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| Staff before we depart for Europe - Shawnee, Me, Chantal |
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| View as we were coming into Cetinje |
Day 13 has blown by. Where is the time going.
Breakfast was at 9:30 but I was awake at 7:20. I grabbed a quick shower then came downstairs to check my email. After that i went for a walk around the area. A beautiful sunny day but just cool enough to call it crisp. It was quiet as I walked and the birds were singing. It was a beautiful setting. I went through the neighborhood a bit and then back through the park that is next to our hotel. It was so peaceful. I know it might sound corny but I stopped for a moment and thanked the game of basketball for giving me so much.
I made it back to the hotel at around 9:25 and headed for breakfast. It consisted of a wide variety of things. As I expected, when in Europe, we got hot dogs, sliced meats and cheeses. Some cheese was salty but most of it was very good. Same for the meats. We had break, omelets - Montenegro style which is slightly different than our style, yogurt, cereal, chocolate milk, etc. It was a bit different but it was a good breakfast.
After breakfast I went back to my room to get ready for our shooting practice. We almost left 2 players behind because I told them we should never be late. They arrived exactly at 11:50. Hopefully next time they arrive earlier. WE got to the gym and had to wait in the hall as the Montenegro team was finishing practice. Waiting in the hallway we noticed that a bit of Febreze would be a welcome addition. We hit the floor at 11 and started our warmup then got into some of out stuff for this evening. It was a relatively light session and the girls enjoyed the chance to just shoot for a bit.
When we came back to the hotel, Shawnee, Chantal, Sarah and I decided to walk up the street to sit at a little cafe. We all had a cafe latte and enjoyed the sights and some conversation. After a little while we headed back towards the hotel for lunch. Our meal today was nice. It started with a great soup. Chicken vegetable but the broth was thick. Almost like a cream soup but not quite. Next was the main course with pork, mashed potatoes, carrots and rice. Quite tasty. It was finished up with a cherry, custardy, meringue kind of cake. Only issue was with pineapple on top so I threw the pineapple away.
So I went to my room and made some notes for the game and tried to relax. Of course I got my times mixed up and I was dressed and ready to go at 5:45 for a 7 pm game. We played at 8 and weren't leaving until 6:45. Way to be raring to go Coach!
So we hit the bus at 6:45 and we were loose and ready. The girls were somewhat nervous perhaps but trying not to let it show. We get to the gym and there was hardly anyone around including the other team. They showed up at around 7:15 for an 8pm game. Turns out the coach has closed both games. They are playing in a European cup qualifier in a month or so and he didn't want to risk any scouts coming in. He didn't want us filming the game but we talked to him and told him we would exchange it with anyone. So we have a rustic gym, no fans (well a few locals) , no announcing of lineups and no gift exchange which is standard. Oh well let's play! oops forgot to mention the 4 young girls working the scorers table who were texting the whole time.
So we get started. We are playing quite well but a little too fast and we weren't scoring. They have a 30 year old point guard who plays in the Russian Pro League (one of the best in the world) and they have a 27 year old who plays in Russia and Spain. She is just over 6 feet tall and can do a lot of things like drain 3 point shots and score basically whenever she wants. So they build a bit of a lead and go up by about 12 after 1 quarter. The 2nd quarter we were a little bit better but they won the quarter and we go down by about 15 at half. Too many rushed shots and a lack of patience hurt us.
At half time we discussed some adjustments and we came out and played a bit better. We had some good spurts and eventually we cut the lead to 9. That was as close as we could get it. They went on a little run and we couldn't sustain our energy and they won by about 18. Overall, I wasn't too disappointed with things. It was our first game out and that is a big factor. The refs weren't the best but we let them shoot 24 foul shots and we let them score over 10 points off of their fast break. We need to tidy up our defense in a lot of areas. They were just SO SO good at understanding every angle and how to get the ball to their best players. Their PG did a phenomenal job of controlling the game and that makes a difference. So we will continue to build one day at a time and try to make sure that we are substantially better when the trip is over than when it began.
We came home around 10:15 and had to go to our late night supper. It was chicken soup, tomato and cabbage salad, pork stuffed with prosciutto and cheese, roasted potatoes and an apple for dessert.
So now I must jump into my next job of doing the film. It will be tedious but it must be done. We will practice tomorrow before we play so there is time to get better. Now it is off to film time.
Until then.....
So I went to my room and made some notes for the game and tried to relax. Of course I got my times mixed up and I was dressed and ready to go at 5:45 for a 7 pm game. We played at 8 and weren't leaving until 6:45. Way to be raring to go Coach!
So we hit the bus at 6:45 and we were loose and ready. The girls were somewhat nervous perhaps but trying not to let it show. We get to the gym and there was hardly anyone around including the other team. They showed up at around 7:15 for an 8pm game. Turns out the coach has closed both games. They are playing in a European cup qualifier in a month or so and he didn't want to risk any scouts coming in. He didn't want us filming the game but we talked to him and told him we would exchange it with anyone. So we have a rustic gym, no fans (well a few locals) , no announcing of lineups and no gift exchange which is standard. Oh well let's play! oops forgot to mention the 4 young girls working the scorers table who were texting the whole time.
So we get started. We are playing quite well but a little too fast and we weren't scoring. They have a 30 year old point guard who plays in the Russian Pro League (one of the best in the world) and they have a 27 year old who plays in Russia and Spain. She is just over 6 feet tall and can do a lot of things like drain 3 point shots and score basically whenever she wants. So they build a bit of a lead and go up by about 12 after 1 quarter. The 2nd quarter we were a little bit better but they won the quarter and we go down by about 15 at half. Too many rushed shots and a lack of patience hurt us.
At half time we discussed some adjustments and we came out and played a bit better. We had some good spurts and eventually we cut the lead to 9. That was as close as we could get it. They went on a little run and we couldn't sustain our energy and they won by about 18. Overall, I wasn't too disappointed with things. It was our first game out and that is a big factor. The refs weren't the best but we let them shoot 24 foul shots and we let them score over 10 points off of their fast break. We need to tidy up our defense in a lot of areas. They were just SO SO good at understanding every angle and how to get the ball to their best players. Their PG did a phenomenal job of controlling the game and that makes a difference. So we will continue to build one day at a time and try to make sure that we are substantially better when the trip is over than when it began.
We came home around 10:15 and had to go to our late night supper. It was chicken soup, tomato and cabbage salad, pork stuffed with prosciutto and cheese, roasted potatoes and an apple for dessert.
So now I must jump into my next job of doing the film. It will be tedious but it must be done. We will practice tomorrow before we play so there is time to get better. Now it is off to film time.
Until then.....
1 comment:
More info on the birds (on your morning walk). Were they singing in English.... or what??
Great reports! Thanks! ACF
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