First Pre-Season Games

Hola,

We have played three preseason games since the last time I posted. We played Valencia last Tuesday night in the village where we had training camp about 40 minutes away. It was in a pretty small gym but the crowd was very enthusiastic and loud. They were all cheering for us as it was considered a home match for us. Valencia beat Barcelona a few nights before playing us and I believe we lost to them by 17.  We were in the game for the most part and cut the lead to 6 in the last quarter but let the lead get away at the end with free throws. I started and finished the game scoring 8 points. I hit 2 threes in a row at the beginning, which was a nice feeling. During these pre season games ten of us play pretty equal minutes. It will be interesting to see how that changes as we play more games and enter the regular season. This was Valencia’s fourth preseason game and our first and I think that showed.  I believe we can compete with them though which is a good thing as I’m told they are a top five team in the league.

This past weekend we played in a mini tournament in Guadalajara, which is a city just east of Madrid about 4 hours away from Murcia. On Friday, we played an ACB team from Madrid named Estudiantes. We didn’t play well on either end of the court in this game and lost by 9. I had 5 points and didn’t shoot the ball well in this game. I was able to get some good looks which is a positive but wasn’t connecting on enough of them. This was a game we should have won if we would have played an average game. Nobody for us seemed to play well and it was a disappointing loss as we also lost the opportunity to play against Real Madrid in the finals on Sunday (one of the top 2 teams in our league).

Yesterday, we played in the 3rd place game against Obradoiro. This game we came out ready to play and hung on to win by 2. We had the lead up to 16 but with turnovers and a technical foul late in the game we let the lead slip away. With a minute to go in the game we were down by 1 with the shot clock running out. The ball was rotated to me on the wing and I hit a 3 as the shot clock buzzer sounded to put us up 2.  They scored a 2 on the next possession and we got the ball back with 23 seconds left. We ran a pick and roll play and were able to make a 2 in the lane with 4 seconds to go to win by 2. It was a lot of fun to get our first win and drive home in a better mood. I finished the game with 7 points. Robbie Hummel and William Buford played for Obradoiro, but only William played and had 2 points I believe. It was nice talking to them and seeing some familiar guys. They seem to be enjoying their situations as well.

Overall, I believe I have been playing well on both ends of the court as I try to adjust to the different style and game over here. It has been fun getting to know the guys more on and off the court and create the chemistry needed to win. I have started 2 of the 3 games, which is a positive as a hope to get a lot of playing time and help my squad in any way possible to get wins.

I finished the first season of Homeland and suggest it to anyone interested in TV shows. My good friend and former Iowa basketball manager Dan Cincinnati suggested it to me and he  was right on. Im in the middle of Dexter now. I was disappointed by the outcome of the Iowa State game on Saturday. Hope our offense can figure it out soon as UNI is a good team (just ask Wisconsin). I still believe in the squad and think we’ll change this season around in a down Big Ten conference. I just saw on Twitter that Coach McCaffery and Coach Hoiberg have offered a Davenport kid that hasn’t played a high school game yet. Must be a good talent!

Hope all is well with everyone.

Adios!

My New Home

Good morning. It is about 930 here in Murcia which means it is 230 in the morning back in Iowa.  I thought it would be a good time to get another post in as we have the day off today. The last week or so has just been filled with practices and lifting sessions at our home arena here in Murcia. They have been going well. The practices aren’t as long as what I am used to with Coach McCaffery at Iowa so for me they aren’t a killer. They usually last around 2 hours.  I like them though as we do a lot of drills broken down in 2 on 2 or 3 on 4 sprinkled in with some kind of shooting drill between each one.  The last few days we have started to do more 5 on 5 and put in about 10 plays to start running and get used to.  On Friday we played 3 quarters of a scrimmage against each other and I played well scoring 14 points and defending the ball well.  It has been a bit of an adjustment playing out here as the players have a different style to them and the communication factor while on the court, especially defense, is still difficult to get past but most of the guys speak pretty good english and I’m still growing my spanish. The guys are all good guys and compete hard so it is fun to be around on a daily basis. We do a ton of stretching before and after practice, which is something I really like. I am doing YOGA every day on my own at my house with the help of a DVD I got while training in LA over the summer. It’s a quick 40 minute workout that I strongly believe will be beneficial to my game and help prevent future injuries (cue knock on wood).  We have our first pre season game Tuesday night in the same gym we had training camp in by the mountains.  I believe we play Valencia which is a real solid team in the ACB League, so it will be a tough first test for us right out of the gates.

One of the mornings last week we drove about 40 minutes down to the beach for a workout on the sand. It was fun to do something different than the court or weight room for a workout. We ran and did different stability exercises as people watched us. I was quickly reminded I wasn’t in America because as we ran down the beach we encountered a few topless sunbathers along the shore, but believe me none of the guys or myself looked…

We moved into our homes this past week and I really like mine. I am right on the golf course and can look out of my bedroom window and see a green and flag about 30 yards away. It is a 3 bedroom and 3 bath duplex in Altorreal, Murcia so it is great for visitors! Altorreal is about 5 minutes north of the city and about 12 minutes from our gym.  I like it because it is more quiet up here than in the city and we have a supermarket right across the street that has just about anything we could need. There are 4 malls within 10 minutes of where we live and they are all very modern and clean. I was impressed by all of them and found an American restaurant in one of them yesterday called Hollywood Fosters. It will be a good place to go get a burger and fries fix in once in a while(the closest thing to Shorts anyway). We also have a community pool right across from where we live. It took a while to get the wifi installed but I got it in on Friday which made things a lot more easier for communication and keeping myself busy. I was able to stay up and watch the Iowa game last night. I was pretty nervous and yelling at the television by myself but was extremely happy and relieved they were able to pull it out and get the win over NIU. I was going to try to stay up and catch some of the Michigan game but i fell asleep on the couch (glad I didn’t, ouch big blue). Excited for the NFL to start up this week now!

Ive been trying to cook all my meals at my place but my cooking range is pretty limited presently. In the morning i always have some cereal with some fruit ( which is really good out here). I really need my fiancee, Erin, to get here so we can try out some different things and expand my cooking knowledge! I miss her a lot and she gets here September 18th, so a couple weeks from now.  Excited for her to get here and experience this journey with her.

I have been watching a lot of TV series in my spare time.  Think it is a good way to make time go by faster when your alone and it is entertaining.  I have started the series LOST and  am going to start a new one called Homeland I heard is really good. Of course I sprinkle in some Family Guy once in a while. Things like this and the Iowa game help me feel more at home. I do miss home though  all my friends, family and dogs. Hope they are doing well!