Day 17 is in the books. Last full day in Serbia.
Started with an early breakfast with some more interesting breakfast choices. Regular breads, meats and cheeses, hot dogs, eggs, polenta, rice with veggies and lots of different "lettucey" dishes. The surprise was lasagna. yep Lasagna for breakfast and it was TASTY!!
After breakfast we had a nice relaxing walk to the gym for a shoot around. We did a little shooting and reviewed some things and then I took the the girls through some of Italy's plays. Lisa talked about how we would defend them. The girls then did a 20 minute pre-hab workout. A nice relaxing walk back to hotel and then we were scheduled for a video session. We watched the video and then we went to lunch.
Lunch was a beautiful (and I mean frickin fantastic) tomato soup with onion, carrot and rice. PHENOMENAL. Add a salad and some pasta with beef and a beefy sauce and we were good to go.
Right after lunch I watched film with one of the post players on things she could do to improve. One of the strengths of this new software program we are using is the ability to really pinpoint things so I am enjoying working with it.
After the video session I went back to my room to relax. Had about 2.5 hours to departure for the game. I did some work then watched some TV shows I had on my laptop. After a little time with that I decided that, even though we are not in Spain, a siesta was in order. A nice power nap for 40 minutes hit the spot. Got showered up after the nap and decided to head next door to that little grocery store next to the hotel. Hoping to get some little cookies and chocolate to take back to Canada. Everything is SO CHEAP here. One of the staff members bought a tall can of beer for 84 cents Canadian. A 500ml pop is about 75 cents. Unfortunately for me I forgot it was Sunday and the grocery store closed at 2pm on Sunday. Maybe tomorrow morning before we leave.
Headed to game at 4:20. We had a good pre-game meeting and a good warm up. As the announcer was introducing the starting lineups the lights went out. Deja Vu perhaps. In 2009 in the University Games we were in the same gym. We were beating Turkey and playing well then just before half the lights went out. After that the wheels came off and Turkey pounded us. Could this be a bad omen??
We came out playing well and it seemed as though Italy was frustrated with us. We were missing 2 big pieces of our lineup and another girl played little off the bench as she was sick all morning in bed. We battled hard and got a little lead. We fell asleep a little bit and didn't do what we were supposed to do defensively. Italy came back a little bit and we were in a tight game. Up 2 after first quarter. The game got sluggish in the 2nd quarter as both teams struggled to score but our defense really turned up. Half time was 23-20 for us. We made some adjustments and came out playing better defense and offense. We built a small lead at 38-30 to end the third quarter. We hit a free throw to go up 9 to start the 4th quarter. Uh oh could this be the lights going out trick again??? Within 3 minutes we called timeout with the game tied at 40. They were hitting shots and our offense was out of sync. 5 minutes left in the game and we were down 8. From up 9 to down 8. Major swing in the game. Time to fold up the tents and go home I guess. LOL. But the reason this program made the Olympics and has succeeded is because of the toughness and heart that goes with being Canadian. Plain and simple we battled our asses off the rest of the way. We made crucial stops, came up with huge hustle plays and outworked them to steal a 52-50 win. A great strategical battle and nice to come up with a win.
After the game we headed home to have dinner and then we had to get back to the gym for closing ceremonies. Dinner started with a nice plate of meat, cheese and potato salad. Very nice prosciutto. Followed with a salad of tomatoes and cucumbers then chicken and rice. The chicken was a little rough.
Headed back to they gym and arrived at halftime of the Montenegro-Serbia game. We were hoping for Serbia because if they won we would be tied in record and win the tournament because we defeated them. All I can say is that the 2nd half of that game was one of the most phenomenal games I have ever witnessed. Great strategy, great plays and VERY VERY physical. In the end Montenegro won by 2 so we finished 2nd in the tourney. The girls accepted a very nice trophy after the game.
Walking back to the hotel we got caught in a downpour. It wasn't cold out so the rain wasn't cool. I didn't hustle out of the rain. In fact I took my time, got soaked and thought to myself "walking in a rainstorm in Serbia, this is awesome!!!" Weird but I really appreciate all of these opportunities. I bought a beverage from a street vendor on the way and the coaches all sat around and chatted until just about midnight. So here I am typing this blog.
Tomorrow we are on our own time. Some of the staff are taking a cab downtown to see the city. Having been here and seen it or "seent it" as we would say at home, I am passing on that. I will get up, have breakfast, drop over to the grocery store and pick up a few treats for home. We leave at 11:45 for the airport and then fly to Paris at 1:55pm. We will have 3 days there to rest and prepare for our toughest challenges. The teams we will face are big time teams. A nice test for us. Hopefully I can win "lucky loonie" like I did when we arrived. A tradition for years in the program, whenever we land you can throw a loonie in the pot and if your bag comes out first you win the pot. 2nd place gets your loonie back. I got a nice little 15 dollar prize.
So what can I say about the Serbian experience part 2. It was great. Food was nice, basketball was very good and the people are tremendously friendly. A good 3 days. To the organizers, our hotel staff and the people here I would say Hvalla. As I did in 2009 when I left Serbia, I will say to Mom who follows the blog every day, Volim Te
Until Paris.........
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment