Road Win

Last night we picked up a victory on the road against St. Vallier beating them 94-72 in a French Cup match-up. To refresh everyone’s memory about the French Cup – it is a tournament format that involves all the teams from each different level here in the country of France. There is five different levels  with Pro A being the highest followed by  Pro B and then there is National 1, National 2, and National 3 in their respective order. With that win we are now among 16 teams left competing for the French Cup trophy. Our next game is scheduled for March 15^th against another team from Pro B (Antibes).

More details about last night’s game – we jumped out to a fast start scoring 8 straight points before they scored a basket. From that point on we never looked back and built a 22 point halftime lead. The rest is history. I ended up playing 25 minutes, registering 11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 assists. It was a good effort overall from the team but now we have to refocus for Saturday’s showdown with Orleans. This is a big match up for us because the winner of this game will qualify to play in the Semaine des As  – a mid season 4 day tournament that features the top 8 teams in the Pro A standing during the first half of the season. The tournament will take place February 10^th-13^th at a neutral location. There is a lot riding on this game for us and the challenge will be difficult as we are playing on the road this weekend. It’s a long travel weekend for us too. We will fly to Paris Friday morning and then take a couple of vans to Orleans – which is about an hour or two away. I know I’ll be ready because just thinking about this game is getting my blood pumping!  

This is all I have for now; I’ll be back on this weekend informing you all on how the game went. Enjoy the rest of your week, the weekend is almost here! As always – love, peace, and happiness. 

2 in a Row

Six days after a 19 points loss at Nancy, Gravelines came into our house and beat us 91-68 on France national television this past Friday night. Poor defense is the blame for this game. We couldn’t defend anything and allowed our opponent to shoot 54% from the floor including 40% from beyond the arc. We really let them have their way with us – they were more aggressive than us and did what they wanted to on the offensive end. Also it didn’t help that we were 27/77 from the floor – a whopping 35%. Our schemes and approach need to change or we need to find a better way to execute our game plan at a higher level. We need to be able to dictate the game from the start and force our opponent to play our style instead of us always playing catch up.

On a more personal note, I had a decent game. I had 18 points on 8/12 shooting from the floor to go along with 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and one steal in 27 minutes of action. The playing time has continued to improve which is good but if I want to keep seeing those minutes, I have to keep playing at a high level.  I should feel good about my game as I am getting back into the flow of everything but nothing feels good when the final result is a loss. The good thing is that we can forget about the loss and move ahead to our next game which will be tomorrow. This game will be a French Cup game and we will be playing against a team from Pro B (second division). This is a good chance for us to regroup and get a win.

This is all I have for now – I will update you all about the French Cup game. I hope this post find you all doing well.  As always – love, peace, and happiness! 

Road Test

This past weekend was a big game for us on the road as we matched up against one of the top teams in the league – Nancy. Unfortunately, we found ourselves on the losing side of the scoreboard 86-67. I have to give credit to Nancy for executing a great game plan. They forced us into playing at a faster tempo than we wanted to; that caused us to cough up a few extra turnovers and most importantly they beat us on the boards. There is no shame in losing to a team like Nancy but we had our chances to take the lead in the game but just couldn’t capitalize.

From an individual standpoint I played a decent game. I finished with 8 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, one block, and one steal in 20 minutes of action. The stats don’t speak much volume but I was very active out on the court and did a lot of things that didn’t show up in the stat sheet. I feel great playing again and the ankle feels great. Since I’ve been back playing I haven’t had any trouble with the ankle whatsoever (knock on wood). I have to give special thanks to Michelle – a certified athletic trainer in Fort Dodge, IA - for working with back me while I was back in the states. Her hard work has definitely paid off and she definitely made me a better athlete. I do look forward to working with her again in the future. In the meantime I will continue to work hard and improve my game and hopefully do great things this second half of the season.

This is all I have for now. I hope everyone is doing well back in the states. I will be more active and updating this blog more often. As always Love, Peace and Happiness.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! Here’s hoping your 2011 is off to a great start. We are back in France and I will return to the court tomorrow for a game against my old team Vichy. I will give an update after the game.

I think they call this venting...

This past week a lot of things have been going sideways. I’ve tried my best to balance out the lows but every corner I turn seems to bring me right back. Never felt so disrespected in my life – no need to go into further details. This post alone will be mine forever to serve as a reminder that life is a constant battle. I’m sure you feel my pain, we’ve all been there before. I just try my hardest to turn the page and go about my business as if none of this bullshit existed.

Through all the stress and pain, GOD managed to shine his light upon us. A few hours from now my wife and I will be boarding a plane heading back to the states – a place where we can ease our mind because there is no place like home. No need to worry, no cut has been made by the team if that is what you’re thinking, we are just coming home so I can work with my physical therapist. Home is just the best place for me to begin my rehab and for us to escape this place…

More great news is that we saw the baby again this past Wednesday. The ultrasound was just amazing, I couldn’t believe my eyes. We were fortunate enough to experience what we did at the doctor office. We could see everything about our baby, the heart, eyes, brain, nose, we even saw the baby’s bladder. We even know the exact measurement of our baby’s legs, feet, hands. Man it was just unreal. The baby is continuing to grow healthy which is always refreshing news for us. Jennifer is in great health as well.

This is all, I will be sure to keep you all posted on my progress with the rehab. As always love, peace, and happiness.

Happy Thanksgiving

Life's Greatest Gift...

A few months from now GOD will be providing my wife and I with life’s greatest gift – the birth of a new child. I can’t even begin to describe how excited I am about this process. With this child entering my life, I feel like I have developed a whole world of new feelings deep within me. Of course like any prospective father, I had my share of fears, worries, and concerns but with my wife by my side, I have no worries. She is the best teammate I could ever ask for. I thank her every day for the sacrifices she making to make all this possible.

Today Jen is 20 weeks, making us halfway through the process (140 days to go) – the due date is set for April 7. We’d decided to have the baby here in France. With the help from one of my teammates, we were able to find a doctor who will deliver the baby for us. After visiting with the doctor twice, we feel comfortable with him even though he does not speak much English but the nurses/midwives do. To help cope with the language barrier, one of the ladies who works for the team has been coming with us to our appointments as our translator. I must say she has been very helpful throughout this whole process so far.

The baby is growing well which is always refreshing news – 3 ultrasounds have already been done. Basically every time we visit our doctor he will do an ultrasound. In addition to that, we have 3 separate in depth ultrasounds done at a different location during week 14, 22, and 32 – these ultrasounds provide us with the measurement of the baby. Our next ultrasound for week 22 is schedule for Dec. 1st. This will be the first time we can learn the sex of the baby but we have chosen not to find out the sex; to instead be surprised at birth (that may change). All we pray for is a healthy baby come April 7.

We thank everyone for all of the well-wishes and for the prayers that have no doubt been helping. This journey is amazing and we feel very blessed. Have a great weekend everyone…until next time…love, peace, and happiness!

Monte Carlo

Yesterday the team was playing on the road visiting Chalon while we spent the day hanging out in Monte Carlo. This beautiful little city in Monaco is just a short drive for us (2hrs). Famous for its wealth and celebrities, we thought we’d take a stroll down the fast lane. Arriving early in the afternoon we quickly learned that making a trip here means being prepared to hit the red carpet. Our first stop was the Le Grand Casino, the most popular destination in this area. We pulled up next to the casino and I noticed nothing but Bentleys, Rolls Royce, and Ferraris parked all around the front entrance. Judging by the look of things and us sporting a KIA Soul, we saved the embarrassment by hiding our car in the parking garage.

The weather was awesome so we spent the afternoon wandering around the area. Nothing but the best of the best in this area, I’m talking about Gucci, Prada, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, etc. you name it they got it. We spent majority of the afternoon window shopping just drooling over the items they had on display but someday we’ll be the ones in the stores while everyone will be looking at us. We also took the time to throw away our money gambling in the casinos. The casinos were similar to Vegas so there wasn’t much of a difference. We mainly just played the slot machines and there wasn’t a whole lot of luck for us. Well there was none since we came out on the negative end. Losing money is never fun but we had a great time. I guess it was nice to do something different. We didn't stay long in Monte Carlo because I wanted to get back to the apartment to watch the team online. But on our way home we decided to make a quick stop in Cannes for dinner. I guess it was a great way to finish off the day - also nice to have all these cool cities nearby.

 

The Victory…

The team came away with a much needed victory, winning 94-80. It was a great feeling at the same time a sense of relief. We played without our team’s leading scorer Rick while he is nursing a foot injury. It seems like the guys played really well, I haven't had the chance to talk with any of my teammates so I can’t go into details about the game. By the look of things I guess we improved a little bit on defense but we can’t keep allowing teams to score 80 points on us unless we are going to drop 90 every night. Our next game will be at home on Friday night against Strasbourg. Let’s hope this victory get us on a roll…

Shout out to the WSU Women’s and Men’s basketball teams on their victories – I stayed up way past 4am watching video live stream. Congrats to the both of them on their victory and starting the season off with the dub! I sure do miss playing on that court – I spent most of the day reminiscing about my playing days there. Ah long live the memories!

Before I get going I’ve got to give a shout out to the Badgers’ football program for handling business against Indiana; wow 83 points seriously! Also have to give a shout out to Iowa’s football program for once again choking at Northwestern. I got to give it to them; they keep finding a way to mess up their season against this team. My wife won’t be too pleased with me writing this! Alright time to end this post, till next time – love, peace, and happiness!

Growing Pains...

We suffered a defeat on our home floor this past Saturday – well rather an embarrassing defeat. The final score read 76-93 bringing us to a 2-3 overall record. We allowed our opponents, Pau-Lacq-Orthez to shoot an astounding 65% from the field and 64% (9-14) from long range. Credit to Pau-Lacq-Orthez for shooting lights out but our defense simply must get better. They had five guys finish the game in double digit scoring with four of those five guys scoring more than fifteen points each. We just can’t let teams have their way against us. Our defense is ranked among the bottom in the league. Our opponents have been shooting 51% from the floor, by far the highest allowed by any teams in this league. I said before that our defense can be our worst nightmare but it was even more of a nightmare to witness it from the sideline. Worse yet, our fans were frustrated and leaving the game early. It was one of those moments where you wished you could have it back and do it over. If we don’t come up with a solution, it’ll just be de ja vu week after week. I know the coaches are frustrated as well as the players but now its gut check time. Either we step it up and own up to our responsibilities and get the job done or we break as a team and become somewhat like the Dallas Cowboys. With our defense being the way it is, the relationships among the guys appear to be souring….

Aside from basketball, life is good – Jennifer is doing great and the ankle is healing great as expected. I’ve been keeping myself busy in the weight room even though the crutches alone give me a good workout daily. Shout out to the Warriors as they take on the Gophers tonight, make us proud! Well this is all for now – love, peace, and happiness!

Happy Halloween

Allow me to reintroduce myself – at the same time reconnect you to my world. These past couple of weeks has been a roller coaster ride with some twists and turns that provided some scares. Instead of being focused on the game of basketball, I’m exhausted from battling the front office staff. From bad checks, to late checks, to not honoring the contract – it’s just a constant battle that had me feeling bitter. I won’t go into more details but I’ll just say the business part of basketball has been very unpleasant. With all my bitterness, I guess karma can find a way to get the best of you – this past week I suffered an injury that will sideline me for the next two months. I tore a ligament in my left ankle – no surgery is needed but for the next three weeks I’m walking around in a hard cast and crutches. The team has already announced that they are bringing in a player to replace me for the next two months. I can’t say that I am thrilled about that but it is what they need to do. I do know that I won’t be cut or released so I have no worries in that aspect. It’s weird because now that I’m hurt I don’t have to attend any practices or travel with the team on road. I’m just free to do whatever that is till I begin physical therapy. Despite all that happened I somehow see my injury as a blessing in disguise. I can get away from basketball to focus on myself, to focus on my wife, and enjoy this life that we have. Earlier I mentioned about me being bitter, well now it is time to get rid of all the negativity and just enjoy. This whole experience won’t be a smooth ride and I just have to take the good with the bad.

On the flip side we’re doing ok as a ball club. We are 2-2, winning two games at home and losing two games on the road. Both road losses can be credited to bad defense – transition defense and defending the pick and roll. If we can’t come up with a solution, defense will be our worst nightmare. Somehow, someway we have got to find a way to toughen up on defense if we are planning to be among the top in the final standings. Through the first three games I averaged 25 mpg, 8.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, and 1.7 spg. Nothing flashy but I do my best to provide an energy boost for the team.

With France being all over the news I’m sure some of you are wondering if any of the strikes have affected us in any way. Thankfully, nothing has really hit this area beside a few small strikes along the downtown area in the city of Toulon here and there. There has been a rise in the number of gas stations that have closed down in the area due to the shortage. But other than that nothing has been serious. I think all of this is really interesting but I’ll let you be the judge – do you work a few more years to keep the country from folding or do you strike and watch the country fold???

Well folks that’ll be all for now – I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween! Trick or treat, smell my feet, or give me something good to eat!!

As always…love, peace, and happiness – God Bless!

1-0!

We emerged from the weekend with a victory against Poitiers – the final score read 68-64. We didn’t exactly play great basketball but somehow we prevailed with a win. We didn’t execute as we have been doing all preseason, our offense was out of sync and our defense was average at times. But at crunch time it was our defense that won us the ball game. The team and myself just played out of character – too many unforced turnovers and too many missed lay-ups. We’re happy we came out with the victory but we know we could have done a better job. We held a 7 point lead throughout most of the game but we just could never put them away. We kept giving Poitiers opportunity after opportunity to make a run at us and stay in the game. Now that I look back on the game, it is surprising that they didn’t take the lead. I’m not trying to knock on my team but we played bad enough that we should have been dealt the loss. Odd thing is, during the game I never once felt we were going to lose the game despite our play. After the game, coach was bittersweet – happy we won but not happy with how we played. He knows we can play better and he believes we can do something special this year as a team.

More on a personal note, I finished the game with 9 pts on 4-11 shooting, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 3 turnovers. I did some good things and I did some bad things, I played the game overly excited. I think it was because my parents were here and because it was the first game of the regular season. I was disappointed with myself because I wanted to have a better performance for my parents. They were just excited to be there and see me play but I know next time in the future when they watch me play it’ll be better!

My parents flew back home yesterday and made it back safely but it was sad to have them leave. We had a great time and it was so much fun having visitors. Now I can’t wait to come home for Christmas and see them again. I posted some pictures below from their stay and from the game, I hope you enjoy them. Well it is about that time for practice – as always love, peace, and happiness!

Let's Get It Started...

Back to blogging – sorry there haven’t been any updates the past couple of weeks.The preseason kept me busy but that is finally over. Now I have a chance to slow down and catch everyone up with our progress. The month of September was filled with preseason games/tournaments. We played a total of 14 games finishing with an 11-3 record. We played all of our preseason games on the road except for one game, so it been a long preseason with all of the traveling. Coach has been happy with our progress as we won 3 of the 5 tournaments we participated in. Our performances have been outstanding and I believe we have a lot of people excited for this upcoming season.

This Saturday we open up the regular season with a home game against Poitiers. I’m excited for the game and for this season because this is what I’ve been working all summer for. I am really ambitious about this season and striving to have a great year. A lot of people said I had a good year last season but I’m looking to do more and put up better numbers. I’m getting all pumped up just writing about it…

But I’m also excited because my parents will be here today. I’m at the apartment waiting for them as they should be arriving anytime now since Jennifer went to get them by herself because I had practice. This will be my parents’ first adventure over the Atlantic Ocean so I hope it is a great experience for them. I’m making this a short post – now it’s time to sit back and relax on the patio with a nice cold drink and wait for my parents and my wife to come join me and enjoy this beautiful weather. I’ll be back on this weekend to give an update about the game and hopefully we start the season off with a win. Take care, as always; love, peace, and happiness – God Bless!

A couple of pictures from media day as one well one from our only home preason game vs. Antibes

Preseason in Italy

Hey everyone how is it going? I thought I’d take the time to give everyone an update from the tournament last weekend in Italy. I originally wanted to do a day by day blog while I was out there but internet ended up being a little too expensive (10 Euros for 4 hours) so I just kept a day by day diary.


Bormio, Italy Day 1:

We started the day by meeting at the gym at 9:30am. From there we packed 10 players, 2 coaches, and 2 staff members into 2 mini buses. Before I go any further I have to say that the French version of a mini bus is not the same as what us Americans would consider a mini bus. You are probably thinking of something like a short bus or something that is suitable to carry a good amount of people. Well that wasn’t the case! These mini buses were more like Scooby-Doo hippie vans. Now try to imagine 10 basketball players trying to fit into these little vans. We somehow managed to get everyone into these tight vans but the real task was surviving the 8 hour drive to Bormio, Italy. Let’s just say that it was a real struggle for everyone throughout the trip. However on the bright side, it was one of the most beautiful drives I ever seen. It’s hard to explain but we drove along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, along the edge of the mountain overlooking everything. It was just gorgeous, what an amazing view. Of course I had to forget to pack my camera so I wasn’t able to take any pictures for you all.

We finally arrived to our final destination a little after 6pm. After settling into our rooms, we had practice at 7pm. It was just a light practice, just to get our body moving and get our legs stretched out. Practice only lasted about an hour and after that we had dinner at the hotel and then it was lights out for me. I was exhausted and excited to be lying in the bed.

Bormio, Italy Day 2:

 Day 2 would be game day but also would be the first time seeing Bormio during the day. It is a small community up in the mountains and is one of the most beautiful small towns I have ever seen. I know I keep using the word beautiful but seriously everything was. The room I was staying in had a mountain view. I could open up the patio door and see everything, it was nice. If you’re interested I am sure you can Google Bormio and find some pictures so you can get an idea of where I was at.

 Anyway we started with breakfast at 9am followed by morning practice at 10. For practice, we just ran through some of our plays and put up some shots. After that we had lunch at the hotel and then we were on our own till game time. The game was scheduled for 5:45pm against a team from Turkey. This game was a great test for us as we were playing against a team who will be competing in the Euro league. For those of you who don’t know, the Euro league is a big deal in Europe basketball and is the prime league to play in and where the money is at. I hope to be playing for an Euro league team next season if I’m not playing back in the states! But back to the game, we won by 20 points. It was kind of a surprise but shouldn’t have been for this team. We played well together and played great team ball. I said this before but we have so many different options that I think it’s going to be hard for teams to match-up against us. The Turkey team tried switching to zone defense hoping to slow us down but we just picked that apart. The funny thing is that we haven’t even worked on our zone offense yet this season. There wasn’t any set plays or anything, coach just let us play and we just naturally clicked on offense. After the game we all felt pretty good about ourselves and we’re feeling optimistic about this upcoming season. I think a lot of the guys including myself are excited about some of the things we can accomplish as a team this season. HTV isn’t considered one of the big teams in France but I know we’re going to surprise some teams this year. All of us already have the playoffs in the back of our mind but we know we need to keep working hard and let things play out.

 From a personal standpoint from the game, I would say I played well, played an all around game. I did a little bit of everything; scoring, rebounding, steals, and assists. I didn’t get to see any stats after the game so I don’t have any numbers to provide you with. This will be it for day 2, time for some sleep.

 Bormio, Italy Day 3:

 We started the day the same as the day before, breakfast followed by practice. Tonight game was at 8pm so we had a little more time to ourselves today. After morning practice a couple of my teammates and I took a stroll through the downtown area. There was nothing too exciting about the downtown area, just a bunch of shopping places and café everywhere. It was cool just to get out walking around chatting with the teammates.

 The game tonight was against a team from Russia. By the way none of the teams competing in this tournament are from Italy; all the teams are from a different country. I thought this was weird considering we’re playing in Italy. The team we played against tonight had a couple of former NBA players such as Gerald Green and JR Brimmer on their roster. I thought it would be a great match-up for me to go against Green but instead I had to spend my time chasing after their 3 point specialist. That was not cool, tonight was one of those time I didn’t feel like chasing after anyone, especially through tons and tons of screens. The guy I was going against was a good shooter, he was able to get off a couple of threes but that was it for him. The game was played at a fast pace, just up and down the court. Both teams kept going back and forth at each other but we were able to control the lead most of the game. Well that is until the last minute of the game. With about 30 seconds to go in the game and their shot clock was winding down, they threw up a desperate 3 point shot by their post player and it went in. We missed our shot on the other end and they won the game by 5 points. As a team we missed a lot of easy lay-ups and free throws which allowed them to stay in the game. It was a tough loss to take but at the same time we understood it was our fault. Again there wasn’t any stats sheet after the game so again I don’t have any numbers to share with you. Day 3 is over with, my body is feeling sore and it is definitely time for some sleep and hope I can recover for tomorrow game.

Bormio, Italy Day 4:

 The start to this day would be a little rough. My body was pretty sore, it was like every movement I made I felt some kind of pain. Coach gave us the morning off so there was no practice and felt good to sleep in a little. I did get up for some breakfast but quickly made my way back to bed.

 Our game would be at 5:45pm against another team from Turkey. This would be our third game in 48 hours so you can imagine that everyone just wanted to get this game over with. Our bodies were just hurting and playing another game was the last thing we wanted right now. You would think the other team is feeling the same way but we’re the only team in this tournament to play 3 straight games in 3 days. Not to make any excuses but some of these teams have been out here for a week or more and only played 2 games. Anyway we got off to a fast start and to a 20 points lead in the first quarter. After that I think everyone thought we could just ride it out and conserve our energy. We became less aggressive and they became more aggressive; they were able to get back into the game and trim our lead down to two points at half time. We tried to make a strong push at it again in the second half but they just kept fighting keeping the game close. We were able to maintain the lead throughout the second half until the last minute. Again we lost the game in the last minute. This time coach wasn’t so happy with our play but it is what it is. We talked it out and that was the end of it. Even though we lost the last two games in the last two minutes, I felt we had a good tournament. We played against some good competition and I know we’ll be more than ready when the season starts. We will be staying one more night and then making the long drive back to France early tomorrow morning. Our next tournament will be 3 games again Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Paris. Our first game will be against Vichy again so I’ll be looking forward to that game. I will post again after that trip but until next time love, peace, and happiness.

Back In Action

Hello everyone, welcome back to the blog. I am back to work in France preparing for this upcoming season with a new team. During the off-season I agreed to a one year deal with a different ball club in France. I signed with Hyéres-Toulon Var Basket (HTV). I will remain in the same league (Pro A) that I played in last season but just with a new team. I chose to play with HTV because of the potential opportunities, the location, and the coach. I heard a lot of great things about the coach and so far everything has turned out to be true. I am happy to be here; I feel confident about my new team, my decision and hopefully we can accomplish a lot this year. I am located in the south of France right off the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in a city called Toulon. Jennifer and I are very excited about spending the next nine months here.

I arrived here a couple of weeks ago, on Monday August 23rd, and within hours of stepping off the plane I was participating in my first practice. We’ve been in full force, practicing twice a day and already played in two preseason tournaments. Our first preseason tournament was the weekend of August 28th-29th. That tournament consisted of four teams and two games. We won both games and the tournament. I did not take part in that tournament because I suffered a muscle strain in my left calf two days prior to the tournament. But that is all behind me as I’ve been playing and practicing without any pain. I did play in our second preseason tournament which took place this past weekend in Vichy. This preseason tournament had the same setup, four teams/2 games. Again we won both games and were presented with a team trophy. I was looking forward to this preseason tournament and being back in Vichy. It was great to see everyone from the front office and some old teammates again. On top of all that I was named MVP of the tournament. I was surprised by this because I didn’t put up any flashy numbers. For the two games I averaged 11ppg, 6spg, 4rpg, and 3apg. I guess I can say I did a little bit of everything but the real highlight for me was having 8 steals in the first game and 4 in the second game.

After four preseason games I believe this team can make a lot of noise this season. I know it’s only the preseason but we have the necessary tools to be successful in this league. We have a balanced team with multiple scorers and unselfish players. My teammates are great guys with great attitudes. We all get along with each other very well and that is very hard to come by at the professional level. I am really excited about this season. For now we’ll continue working hard and preparing ourselves. We resume play this week with another preseason tournament in Italy. This time we will be playing three games, playing on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. This will be my first trip to Italy so I am anxious to see the country.

Well I just wanted to give a quick recap of what’s been happening in my life with basketball. I will be posting again this weekend when I am back from the tournament and will let you all know how we did. I hope all is well with everyone and that everyone had a great summer. Till next time; peace, love, and happiness!

Season Finale

Tuesday night the regular season for the 2009-2010 season came to an end with a loss to La Havre. It was not something we were expecting to happen, a loss on our home floor and a loss against a lower tier team. We didn't exactly have our best performance and we didn't exactly have anything to play for. On the other hand, La Havre played very well and they were hungry for this game. A win for them kept their team from dropping down to the Pro B level. In this league, the two last teams in the league standings in Pro A drop down to Pro B for the next season and the top two teams from Pro B move up. La Havre had a little extra motivation but that is still no excuse for us to lose. We started the game flat footed. We were missing easy open baskets and leaving their shooters wide open for shots. Le Havre took advantage of our mistakes and closed out the first quarter leading 20-13. More of the same continued to happen in the second quarter. They were taking care of the little things during the game, hustling harder than us, scrapping hard on the glass, and just picking our defense apart. Despite being out hustled we kept the game close but just couldn't get over that hump and make a run against them. The first half ended with us being down seven, 32-39.

The half time talk wasn't so good. Coach was pretty frustrated with our first half performance. After the pep talk, we got a little fire under our belt and came out the second half ready to play. We picked up our defense with a full court trap to speed the game up for us. We got them out of their rhythm on offense and started to convert on the opposite end. We got the lead down to two and then they came up with a big basket and went on a small run themselves and push the lead back to seven. They took the momentum from us but we were able to get it back and get the lead back down to two again. The game became more intense as we started to body up more on defense and to our advantage created some turnovers. But we also got some fouls called against us that got the fans riled up. After that the gym became loud and the fans along with coach were on the officials for every whistle they blew. There were some big calls missed by the officials that went against us, but that is the nature of sports. We fought through it and kept making a run at them but La Havre would respond with a run on their own. The momentum would switch back and forth through the rest of the game. We finished the third quarter down six and we finished the game losing by six, 76-82. It was definitely hard to close out the regular season losing on our home court. We finished the year 13-17 and tenth in the league out of 16 teams. The expectation was met by the front office in term of staying in Pro A but I was particularly disappointed in how our season turned out for the team and for myself. I have high expectations in everything I do regardless of the situation. Although this wasn't the ideal situation for me, I should be proud of the fact I didn't let it break me. I finished the season coming off the bench averaging 23mpg, 10.1ppg, and 2spg. I finished second in the league in steals, something I'm very proud of! I am looking forward to this off season for some rest from basketball and seeing families and friends. But the unsatisfying feeling I have will provide extra motivation for me. This was a great league for me to play in and I look forward to continue playing in this league. I am very happy and blessed there is already offers on the table from a couple of different Pro A teams as well as from Vichy. But there is more to come so I will have to wait and see what is out there and then I'll weigh my options and find the best situation for Jen and I and for my career.

Thanks for tuning in as you all been a great audience. I will be updating the blog when I've made my decision about the upcoming season and will post a few times over the summer. The best part about that is I will be blogging from the states!!!! Jen is leaving me tomorrow to fly back while I have to wait till Monday. Till next time… love, peace, and happiness. God Bless!

