Game vs Lugano Round 2

This is a game that I would rather not report on but since I am trying to keep up with the blog I have to do it. Going into the game we knew it was going to be tough. I think that on paper Lugano has the strongest team in the league. They are tough at all 5 positions and they go 9 deep. This might not be surprising to some, but there are few teams this deep in Switzerland. This is because Switzerland is not a big money league but Lugano is a big money team so they have the money to pay 9 guys.

Lugano also has a new coach. Since they have so many Americans on their team, the Lugano management decided they needed an American coach to relate to their players. So, they went out and found a good American coach who has had success in Switzerland and also Europe. The new coach, Joe Whelton, was very successful and led Bellinzona (a town nearby) to Swiss championships. To sum it all up, our game against Lugano just got harder.

SAM vs. Lugano is also a derby (Euro word for rivalry game) so there is added motivation for the game. We didn't come out with the right mental approach for the game and found ourselves down quickly. Our offense wasn't clicking like it had been in our past 3 wins. It seemed like we would make one pass and then take a shot.

Even though Lugano jumped out to a quick lead, we managed to fight our way back. Every time we made a comeback though Lugano answered. We, including myself, missed a ton of easy shots that would have aided in our comeback. It just wasn't our day and we ended up losing the game 104-88.

Here are some low lites from the game. It is mostly Lugano stuff so watch at your own risk.

After the game I had the worst feeling. I hate losing and I took the loss hard. We played so bad and I know that we could have played better. The good thing though is we play tomorrow against Nyon and have a chance to win the game. We could really use the win to create some separation in the standings.

Italian Basketball

I have decided to hold off on writing about Christmas and our loss to Lugano for a little bit. Instead, I have to write about what I witnessed tonight while it is still fresh in my mind. On Thursday of this week, Patrick (a member of Massagno's management) asked us if we would like to see the NGC Cantu vs. Siena game on Sunday. I thought that it would be a lot of fun and give me an opportunity to see what Italian basketball is all about. Italy is such a beautiful country with great culture so naturally it is a country that I would love to play in one day. This was a perfect opportunity to see some Italian basketball. Plus, Siena is arguably the best team in Europe and definitely the best Italian team.

Cantu is about 40 minutes away from where we live and actually the home of our coach Massimo Aiolfo. It is a small town of about 20,000 people and a town that is very passionate about their basketball team.

NGC Cantu is also the team our new teammate Sam Hines (www.samuelhines.com) used to play for. Sam is a legend in Cantu and has had a very illustrious basketball career. He has absolutely dominated everywhere he has been and even belongs in Cantu's Hall of Fame, Piazza delle Stelle. I didn't realize how big of a deal this was until today. We immediately spotted Sam because he was surround by a bunch of people trying to talk to him. The man is an absolute star in Cantu and is treated like a god. I walked around the arena with him and everywhere we went people were saying hi to him and asking for pictures and autographs. Playing in Switzerland made me forget how big of a deal basketball is to some people.

I should also note that Cantu is famous for their crazy fans. I found this out on Saturday night in our game versus Lugano. Around 50 Cantu fans made the 40 minute trip to see our game against Lugano. They made their present known by singing and cheering loudly throughout the whole game. Unfortunately they sat next to Liz and she was unable to hear the rest of the night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fYORWavn28&feature=related

The Cantu fans occupy a section right behind the basket. They are so crazy that they were not allowed to attend the game vs. Varese because the local officials feared that a fight might break out between the two teams fans. I was about to experience what Italian basketball is all about.

Cantu fans vs Rome

While I was up talking with Sam I saw a bunch of police officers come in and surround an empty section in the upper corner of the arena. The officers were in full riot gear. Once they had the section surrounded I heard a roar moving up the stairs. Drums, horns and singing were all part of the roar. At the same time boos, profanities and everything else erupted out of the Cantu fan section. I realized that the officers were their so that the Siena fans and the Cantu fans could not make contact with each other. It was actually really cool to see. Most of the Siena fans gave a polite 2 finger salute to the Cantu fans and they were more than happy to give it back to them.

Once the fans had settled in, chants rang out back and forth across the arena. I didn't understand all of them but thankfully we had a translator. It was definitely not a place to bring a child as the game should have been rated R. The insults ranged from calling Siena sons of bitches to pieces of shit, and also saying how the Siena coach and president are married to a horse (apparently Siena is known for horse racing.) This continued for the entire game. It was definitely the best atmosphere I have ever seen at a game.

Unfortunately the Cantu fan section did cross the line at times. They were caught spitting at the Siena players and at one time they slapped one of them in the head. Some of the attendees also were smoking in the crowd and there was actually enough smoke for a thick haze to hang above the court. This was a little disheartening for me.

Putting the fans aside I suppose I should actually talk a little bit about the game since it was what we came to watch. Last year we had gone to see CSKA Moscow play Armani Jeans Milano in a Euroleague contest. This was definitely at the same level but it had more of an Italian flair.

One of the first things I noticed was the lack of post play between the 2 teams. I didn't see a post move by a post player until the 3rd quarter. In my opinion it wasn't because of lack of talent in the post either. I think that post play is just not part of the Italian game. Despite the lack of post play, the game was very physical. The intensity was also at an extremely high level. I expected this though as the Italian league is one of the most respected leagues in Europe.

The first half was very uneventful and unimpressive. Siena was only up 6 at the half in a low scoring contest. They turned it up in the second half and ended up winning by 30! They did it by playing great defense, great shot selection and playing extremely smart. I imagine that a lot of teams don't come into Cantu's gym and win.

Overall I liked what I saw from the teams and it is definitely a level that I think/know I can play at. In my head I was constantly comparing myself to the other players. I would love the challenge of playing in Italy. It would also feel good to play in front of more than 500 people every night.

Christmas Time

As I already mentioned earlier, SAM was rolling into Christmas break on a 2 game winning streak. The first half of the season was the toughest one I have had to endure in my career. We have a great core of American players and we were losing badly. I have learned to handle losing when we are supposed to lose, last year for example. This year though wasn't supposed to be like this. The losses as well as the way we were losing took a huge toll on me. So, Christmas break was a great time for me to go home and re-fresh myself and it was fantastic.

My journey home started at 9:30 am on the morning of December 20. My teammates and I flew out of the Lugano airport and headed to Zurich. We were surprised to see all of the American players playing in Ticino on our flights. Even though we play against each other every night, there is a bond between all the Americans. It was nice to catch up with some of them on our long flight from Zurich to Chicago.

When the plane landed in Chicago I collected my bags and headed north on a bus to Milwaukee to spend my first few days back in the states with Liz and her family. It was great to finally spend a Christmas with the Schuelkes. Liz has come to Michigan a few times for Christmas and now it was time for me to see how the Schuelkes get down for Christmas. Unfortunately I had a nasty cold my first couple days back so I probably wasn't much fun to be around, though I had a great time with all the people I spent time with. The cold also affected my taste for things. I was so excited to eat American food again and my first time out I went to Qdoba. I couldn't taste anything. I left very disappointed.

I am getting a little spoiled living in Lugano the past couple of years. Even though we are in Switzerland it doesn't get very cold here. In fact, there are palm trees outside of my apartment building. I would estimate that in the winter we see highs in the mid to low 40's so it was a shock to me when I returned home. Liz did a great job of making a fire in the fireplace to keep me warm when I got too cold.

The Schuelke family Christmas was so much fun. We had a Christmas Eve brunch and then opened up presents in the living room. It was a little strange to have the kids around again opening up presents but strange in a good way. It was also nice to get to see Liz's brothers. That night we went over to Liz's grandpa's house and spent the night with that side of the family.

After the festivities were over, we went to the midnight mass at St. James church. It was so beautiful. This was my first time going to a Christmas Eve mass since I was just a little guy. The music was wonderful and it was such a joyous and peaceful celebration. Words can not describe the great time I had at mass. It is definitely going to be something I will do until the day I die.

Liz and I woke up bright and early on Christmas morning. It wasn't because of jet lag or in anticipation of opening up the presents that Santa had brought during the night. No, we awoke because we were going to spend all of Christmas day on a train travelling to God's country, Michigan.

Catching Up

Well, is has been quite awhile since the last time I have blogged. It got kind of boring reporting on 20-30 point losses and trying to convince people that we really were getting better. Well, we did get better. SAM Massagno is on a bit of a 3 game winning streak. Before the Christmas break we took care of Boncourt at home and Meyrin on the road.

SAM vs. Boncourt was a high scoring affair with a final score of 113-105. This was a game that we really needed to win. I guess at this point in the season we need to win them all, but in my mind, we were better and definitely needed to win the game to qualify for the playoffs. I can't say a whole lot of defense was played obviously. I would like to say the game went into 4 overtimes but it wasn't the case. The American quartet of Dan Fitzgerald, Kameron Gray, Ross Morin, and myself scored a combined 104 points. Pretty astonishing.

Our last game before Christmas was at Meyrin. According to the standings, they are the worst team in the league. They only have 1 win and that came against us. We played an awful game. It was supposed to be a home game for us but we played the game in a room that resembled a gym but definitely did not feel like one. This was a revenge game for us and another must win.

After a long 6 hour drive (apparently the Swiss don't believe in going the night before on road trips) we came out blazing. We were up by 19 after the first quarter. We lost our momentum in the 3rd quarter a little bit and were only up 15. After half time was when the wheels fell off. Meyrin came out in a box and 1 offense on our point guard and we had no idea what to do. We had never practiced against it and it definitely showed.

