Blog with Bryan Smithson

The Day finally came!!!! My departure flight was from Split, Croatia at 615am.  From my apartment, it takes almost two hours to get to the airport.  So, I left my apartment at 3am in order to get to the airport on time.  I decided to fool around on the computer until it was time to leave since I wouldn't have gotten much sleep anyway.  By the time I got onto the plane I was  exhausted.   I barely remember my first two flights - Split, Croatia to Zagreb, Croatia and from Zagreb to Frankfurt, Germany.   The most difficult flight was from Germany to Atlanta.  9 HOURS!!!!  I slept a lot, ate a lot and watched part of the flight movie, "Australia."  Not a bad movie.  Even with the long flight, cramped quarters, and bad food, nothing could break my spirits about returning to Atlanta.  When we finally arrived I thought I was home free.  Wrong!! I forgot about customs and security.  After another hour or so I finally made it through the "zoo" and saw my mom and brother at the baggage claim waiting for me.  We got out of the airport pretty quickly and immediately went to Olive Garden to satisfy 5 months of "food fantasies".  The chicken alfredo was everything I thought it could be and more! 

As for being home, the past week has been nice and relaxing, but I would be lying if I said I was not ready to get back to work.  I am working on my plans and schedule for the next couple months right now so I cannot say exactly what is next except I will begin working out on the court and in the weight room again on Monday.  I do not have a car, phone, or house right now so it has been pretty difficult getting back in the loop.  But I hear horror stories about guys paying extreme amounts of money on car and house notes they have that they do not even use.  I am going to wait until i get a more clear plan of where I will be spending most of my time this summer before I make any long term investments.  However, there is no excuses for my procrastination on getting a phone, so I will be hooked up shortly.!

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Posted by bryan at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Well the last week things have been very interesting for me over here in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  1 week ago I played my final game here.  I recorded 6 minutes in the game, and I was concerned about the severe decrease in playing time that I have seen.  I decided to approach the coach in a business like manner just to find out what happened, and if there was something that I was doing wrong. I didn't really get a clear answer.  After further discussion with the coach it was a mutual decision to part ways.  Although I'm not all the way pleased that I am no longer with the team.  The decision was necessary.  After coach Vrankovic quit (the coach who brought me in), things changed within the team and after discussing my "new" role with the new coach he also felt the same way.  There is no bad feelings between the club and I and I am sure they feel the same way.  It was a business decision on both ends. I hope the city of Siroki and the club found my performance satisfying in the time that they were in need of my help.  I thank the management and coaching staff of Siroki Eronet and the city for the opportunity to play for a great club. From my time here I have learned that sometimes in Europe it just turns out this way.  Friends of mine have told me this and now I am now experiencing it myself.  I am pulling for the team to bring home the championship because I know how hard they have worked and how up and down the season has been for us all. Because of my contribution to the team, I will continue to feel connected.  Also, my two dudes are still playing --Chet Mason, Charles Thomas.  With those two guys the team will do very well.  Although my season with Siroki has ended sooner than expected I still got a season of European basketball under my belt and now feel like I have quite a bit of experience.  Also, I am very excited about my return to the USA--- it will be an unbelievable feeling when I step of that airplane.  I'm just trying to figure out what food I'm going to eat first!!!! ANY SUGGESTIONS??? Leave Suggestions in COMMENTS!!!!! THANKS.  The details of departure are being worked out.

CHECK OUT MY COMPLETE HIGHLIGHT TAPE FOR THE 2008-2009 SEASON AT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0rmmsP9TZw

***Due to YouTube's copyright policies they pick music for you ***If foul language in music offends you please click your mute button before starting video***

Posted by bryan at 06:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

If you are offended by cursing in music please click the mute on your volume controls. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qwlhk99YS8

Posted by bryan at 06:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Since the last entry we have had two games beginning league 8.  The first one was vs. Sloboda Dita who finished just ahead of us (3rd) in the regular season.  We beat them by about 10 points and looked really good as a team.  We have added two new players, one pg and one big man.  Both nice additions to the team.  The big guy goes by the name of Ivan Grgat and is supposedly a legend in Croatia.  I didn't believe it until his first game with us when he was absolutely unstoppable.  He is not athletic, looks out of shape, 34 years old, but is flat out STRONG and can play.  Great for our team and definitely an inside presence that we were missing.  The pg is Chester Mason who went to Miami of Ohio, and has been in the game for a while being 28 years old this year.  He is a very good athlete and stands about 6ft 4 so he has some size.  Also a good adddition to the team bc who cant use a big guard?  Anyway getting to the second game we played on Tuesday vs. Bosna.  Bosna is based out of the capital of Bosnia, Sarejevo.  They are rated as the best team in the league and played their season in the Adriatic League (very good league) until we began our league 8 and then they joined back in our league.  So, we had them beat but  made some very bad mistakes in the closing seconds of regulation and allowed them to force overtime where they carried the momentum and buried us.   I only played 10 minutes in the game, but sometimes, in Europe, thats how it goes.  You don't always know why, but you just keep plugging away and being a good teammate, because the time will come again where you have to perform at a high level.  So, with all that said, I want to get back to the title of this entry "Surprises." The title is very necessary.  After the loss, the city took it very hard as did us as players.  We had practice the next day at 6pm.  When I arrived at the gym there was a buzz, but no a good one.  Coach quit!!!  I was extremely surprised and this caught me way off guard!  The president of the club came to talk to us and then coach talked to us.  The translation I got wasn't very clear but I know there was a lot of pressure on him and I believe some things happened behind the scenes that I don't know about.  Pretty disappointing considering he brought me in and put the ball in my hand, but its one of those things that reminds me that this is a business and you have to treat it that way.  Although I am disappointed, frustrated, and nervous its important to stay focused on the task at hand (winnning) in order to reach the goals I have and in order to reach the goals of our team.  There is no doubt in my mind that Coach will get another job in the future, because he is a good coach.  So its just another day in European basketball -- You never know whats going to happen next !!!! Next game Sunday !!!!

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Posted by bryan at 05:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)