Blog with Bryan Smithson

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 !!!!

****IF YOU HAVE NOT SIGNED THE GUESTBOOK PLEASE DO*******CHECK OUT HIGHLIGHT TAPE IN LAST ENTRY******