Buzz Williams

I feel like I have been doing a good job of blogging in 2010. In my opinion I have had a lot of good stuff to blog about in the new year. I have some more good stuff coming too but I have to post this because we are in the middle of the college basketball season. Also because my team is coming off a HUGE win at UCONN. For those that don't know Buzz Williams is the current coach at Marquette University. I did not have the pleasure of playing for Buzz but I wish I did. Coach Crean did such a great job of creating a Marquette Basketball family. When Buzz took over after Coach Crean left in 2008 I was a little concerned about how my former teammates and myself would be connected to our alma mater.

On my first trip back to Milwaukee after returning from Switzerland in May of 2008, I made a visit to the men's basketball offices at the Al McGuire Center. Everything looked the same. I walked right in and was stopped by one of the office girls and was asked who I was. Hmmm, it had only been 2 years since I left and there was a picture of me on the wall directly to my right but ok. I said that I am Chris Grimm and I wanted to see Barb (Buzz's assistant.) The office girl kindly told me to wait right there and Barb would come right back. Ok, this was new to me but I can deal with it.

Instead of Barb coming out, Coach Buzz Williams came down the hall and introduced himself to me. He asked me the normal questions of where I was from, when did I play, and what am I doing with myself now. Then he invited me back to his office to just get to know me. One thing that really struck me was him thanking me for being a part of the University and for making the program what it is today. Buzz asked if I wanted to work camp and gave me his cell phone number and told me to call him anytime I needed him. He also asked me to come and play pick up with the guys in the summer. Needless to say, my first time meeting Buzz Williams was pretty nice and he made a great first impression.

Over the last 2 summers I have had the opportunity to know Coach Buzz a little better through different functions and working basketball camps. What you see is what you get in a good way. Coach always introduces himself and has a genuine interest in everyone. I was at the basketball banquet with my wife and he came up from behind her and said, "Excuse me, I haven't met you yet. I'm Buzz Williams." That is why I really enjoyed reading this article. Buzz always talks about how God is important in his life and from the looks of it he practices what he preaches. It was this line though that really stood out to me. It is in response to how he deals with the close losses Marquette has had this season.

The only thing you can do to fight back is to work. Make sure that you’re accountable in your work and efficient in your work. Make sure the things you’re working on are things you can utilize to not get your tails kicked. That’s all I know.

I love great quotes and I love this because this is how I have been taught to live my life. When I am going through a tough time in basketball I just make my way into the gym and work harder. If my shot isn't falling I shoot extra. If I am not getting rebounds, I go to the weight room and lift harder. It is so simple. Just hard work.

From what I know of Coach Buzz, this is why he is successful and will continue to be successful. I would have loved to have played for him. Unfortunately I don't think the way I play fits the offense he runs but I can still dream.

I support Coach Buzz and will continue to support him. Not just for the amount of games he wins but for what he is and what he is about. Also because the sweet baby blue jacket (see photo above) he wore last week. That was/is awesome and I think needs to be worn again.

Movie Night

Lately the weather here in Lugano, Switzerland can best be described as blah. The temperature ranges from 28-45 degrees daily with clouds and fog. The clouds are so thick that one can not even see the mountains. Oh yeah, it rains and occasionally snow flakes fall but not enough to say it is snowing but just enough to tease me. I just wish the weather would make up its mind. We have been back for 24 days and have had about 5 sunny days. I guess I shouldn't be so upset coming from cold and dark Milwaukee winters but this upsets me.

The whole point of the weather report was to inform everyone of our cabin fever. We don't want to go outside but we want to do things. Going to the movies isn't an option because the movies are in Italian. So, I had a great idea of having movie night. I love watching movies so naturally I own a lot of them. I brought over 100 DVDs with me and told Liz to have an idea of what she wanted to watch so when I got back we could pop it right in. She asked me what I had so I read all of my DVDs off to her to see if she was interested in any. Liz had 4 picked out but she couldn't remember one of the other ones but she remembered it was in the beginning so I re-read the first 30 DVDs until she found it (it was Anchorman in case you were wondering.)

We came to a mutual decision that we would watch American Pie. It was and is still a great movie but as I watched it I felt a bit disheartened that this is one of the movies that defines my generation. I think one would be hard pressed to find a 25 year old American male who has not seen an American Pie movie. It made the word MILF famous. That is just awful but still really funny.

That is not really my point though. What is even worse is that the American Pie franchise has spread across the Atlantic and my Swiss teammates love it. We have spent many road trips watching these movies (too loud) with them laughing (too loud) and me trying to sleep in the back. The questions that they ask afterwards are classic. These range from "Is America really like this?" to "Do all American girls have fake breasts?" And my answer is the same every time, "Its exactly like this and better!!!"

Maybe I am a jerk for this but I can't help myself. The way their eyes light up when I tell them these things resembles the look of a child on Christmas morning. I just can't break their hearts and what their image of America is. Don't even get me started on what I tell them about college or how cheap everything is in America. I can write a book on that.