Road Trip!

Hey everyone – it’s Jen checking in. Jonté and I have gone back and forth about who was going to write the blog about our trip. He started it about three times but was never satisfied with his work so he decided that I should give it a try. So…here is my try and I will warn you now that it’s going to be long and there are lots of pictures!

Before I go too far I have to say that what we were able to see and experience in the last few days is – in some ways – very difficult to describe with words. I’ll do my best but honestly, until you’ve seen it for yourself, you won’t have the full appreciation.

We left Saturday morning and headed north to Paris. We had both been to Paris previously but wanted to see the sights together. The drive was not bad at all but as we neared the hotel we ran into some issues. We weren’t able to find the hotel we originally wanted to stay at so we used the GPS to help us find a different hotel in the area. We were lucky enough to find a couple right next to each other but we had a very hard time actually getting there! The turn off of the main road was quite awkward – there were three different driveways – and so we ended up going around in circles three different times until we entered the right driveway. It was a little stressful in our car – we were both ready to just be there and sure didn’t anticipate our struggles. But – when we did finally arrive at the hotel we were happy with the price and the location was great. We stayed in the “La Defense” area of Paris – on the northwest side. The Metro stop was about 2 blocks away and we had a parking ramp for the car. It was all good!

The first thing on our agenda was to get some food. Jonté was hungry (shocking) so I wanted to take him to a place I had been to on my previous trip. The joint was called “Breakfast in America”. It’s like a 50’s style diner that serves typical American food. I know some of you are thinking we should have had some great French food or something but trust me – we’ve had plenty of French food and were really hungry for something we knew. The best part about dinner – Coors Light! We haven’t found any “good” beer over here so it was nice to taste a beer that we were familiar with.

We didn’t do much on Saturday night. It was late by the time we had finished dinner and we were both pretty tired as we didn’t sleep much the night before. We went down to the Champs Elysees and wandered around the Arc de Triomphe and then decided that we’d head back to the hotel and get a good night’s sleep so we could really enjoy the day on Sunday.

Jonte' outside of Breakfast in America; us in front of the Arc de Triomphe

We got our money’s worth on Sunday and thankfully we seemed to avoid the rain as much as possible. We spent much of the day just wandering the city. We walked along the Champs Elysees again, over to the Seine River, down to the Louvre Museum, over to the Notre Dame, through the Latin Quarter, over to the Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens) and then to the Eiffel Tower. There is nothing quite like walking along the Seine River. It’s honestly one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. We enjoyed just being on our own schedule and stopping by the little shops along the way. Architecturally the city of Paris is amazing. The pictures just don’t do it justice. The Latin Quarter was a little neighborhood just a few blocks from the Notre Dame. If it hadn’t been a Sunday I think that area would have been even busier than it was. Restaurants and shops – it was a cool section of town. One of my favorite stops was the Luxembourg Gardens. A friend of mine who’d been to Paris said this was a “must-see” and after being there I definitely agree. It’s like Paris’ version of Central Park. It’s not quite that big but it was just a really beautiful and peaceful park right in the middle of town. There were plenty of people out – and I imagine that on really nice days that park is full. We would have stayed longer but the rain clouds were moving in so we wanted to get somewhere to take cover for a little bit. Our last stop of the day was the Eiffel Tower. As we were riding the metro to the Trocadero we were actually in an above ground train. That allowed us to watch the rain just pound the city. We could tell we were going in the direction of the clear skies and were really hoping we would miss the downpour. As we came up out of the subway we were excited to see that the rain had stopped! The views of the Eiffel Tower we got were just awesome because the clouds and the color of the sky were so unique. If you are planning a trip to Paris I highly recommend that the first time you see the Eiffel Tower is from the Trocadero. It’s such a great sight. We took tons of pictures and slowly wandered across the river to the base of the tower. One of the things I really wanted to do was to go up to the top of the tower. By the time we got in line it was about 9:00 and it was cold and windy. We thought the rain was done though and we knew it was going to rain all day the next day so we decided to do it. One elevator takes you to the first level – then we switched elevators and went to the second level. On the second level – which is probably about 1/3 of the way up the tower – Jonté was able to take quite a few good pictures. I – on the other hand – was not feeling that great. I was way more scared and uncomfortable than I thought I would be. I’m really not afraid of heights but for some reason I was pretty unsteady. The last elevator - the one that takes you all the way to the top – goes right up through the middle of the tower and has glass walls. So in other words – you can see outside the whole ride up to the top. I didn’t really enjoy it at all but once we got to the top and I realized we were in a fully enclosed area I relaxed and was able to enjoy it! The view was amazing – we could see for miles. It was just a really unique way to see the city. We did climb up about 12 stairs and go outside but that was a short lived trip. It was so windy and cold – it felt like we were going to blow right off! We ventured back down to the bottom and walked back across the river to catch the light show before we called it a day. We had literally walked around all day and were ready to put our feet up.

