Playoff Win

Hello again. We were able to win our first playoff series in three games (best of three series). It did turn out to be a fairly tough series. We started the round off with our backs against the wall as we lost the first game and were thus facing elimination from there on out. However, following the first game, we had a good week of practice and preparation featuring hard work and good adjustments. The next weekend both games (if needed the 2nd) would be at our home facility. In the 2nd game of the series we jumped all over them and basically crushed them. We won by 25 or 30. It wasn't really even close past the 2nd quarter. Obviously, this was good momentum going into the deciding game the following night, and we used this to cruise to another fairly easy win. Again, in this game we came out and hammered them early, leading as much as nearly 30. In the end they made it somewhat interesting and I think the final difference was 12. Funny incident at the end of the game that pretty much sums up what we did to the other team in the final two games was that I had the ball at the end of the game with maybe a 7 second deferential between the shot clock and game clock. Basically meant that we could get one more shot up or take the shot clock violation but the game wouldn't end with the ball in our hands. As the shot clock ran down I had the ball at the top of the floor right around the mid court circle, and had decided that I was going to shoot it or pass to someone else who could shoot it rather than take the shot clock violation. The defense had already given up the game and weren't going to foul so the guy that was guarding me was a good ten feet off of me. With maybe 2 seconds on the shot clock I took one dribble in from the circle and just let it fly. It's strange, cause when I shot it, it was one of those moments where the ball just seemed to suspend in space for a time, and then it went thru nothing but net and the place just erupted. It was a deep shot....really deep. I think everyone in the gym was kind of shocked that I would shoot it so far out and then almost even more so when it went in. I remember thinking before I shot it that a. I was too tired to drive it or make some kind of play, and b. the games over what the heck just let it go. I guess it was a good exclamation point to finish out the series and definitely created some good laughs. I don't know how many people came up to me after the game and said "great shot" or sarcastically and with a smile on his or her face "that was rude". Definitely capped of a very strong two game performance by our team. 

On to the next task, and a tough task it will be. Our next opponent is the Geraldton team that we split with during the regular season and who also beat us by 35 at there place (5 hours up the road). It's going to be a very tough series and we'll have our work cut out deep for us. 

In other bad news it's about 2 days before the first game against them, and I'm coming down pretty hard with a cold (hopefully just that and not flu). Other teammates are also having similar problems so we're not getting any favors before hand. 

Wish us luck, I'll check in soon. 

Playoffs

Ok, so we won easily last weekend and thus wrapped up the regular season title and number 1 seed going into the playoffs. It's very rewarding to have completed such a successful season (team and personally), but again, there is still a lot to accomplish in these playoffs. Our first round opponent (best of three series) is against a team that we split with in the regular season. I think it'll definitely be a tough matchup and we'll have to play good and consistently to guarantee our survival to the next round. We'll see how it goes, but we are very confident and also seem to be very loose going into this series. 

In other news....well, actually there isn't really any other news. In between the fairly consistent rainy days here in Perth its really quite nice. For example, today I wake up to find it fairly cold yet sunny in the morning (sweatshirt and sweatpants needed), only to leave the house around lunch time to be able to change into shorts, t-shirt, and flip flops. Very niiice. Keep in mind that this is basically the middle of the Perth winter. That's pretty much how the weather goes unless its raining, but even then still not really that cold, just depressing overcast skies. 

Ok, will let everyone know how the game goes tomorrow night. Till then.....

Gameday

It's about mid day Saturday as I am writing this. We have a game here in about 7 hours or so, and it's actually the last regular season game. I'm sitting here thinking where did the rest of the season go? Everything has really gone by fast. As far as the playoff situation goes, its pretty simple. We win and we're the regular season champions and the number one seed in the playoffs. If we lose then we could possibly fall to number two. Obviously, it's a pretty big game for us as we want to win the regular season and go in to the playoffs as the number one seed. I'll give a update or so tomorrow to let everyone know how we came thru. Take care back home. 

Back On A Winning Streak

Since the last time I wrote two weeks ago or so, the Lightning have gotten back on a winning streak yet again. Three to be exact. There wasn't anything really all that unordinary in the three games. After somewhat of a slow start in our first game following the loss, we really picked the defense up and kept it up very strongly in the following two games. In some other news, the team that was in second place behind us has now lost three in a row and we have basically a three game lead in order to win the regular season. I will admit that that is pretty exciting. When I first came over here I thought we had a good team and had a chance to be successful in the league. However, at the same time I had really nothing else to go on. I didn't know what any of the other teams were like or any of the players. So honestly, I can't say that I necessarily came in thinking that we would compete for the regular season title. Of course I hoped for that but there was just too much uncertainty. Now, we certainly got a chance to finish the regular season on top, but there is still plenty of work to do. With that said, I haven't even mentioned the playoffs yet, so there's lots to still take care of. 

Talking about when I first arrived here and then my impressions of where the team stands today brings me to a new line of thought, which is just how quickly the time has passed. In about another week, I'll have been here five months already (believe me I know, I got it on the calendar). There are only four regular season games remaining, and depending on how far we go in the playoffs I could be home in 6-8 weeks. I won't lie that's pretty exciting as well. Don't get me wrong I love being here in Australia and hope to stay through a Grand Final win, but also the prospect of going home is starting to get under my skin slightly. It's been a while since I've seen family and friends (and dog Honey) and after a while it starts to wear a little bit. Now if you're reading this, don't think that I'm trying to say that yea I'm ready to come home now or that I'm homesick. It's not like that at all, I'll just be happy to come home. Until that time take care and wish the Lightning luck. 

