A Close Win at Home

We won our second game on Sunday. We beat Laguna Aro and are now 2-2 in the middle of the pack of our league. On Saturday we head back to Barcelona to play another team Joventut that is just outside the city. They are also 2-2, so it would be a good road win if we are able to get it. Games like this we need to win if we want to get to the mid season tournament, the Kings Cup, or the playoffs at the end of the year. Both tournaments take the top 8 teams of our league which has 18 teams. On Sunday I didn’t shoot the ball well and didn’t finish with a high evaluation but was ecstatic we were able to pull out the win. We were down by 7 at the half and came back to win by 2. They had a chance to win or tie at the buzzer but missed on multiple shots around the basket. I finished with 9 points on the afternoon. I am told that I lead the league in free throws made so far and near the top in fouls received. 

We haven’t done a whole lot lately at home besides watch movies and shows. Erin has been cooking some great meals. We’ve gone on a few walks around our neighborhood which is very hilly and full of great views of the golf course and surrounded by mountains in the distance. Today we went to the mall after practice with one of my teammates, David, and his wife, Tiwi. While we were there we decided to experience something new and get our feet cleaned by fish. We put our feet in a small tank and little fish covered our feet and eat away at the dead skin and calluses. It felt like a thousand vibrations on your feet and tickled at first but we got used to it. We also went to a nice Spanish restaurant near our home with David and Tiwi where we at a huge pan of paella. It was delicious. I am posting a picture of it. 

We are looking forward to Erin’s parents coming to visit in less than a month. They are arriving in mid november and spending Thanksgiving with us. It will be great to have some visitors here. At this time I think the items I miss the most from Iowa are normal traffic lights (I’m tired of roundabouts already), timmy flynns (shirt is on at the moment), english movie theaters and a burrito spot (I would kill some pancheros or chipotle if I had the chance!)

 

Adios mi amigos

 

Last 2 games

Hello everyone.  I have been behind on my blogs lately and needed to catch up. Since my last blog we have played two more games. Last Sunday we played at home against Valencia and last night we were in Barcelona playing against FC Barcelona. Both games we came out on the losing end of. The first one against Valencia was a heart breaker. We were up the entire game and even by 9 with around 5 minutes to go. We found ourselves down one and with the ball in the final seconds when one of my teammates, Bernie Rodriguez was fouled going to the hoop. He made both clutch free throws to put us up by 1 with 7 seconds to play. Valencia called a timeout and drew up a nice play which resulted in a bucket at the buzzer to beat us by one. It would have been a big win for us against one of the top teams in our league, but wasn’t supposed to be on that day. We can beat them down the road at their place though. I played well finishing with 17 points and a high valuation, which is a statistic they use here that incorporates a bunch of stats into how effective and valuable you are on the court. The loss put us at 1-1 heading into the next game at Barcelona. 

We flew into Barcelona Saturday night and got to see a little bit of the city but not a bunch. We went on a team walk Sunday morning before the game since we didn’t have a shoot around and were able to take in a small portion of the city. I wasn’t able to see any of the famous or major points of interest but hopefully i will later. I am told Barcelona is one of the greatest cities in the world. The arena was old and small but set up in a way that I liked. It reminded me somewhat of the Barn in Minneapolis where Minnesota plays. I was surprised FC Barcelona doesn’t have a bigger arena as they are one of the top teams in all of Europe and possibly the world as they beat the Mavericks last Tuesday night in an exhibition game. Their arena is right next to FC Barcelona’s Futbol stadium which was impressive to see from the outside. It reminded me of an NFL stadium. It would be great to take in a match there someday. I am posting a picture of the stadium I took last night to the end of this post.  The game didn’t go so well. Barcelona is a very deep squad with some of the highest paid players in all of Europe. We were down only 5 at the end of the first quarter but then went into half time down 17. We cut it to 12 early in the third but could never get any closer. It was a great experience though playing against the defending league champions and seeing what the top team is all about. I finished with 8 points and another high valuation which was a positive. I didn’t shoot the ball well though, so hopefully I can change that next game. One of Barcelona’s players is an American from Rock Island who played at Indian HIlls JC and then Cincinnati name Pete Mickeal. After the game i caught up with him and talked about Iowa and the midwest for a quick second. He seemed like a good guy.

