Monday, January 26, 2009

Game Day

Last night we played a team called Ramat Gan on the road. We won 73-72, in another close game to a team that I didn't think was on the same level as our team. We did not play well as a team and it was not one of my better performances either. We made a lot of unforced turnovers( the stat sheet said I had 4, but I calculated 6) and our shot was everywhere but the gym last night. I think it was a direct effect from us not having a good week of practice and it showed in the game. But the main fact is that we got the win on a bad night and on the road, so that leaves me some excitement knowing that we have can still find a way to win on tough nights. Even though I had a rough game, my team depended on me at the end to ice the game away and hit the game winning free throws. My final stat line was 11pts, 5rebs, 2 stls, 2 asst.

So I'm really looking forward to practice this week because I'm a player that needs a lot of repetition on my skills. When I have a lot of repetition, my skills become sharper and confidence increases as I feel better about my game. It is tough being a leader on the team at times trying to make sure that the team is getting better and that we are heading in the right direction; At the same time I know I have to get better as well for us to grow. So this week, I will definitely be staying after practice a little longer everyday to sharpen up some moves and getting some extra shooting in.

Last night was the last game of the first half of the season and that win moved us to 3-7. Believe it or not, we are one game out of the playoffs right now with the whole second half of the season to go. I honestly predict that the team will finish around .500 and we will make the playoffs. We signed a veteran big guy named DeMarco Johnson, about 34 years old and went to University of Charlotte. A good player, may not have the athleticism that he once did, but he still has the post skills, a good rebounder and is a great passer. That will make it easier for me to get open shots, move more without the ball and be able to sprint the lanes in transition. Of course, when he walked in the locker room, he starts joking with me about what he did to U of L in his day. I told him he must not be up with the times of what is going on recently at both of our schools and he went silent(lol)! We know what Da Ville is doing but where is Charlotte these days...haha!

Got a day off today, so I'm going to head to the weight room and just get some rest. There is a big game on the women's side today between the No.1 vs. No.2. They both have some WNBA players that came to support us last night, so I will probably go show them support later and to get out the house. In the process of adding my videos to the site, but below are some highlights that some fans made from my previous team, hope you enjoy! Peace....

Son Of The City


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trHcMj_Fii8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqSOjIdriRc

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm6IyDn1Ng8

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Play in Europe

I have been getting a lot of questions about how the European Leagues work and how many games you play. So thought I would take this blog and explain a little bit of how it works.

Each country in Europe has their own basketball league to begin with. Some of the bigger countries like France and Germany for example, have more teams than other countries such as Israel. Typically you will find between 16 to 18 professional teams within a country. It varies from country to country about how many americans are allowed on the team, but it is either two or four. The league I just explained to you, we call the the local league cause you only play within your country. You play one game a week(usually on Sat. or Sun.) and you play each team twice, once home and away. After the end of both rounds, you have a playoff that consist of the top 8 teams to see who will be crowned champions. Also, the top three teams qualify for the right to play in the Euro League and Euro Cup for the next season.

Next, you have Euroleague and Euro Cup, which are leagues composed of the champions, second place and third place teams from each country. Euroleague is the top league of europe because it mostly consist of the champions from each country. The Italian League and Spanish League, arguably the two best leagues in europe, have 3 or 4 teams in Euroleague along with Russia. The strength of the league and the traditional powerhouses teams in these leagues are what give them more teams in the european competition. In the other countries, that don't match up in league strength, only the champion of that country gets the right to play in Euroleague. The Euro Cup is pretty much the exact same league as Euroleague, except that it consist of the runner-up champions from each leaague. But back to league strength, the Italian, Spanish and Russian league have their top 3 or 4 teams in Euroleague so they have their 5th and 6th place teams in this league.

So now if you play on a team that plays in one of the european competitions, you play two games a week. Euro Cup games are played on Tuesdays and Euroleague games are played on Wednesday and Thursdays. In the European competitions, you are placed in pools. Each team plays one another twice and the top four teams from each pool go to the playoff rounds. In the playoffs you play a two game series with the team you are matched up with. If both teams win one game apiece then the team with the biggest margin of victory advances. For example, if my team lost the first game by 8 points and then won the second game by 9 points, we would advance because we have a one point advance in margin of victory. If we ended the second game only up 8 points, then the margin would be the same and we would play overtime to determine the outcome. Once you reach the final four for the playoffs, then it becomes single game elimination until you have a champion.

Usually the teams make you report at the end of August for training camp and the preseason games start the first week of September. Regular season typically start first or second week of October and last until middle of May. The european competitions last until the first of April and then you just play local league after that. In a given year, I would say you can play up to 70 games if you play in both leagues, thats including the preseason games as well. Its a long season...TRUST ME!

Well, I'm about to head out to practice, its the last practice before the game tomorrow so got to make sure I'm sharp! Peace....God is Good!

Son of The City

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Welcome

What up! Like to welcome yall to the new website. Glad that you could make it through and check out the site! Guess i will use this first post to tell you a little bit about me and what i am doing now.

I am in my 4th year of playing basketball in Europe now and Loving it. I have played in Serbia, Italy, Greece and this year i moved to Israel after the Christmas break. It is completely different than what you see on cnn and other news channels. I am in the city of Tel Aviv and it is in Northern Israel and is not anywhere near the Gaza strip, so there is no danger. The city of Tel Aviv is great, the weather is 70 degrees and they have beautiful beaches on the Mediterranean Sea. The Jews speak hebrew and i havent even tried to pick up the language yet. My teammates try to teach me some but it only last about a day in my memory. It is very americanized when it comes to trying to adapt to the food and restaurants and going to the grocery store. A lot of the same brands and products that we have at home in the US, they have here. So that makes transition easier for me!

My basketball team is names Rishon Lezion, you can find it if you go to www.Eurobasket.com and click Israel. My team isnt doing so well this year and we are 2-7, toward the bottom of the standings. There are 12 teams in the Israeli league and each team is allowed to have four americans on a team. On the team, we only have two now, Robert Conley and myself. We could easily be 5-4 or 6-3 but we have to learn how to win games in the end. we have had 3 0r 4 games where we have lost in the last seconds from buzzer beaters or missed free throws. We play one game a week (Sundays) and have two games left in the first round of playing all the teams in the league. Right now i am leading the league in scoring at 24ppg and 6rpg, but i think that may have to increase for us to be successful in the next rounds.

There is a 7 hour time between Tel Aviv time and eastern standard time ( with me being ahead)! Dont want to get carried away with everything tonight, so im going to get some water and rest because i have early practice tomorrow! Its almost 10:30pm (3:30pm in Louisville) and time to lay it down....peace!