National Team 2013 - Phase 3 - Day 3 in Brazil

Day 3 in Brazil is over.

Today started with an early wake up after a long night watching film. Wake up was at 6:50AM for a 7:30 breakfast. 

Breakfast was the exact same as yesterday except they added some bacon which was quite a bit smaller than what we get in Canada and it was way more salty.

After breakfast we hopped on the bus to head to our shoot around. It was mostly shooting and then we showed them a few things that Puerto Rico likes to do on offense. To tell you how comfortable it was in the gym, I could see my breath the whole time. Not good.

On the drive over and back I was looking at the living arrangements here and how close people live to each other. They seem to take great pride in keeping their yard clean regardless of how small it is. I also noticed the streets. There is almost no garbage anywhere on the streets. The streets seem dirty with dirt but not litter. However, I noticed a bunch of people trying to clean the road/sidewalk in front of their place.

The streets seem less crowded in the day here and today that may have been due to the fact it is the weekend. Last night we had a taxi arranged to take the coaches back to the hotel after the game. Along the way, the city showed its’ life. There were a lot of cars on the streets and a lot of people around. There was one public park/square that had a PILE of people milling about. We even saw two young female entrepreneurs “peddling their wares” on a street corner.

Overall the city seems to be nice or at least the parts we have seen. It seems to sit in a bit of a valley and there is lots of green vegetation even though the temperatures are cooler. On the way to the gym this morning I noted the different birds and trees that lined the streets. There even looked to be a pomegranate tree in someone’s yard which was neat.

After we returned from the practice we had about an hour off and then had a video session. The girls had an assignment to do with the video and then we showed them the info for Puerto Rico. We discussed the fact that we have to be better and more precise on offense tonight. Hopefully we get a better effort.

Lunch was immediately following the session. We had rice and beans to start and then some tortellini, chicken and beef. The beef is much better than the chicken so I lean more towards that for the meals. Finished it all off with a nice crème brulee and dinner was over.

We had about an hour off this afternoon before leaving so I relaxed here and got some work done. Sent some emails and did some reading. I have used a lot of down time these phases to read clinic notes and try to get new ideas. I enjoy that a lot but never seem to make time for myself when I am at home. Something I have to change. Need to manage my time better.

We headed off to the gym at 2:45 with a nice breeze blowing but it was a lot warmer than this morning. I had a good feeling in the warm up. Thought we may smash them. What came next though was possibly the most physical game of basketball I have ever been involved in. Players getting injured all over the place and bodies flying everywhere. One of our girls even got taken to the hospital after the game as a precaution. It was like a UFC bout. I was told about how physical the south American game is but never thought I would see some of the stuff I have seen in just a few games.

Back to the game though. We were much better offensively but playing soft defensively at first and they were hitting EVERY shot. Other than the first few minutes, we led the whole way but it was tight at a few points. Down the stretch our conditioning took over and we won 69-54. We did a lot of things better but must be really sharp to beat Brazil tomorrow. They have always been a world power and they are the team we have to get by to qualify for world championships and Olympics. I can't wait to play them.

One neat thing from the game was the lead referee. He reffed 2 of our games in Russia a month ago and here he was reffing us in Brazil. I thought that was neat. The small world of basketball.

After the game, the coaches stayed again to watch the first half of the next game and then we headed for home. Supper was ready when we arrived. nice soup, beef, fish and pasta. I decided to try the fish and I was not disappointed. Very tasty. Had some more creme brulee for dessert and we were done.

Afterwards, we waited a bit for our video guy to get back with the film of Brazil. The coaches had a meeting for about an hour and discussed a number of things and then I came back to watch film. Got everything ready from my end and now it is almost time for bed. 

One more game in Brazil and one more night here. We head home on Monday. 

Tomorrow will be my last blog of the summer so I will try to run down some of the highs and lows, likes and dislikes and lessons learned along the way. It has been a different ride full of learning opportunities. So I am sure you will pace back and forth tomorrow waiting for these words of enlightenment....or have an ordinary day and use this to fall asleep. Either way, we will "see" you again tomorrow.

Until then.............