A Loss?.....

After about two months of not experiencing the feeling of a loss, the Lightning finally had that feeling after this past weekend. More on that in a minute, but I'll start with the victory we picked up on Friday night. There isn't much to say about this one. This would probably been somewhat boring for someone just sitting in the stands. We ended up winning by about 20, it's just that there wasn't much happening in this game and the other team was not very good. I will say that it was absolutely freezing in the gym where we were playing (away game). I walked in before our game and didn't take off a jacket until the starting five had to walk out on the floor for the tip off. This isn't the first time that this has happened. I've come to figure out that most homes and other places in Australia do not use central heating (even as I'm writing this I'm sitting by a little heater in the living room where I'm staying at). Apparently, it just doesn't quite get cold enough for a long enough time here for people to really consider needing (or wanting to pay) for heat. Instead, people just really pile the clothes on and bundle up at night. Right now during the day it warms up to about 65 to 70 degrees (great), but at night it goes down to about 40 (not good). Obviously, at night...no heat...it gets a little nippy. As you can see, this comes in to play when all our games are after the sun goes down. 

Enough of that, on to the game that we lost. As I mentioned, this was the first time that we have lost since the end of March. It's quite disappointing that we lost, but also in the way that we played and that we beat this team by 35 the time before. I could get into a lot of reasons about what happened, but basically our defense wasn't there as it has been before (a long with some offensive issues). That said, a lot of credit to the other team, who I thought was very much improved and shot the ball extremely well. We are still sitting on top and in good position, but we MUST look at this loss and improve on some areas that we haven't been doing very well as of late. Hopefully, we will do just that starting tonight at practice. 

June 11, 2009

It's about 10:30 pm here in Perth and there isn't a whole lot for me to report on regarding the last week or so. We picked up another hard fought game at home in our game last week. It was close pretty much throughout pretty much the whole game. I think the final difference was 8 in our favor. This game was pretty much like many of the ones over the past two months. We just kept grinding and grinding and eventually were able to find some breathing room. Much of this was a result of our defense which is pretty much becoming the "backbone" of our team. This coupled with our ability to run the floor, play fast, and knock down shots gives us a large edge. Again I had a pretty solid game coming off an ankle injury, so I'm fairly pleased about that. 

One thing that I've found interesting (and comical) about Australia and the people here are some of the words that they use. Unfortunately, I had several that I was going to mention, but at this moment can only really think of one or two such words. The first word that I hear often and picked up on the meaning quickly is the word "heaps". This word is used to convey a lot of something. So Australians use this word "heaps" instead of maybe hearing the word many in America.  I don't think I've ever heard this word used back in the states.  However, by far my favorite word that I've heard or even used is the word "dodgy" (I'm bringing this one home). I hear this word all the time. When someone says "dodgy" he or she is describing a bad, dirty, or sketchy person, place, or thing. Example; that is a "dodgy" area to be by yourself. What I like about this word is just its broad use to describe all kinds of things. There are a couple words that I've picked up on. If I remember anymore here soon I'll be sure to let you know. 

Time for me to get some rest. We got two games this weekend. If it's anything like the past ones I'll be needing all the rest that I can get. 

Finally

Alright so it's been quite a while since I last posted. Between a couple early internet problems and the my parents coming to visit for two weeks I never got around to making an entry. 

I guess I'll start by catching everybody up on the basketball. May was a very good month for the Lightning and myself. We didn't lose in the month of May capped off by a three point win against the 2nd placed Geraldton Bucs who also are the only team to defeat us so far this year. It was a very good feeling to get a little revenge. However, if things continue to go as they are, then I got a good feeling that we'll see them again in the playoffs at some stage. Personally, I feel like I had a very productive month as well. I'm still very pleased with how I am playing but also want to continue to play even better. With a little bit of bad news, in that game against Geraldton I sprained my ankle early in the second half and was slowed up a bit the rest of the game. It's not terrible but enough to swell up a decent amount and start to develop some slight color. With a pretty heavy load of treatment I'm pretty confident I'll be ready to go full speed for our game this Friday. Currently, the Lakeside Lightning sit atop the table with a record of 15-1 and a 12 game winning streak. 

As I mentioned Mom and Dad made the long trip from South Carolina to Perth to visit for two weeks. It was great to see them and had a lot of fun in the meantime. I saw more of Perth and surrounding areas with them in those two weeks than I probably had seen my whole time here. That's ok tho because I definitely can get around the city with no problem after all the driving I did with them. They chose not to rent a car for the first week and a half so it was all three of us in my tiny car. Right before they left we had an opportunity to travel several hours south of Perth to an area called Margaret River. This was the first chance that even I have had to go anywhere outside of the greater Perth area (other than two bball game roadtrips). Traveling down south was an opportunity to experience a landscape and environment that maybe I would have considered more "Australian", or at least would have visualized sitting in my South Carolina living room. Everything was much more rural (or the bush as Australians call it). The coast line and beaches were scenic and was just different than anything I have ever experienced before. It was just very cool. It was also the first time we had seen a kangaroo. Didn't just see one either, there were tons of them in the fields along the road (also meant seeing lots of ones as roadkill). The whole trip was just very cool. Being able to experience that and explore Perth more in depth with Mom and Dad was a great time in and of itself. Yea so all that was great, but just as good was that while they were here they saw us win 4 games and me play well. I will try and get up a couple pictures from the past month up in the next couple days. 

Life is good.