Despite the tricky box and 1 we won the game by 2. If the game was 1 or 2 minutes longer we probably would have lost. As it was, Meyrin and my old teammate Ricardo Fischer got off a pretty good shot off at the end to tie it. Thank god he missed it and after a couple tips, the rebound was secured by Dan Fitzgerald and we went home for Christmas as happy as can be.

The Meyrin game was on December 19th and we didn't play again until January 10th. That is a huge gap between games. I was a little worried for the game against Monthey. They are a very good team that we managed to beat on the road after our first coach quit. They definitely wanted revenge on us. They even came down the day before so they were well rested for the game. I thought we were going to win but I thought it was going to be a slug fest.

The game was pretty much what I expected. Monthey is probably the most physical team in the league. Their center is Kareem Johnson from the University of Cincinnati. Every post up, every rebound and every loose ball was a battle. The day after the game my whole body was sore. I didn't think it was a particularly well reffed game but what game is?

Anyways, we never trailed Monthey during the game and I thought we played very well for our first game back. We were up by 10 at the half and ended up winning by 4. It would have been more but they made some shots at the end.

Now, SAM Massagno is on a 3 game winning streak and our next 2 games are against the 2 best teams (on paper) in the league. We play Lugano on Saturday in the derby at the Istituo Elvetico. A derby is a cross town rivalry game. They are extremely talented and are strong at every position and every position coming off the bench. They just fired their coach over Christmas and their point guard, Travis Walton (Michigan State.) I hope for a strong game and a SAM win.

It doesn't get any easier after that either with Nyon at home on January 20th. They too fired their coach over the Christmas break. Loyalty means nothing over here and it is cut throat. I'm sure they will be ready to play. We just need to be too.

Swiss Beauty

When I re-signed with SAM Massagno this year, one of the things that I knew I had to do was to take Liz to Zurich during Christmas. Last year I had the opportunity to go with Brody (one of my teammates from last year) and his friend. Zurich might be the coolest Christmas city in the world and I wanted to show Liz how cool it was. One thing I did not anticipate though was the beauty of Switzerland on the ride to Zurich.

Our trusty little TomTom took us on a route that we do not normally take on the way to our games. We had a beautiful day of driving and when we got the opportunity to pull over we snapped these gorgeous pictures. It is sights like these that just take my breath away.

The picture at the top is our trusty Citroen C3. We don't leave home without it and maybe my Dad will stop complaining about how he hasn't seen my car yet and yes, it really has my name on the side so everyone knows where I am. Pretty sweet huh?

Hardly home but always reppin. Liz snapped this picture and it looks pretty gangsta.
Liz has a pretty big camera and it was hard for us to try and get a good picture. This was the best we could get.
Nothing really to say. Just amazing!

Thanksgiving Pics

SAMerica eating dinner. Wish Liz was in this picture but someone had to take it. We need to learn how to use the timer on the camera.

All the food. It still looks so good.
The carved bird.
Un cooked bird. It's tiny!

Thanksgiving

The holidays are upon us and it is a very exciting time to be in Europe. Everywhere you go you can see Christmas lights and trees and it is all so beautiful especially in the town squares. As Americans we rely on Thanksgiving to officially start up the holiday season in the US but unfortunately they do not have that over here in Switzerland. Liz and I took it upon ourselves to host a Thanksgiving dinner for the Americans playing for Massagno.

This was a pretty cool thing for us to do. Unfortunately, for the past 7 years I have been unable to celebrate Thanksgiving with my own family. The past two years I did not even do anything. Liz and I wanted to do a dinner so my teammates would feel more at home and have a right holiday.

We were very fortunate this year. We went to the local Migros and found a turkey. I have been in Switzerland for the past four years and have been unable to find a turkey. Needless to say, I was very excited about it. There was only one little (pun intended) problem with our turkey. It only weight 6 pounds. When I called home to tell my family about the turkey I was immediately shot down and told that it wasn't a turkey and to check the label again to make sure it was not a cornish hen. It wasn't. Our little turkey was pretty expensive so we decided to buy a bunch of chicken legs to round out the meat portion of our dinner.

Thanks to Barb Schuelke we had a delicious recipe for stuffing. We kind of had to scrounge up some ingredients but we did it. We even had home made mashed potatoes. I know this because I peeled them and mashed them! Green beans and salad rounded out our Thanksgiving meal. The only thing missing was pumpkin pie and that was pretty sad because that is my favorite thing to eat on Thanksgiving.

The meal was a hit though and Ross even said he was surprised at the "real ass Thanksgiving." It was also pretty cool to do it too because it was our (Liz and I) first holiday together. It definitely had a different feel to it. A great feeling. I am looking forward to many more holidays and to having Thanksgiving dinner with the fam and in the States soon.