "packing" mode!  In fact, to keep the integrity of this blog and the state of mind that I'm in, I have not moved a thing since writing this blog.  I'm laying in my bed amongst the mountains and piles of clothes and other stuff.  It's a total mess, but an exciting one :)

We have only 2, maybe three games (9 actual days!) left in this season from Hades.  Teammates are pretty touchy right now too.  We've been through so much this season, and fuses have long been run short.  A lot of things are not being said even though girls are about to explode because we'll all be home in less than two weeks.  Thankfully, I, personally, have no "beef" with anyone, and I hope to leave on those good terms.

(Kiki's always at my house now playing on the guitar... free concerts!)

I've made some good friends this year despite or maybe because of everything (not sure really which one it is).  I'm friends with the Americans and the English as well as pretty much all the Italians.  Kiki, Elena, Mox, and Simona mainly.  I've been blessed to be around Kiki and Elena for two straight years, and those are going to be two lasting relationships.  Kiki has basically adopted me (she's not quite 30 yet), and I now consider her one of my best friends.  I even asked her just this morning to be one of my bridesmaids if she can make it to the wedding next summer (that's the plan anyways!) and she is super excited about it.  She was telling me just yesterday that she wants to plan out the menu and everything, and with Elena's help they'll chose the wines and every course!  I was so touched when they said they would be there if AT ALL possible, along with Daniella and Fabrizio.  Simona plans to try and make it as well.  Such a special feeling to make connections over here, and I realize it's such a rare blessing to make friends on the other side of the world!

At the b-day party at my house. Simona was ecstatic to receive her iPod, and I love my new watch from the team!