Today was a day off so we slept in since I didn’t get home until 4 in the morning. We went the grocery store today and are having some of the guys and their girls over for dinner tonight. Huge win for the Hawks on Saturday. I wasn’t able to watch it but followed along on twitter and ESPN.com. I couldn’t believe we pulled that one off. I am told that basketball practices have begun and the team looks great. I was able to talk to Coach on the phone for about a half hour the other night. It was great to catch up with him and talk about my experiences here as well as the team back at Iowa. We are excited for the season to start and to watch some games. Iowa sporting events always give us something to look forward to over here! Erin and I have been having a Harry Potter marathon and are on the sixth movie tonight. I have also been catching up on Homeland and Dexter. Both shows are pretty intense and give me something to do on the road trips. I am trying to learn more spanish but it has been more difficult than I imagined. They speak so fast over here it is difficult to pick up on words but I am sure it will get easier. The weather is still great but has cooled off to the 70’s the last few days. Not as cold as good ol Iowa. I do miss an Iowa Fall though! 

Until next time..Adios!

First Regular Season Game

Buenos Dias,

It is Monday morning which means that it is our day off, so I figured I should get caught up with the blog. We had our first regular season game yesterday in Seville against Cajasol. Seville is located in the southwest corner of Spain about a 5 hour drive from Murcia. They are a team that made the playoffs last year, but have a few younger guys playing this year. They are still expected to be a quality team in our league, which is promising for us as we beat them 93-77.  It was a great way to start the season by getting a road win, which is never easy to do in this league. I started and played around 26 minutes sitting most of the fourth quarter as we had the game in hand. I played a well all around game and finished with a team high 18 points and even took a charge right before I was taken out at the end (think i took around 3 or 4 in my whole college career…Coach Speraw would be proud).

Getting the win made the 6 and a half hour bus ride home a lot more enjoyable. The bus ride was longer due to the storms we experienced a few days ago here in Spain. I am told it was the worst rain storm in 40 years! The rain caused severe flooding and even took out a bridge that we needed to take from Murcia to Seville. The pictures on the news were pretty devestating as cars were floating down roads that had been turned into rivers. I was told there were deaths from the storm, so we wore black bands on our uniforms yesterday to honor the victims. They don’t have drainage systems like we have back in the States so that is why one bad rain storm caused so much damage. It was a bad storm but nothing crazy compared to what we see every month back in Iowa. Pretty amazing that it only rains about ten times a year here and already we’ve seen the worst rain storm in four decades.  The rain and wind even caused this big canopy that covered our back yard to break in half and collapse, so we don’t have much of a backyard for the time being.

This afternoon Erin and I are heading to the beach with a few other teammates and their wives/girlfriends.  It is a nice and clear day here today so it should be relaxing at the beach. It is great having her here going on this journey together. She seems to be really enjoying it and gets a long real well with the other girls. She is cooking a lot which is a great thing for me. Coming home after a game or practice to a home cooked meal is a nice feeling! Happy she is here.

Big win on Saturday for the Hawks. I wasn’t able to watch any of the game but followed on the tracker. I am happy they were able to bounce back and get a win after last week. Anything can happen in the league! I stayed up late last night when I got home to watch the Ryder Cup. It was pretty painful to watch the Americans collapse the way they did. But the Europeans hit all the clutch shots and putts at the right time to sway it in their favor. My dad was there with some of his buddies for the weekend and one of them is from Europe, so I am sure they had fun listening to him gloat in his strong english accent. I am told they even caught one of the champagne corks from the bottles the Europeans were popping after they won (not sure if they were serious though?).

Excited we were able to get off to a good start to the season and hope we can continue it next Sunday at home against Valencia, who is one of the top teams in the league. Some of the games are streamed on ACB.com but i am not sure if next weeks is or not. Hope all is well back in the states and Iowa. Not gonna lie I miss seeing corn and bean fields, but I guess the Spanish mountains will have to do for now. Take care!

Matt