The first pic of us with the Eiffel Tower; Jonte' acting tough during our walk

The Norte Dame; Luxembourg Gardens

Luxembourg Palace sits on one end of the Gardens; you can see the rain clouds moving in

Such a beautiful landmark - and the clouds behind make it look even better

We were having a little fun with the camera :)

A view of the Tower from about half way up; I'm smiling because I'm at the top of the Eiffel Tower!

The end of a great day in Paris

Monday greeted us with more wind and rain. It was disappointing because the weather had been so great the past couple of weeks. We went back into Paris to have a good breakfast and do a little shopping before we took off. We left Paris and headed further north. We were headed to the coastal town of Honfleur and then we were going to work our way west to a couple of the beaches of Normandy. Since we didn’t have to be back until Wednesday we had a couple of days to see as much as we could. We stopped in Honfleur and walked around for a while – we were trying really hard not to think about how cold we were. The wind was just crazy and because we were right off the English Channel is made it even worse. Honfluer was cool though – a nice little port town and a good place for us to stop. We then made our way to Caen. By the time we reached Caen it was about 7:00 and we knew we were still about 25-30 miles from Omaha Beach. With the weather the way it was and the darkness rolling in we decided to stay in Caen for the night. We found a nice hotel and a Pizza Hut :)

A view of Honfleur; we found a nice spot to enjoy a drink in Caen

Early the next morning we left Caen and headed north to Omaha Beach. For both Jonté and I the historical part of our trip was very important. My dad and Jonté’s stepdad are both history buffs and would have really loved to see the beaches of Normandy. So I think we both felt even more anxious to see all of it for them but we really hope they will both be able to see it for themselves next year. Omaha Beach is the site of the US Cemetery and Memorial – along with a great visitor’s center. The visitor’s center provided so much information about D-Day- what led up to it and even the events after it. To say that being there was humbling is an understatement. There are over 10,000 white crosses in the cemetery and all of those people died for our country. The grounds themselves were immaculate and the view – overlooking Omaha Beach – was inspiring. The whole place took my breath away. I kept thinking about what those soldiers must have been thinking as they were in their boats coming up towards the beach.

That powerful quote greets you at the entrance to the Visitor Center; a view of Omaha Beach

A view of the cemetary from the memorial and vice versa

Lasting image from Omaha Beach

From Omaha Beach we traveled just west to another major battle sight – Pointe du Hoc. The cool thing about Pointe du Hoc is that the grounds really haven’t been touched. The old bunkers and the craters from exploding shells were still there. We weren’t able to get out to the memorial pillar because they are doing some work to stabilize the cliffs. Pointe du Hoc is on top of a huge rock cliff – which the US forces climbed. I wish we could have gotten out more to the edge but what we were able to see was so interesting.

Jonte' getting warm down in a bunker; a view of Pointe du Hoc

Our next stop was Utah Beach. It was very, very different than Omaha Beach. There were a couple of monuments and a small museum. We managed to walk out onto the beach – even though the wind was so strong we weren’t sure we could even see with all the sand blowing in our faces. I ventured all the way out and put my feet in the water. It was cold – very cold. Again – as we stood there and thought about what the troops did all those years ago – we couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride. I think if the weather had been nicer we would have stayed much longer at all three of our stops but in the end we were just so thankful to have had the chance to see them at all. It was truly inspiring.

Utah Beach; Jonte' with a statue dedicated to the Marines involved in the battle at Utah Beach

I told you I put my feet in the water...and it was COLD!

To complete our busy day we traveled about 80 miles southwest to the Mont-St-Michel. I don’t really even know what words I have to describe the Mont. It’s like a town built around a famous Abbaye – only it’s built on a little island and is built up. Ok – that’s not a very good description – you all should really just Google it! From a distance it looks like a huge castle and up close it was one of the most unique places we’d ever been. We wandered around – climbed tons of stairs – and enjoyed the views. It was a nice way to end our trip.

Our view from the car - we're about 5 miles away; Mont-St-Michel up close

A different view - this time looking out

So…all in all we had a really great few days. We made it home safely and are now back to our normal routine in Vichy. Jonté and the guys have one game left – on Tuesday the 11th. With the playoffs now out of the picture we’ll be heading home very soon. We are both getting very anxious – I plan to start packing sometime this weekend. Our trip was a great way to see another part of France before we’re back to the states for a while!

Hope this post finds all of you doing well – thanks for reading! Au revoir!