I know this post has been all over the place so I will summarize. The weather here isn't very nice. Liz and I have have movie nights and occasionally watch inappropriate movies. The effect American Pie has had on the world is amazing and I am an awful teammate.

Lausanne Pics

This is the only picture of me in the set. Apparently the photographer wasn't able to snap any of my dunks (I had 2!) or my other sweet moves but was able to get the most un athletic move made by a player of the day. Oh well, it still went in.
This is of one of our younger players. He came in and did his thing. It is also kind of a cool look at our gym. I know the floor is blue and pink and there are hockey boards surrounding the court but it really isn't that bad.
This is the legend Sam Hines shooting the ball with me posting up.
This is Dan Fitzgerald shooting (and making) a shot off of a pass from yours truly.

Game vs Lausanne Rd 2

Heading into our game against Lausanne, SAM Massagno was on a 2 game losing streak. It was the worst kind of losing streak too because we had played awful in both of the games. Nothing was clicking on offense and defense. We were all frustrated and we knew we had to get better and it showed in practice. After the Nyon loss we had some great practices. Everyone was locked in mentally and we really got down to work. It wasn't a very heavy workload but we came in and did what we needed to do and we set the game plan for Lausanne.

The Lausanne game was not only important to snap us out of our funk but also because it was a huge game with possible playoff implications. We were defeated by Lausanne in the first round and it was important for us to win this one. There is a pretty big log jam in the middle of the league right now. Heading into the game we were sitting in 7th place, if we win we stay in 7th but if we lose we drop all the way down to 10th (second to last place.) We could not lose this game because it would be an uphill battle to try and get back into the playoff picture and only the top 8 teams make it.

SAM Massagno came out blazing in the game and save for 8 minutes kept it on. I think it was the best game we have played together as a team. We must have started the game with 8 layups. It was awesome to be a part of.

As the old saying goes though, games aren't won on offense, they are won on defense. This was an area where we improved by leaps and bounds. Lausanne had the leading scorer in the league playing for them. He was averaging 20.5 points per game. I was concerned about this because this obviously hasn't been a strong point for us. We practiced rotating on the help side as well as keeping someone in the paint at all times. Another change we made for the game was to really attack the ball screens to slow them down. This worked very well for us because the league's leading scorer only had 9 for the game.

We had a few low points in the game but were able to rebound off of them very nicely. The final score of the game was 97-72 with us coming out on top.

I thought I rebounded for myself very well. Things were clicking for me. I felt like I did before the Christmas break. With the right mindset I will be able to maintain this and keep going into the 3rd round. I finished the game with 17 points on 8-11 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds.

Now it is onto Geneva on Saturday to gain sole possession of 7th place. Another tough and big game. This season is full of them.

Game vs Nyon Round 2

After our loss to Lugano, we watched the game to see what we did good and what we did bad. There was a lot more bad than good. Our defensive movements were slow and in some cases non existent. We strayed too much from our offense which led to bad shots which in turn led to fast breaks for Lugano. All in all it was an awful game for us. After watching the game we decided that we were going to get better (couldn't get much worse) and go out and beat Nyon.

I really believed we were going to win. They are the team with the biggest budget in the league. They have an outstanding collection of players. They have scorers, rebounders, defense guys and play makers. The guys on their team know how to play basketball. Austin Johnson, from Oklahoma, leads their attack and we knew we were going to need to stop him. Despite all of this, I still thought we were going to win the game. I couldn't have been more wrong.

We started out even worse than we did against Lugano. Nyon's fast break made Lugano's look like a middle school team's. We turned the ball over and because of this weren't ever able to run an offense. Nyon must have had 30 points in transition.

I will admit to myself that I let the refs get into my head a little bit. I didn't get any calls against Lugano and I definitely didn't get any calls against Nyon. I was frustrated and I let that affect my game. This is the first year that I have let the refs get into my head and I don't like the path that I am going down with it. Truth is, if I get hit, I still need to make the basket. That is the approach that I am going to take with me for the rest of the year. I have to take advantage of the things I am in control over and not things I am not in control of bother me. Ok, there is my little self help motivator for the day.

I could write more about how we didn't stop anyone or how we gave up 27 to a guy who averages 10 but I won't. It won't help with my mental state right now. I'm not even going to post a final score but I will tell you we lost bad.

Good news though, we play Lausanne on Sunday and have a chance to right the ship. We lost to Lausanne earlier in the year but we weren't a very good team then. We need to get back on track and I hope we can do it against them. It won't be easy but it will be a good challenge for us.

Big Ten Network

Thank god for the invention of Sling Box. For those of you who don't know, Sling Box is a little box that one hooks up to his/her cable and internet connection. Through this hookup, one is able to access their home cable television anywhere in the world as long as they have a computer and an internet connection. Needless to say, I watch Sling Box a lot on my computer.

One of my favorite tv networks to watch is the Big Ten Network. Growing up I loved the Big Ten and would watch as many Big Ten football and basketball games as I could. I dreamed of one day playing in the Big Ten. Shoot, if Ohio State would have offered me a scholarship in high school I would have jumped at the chance (they chose to give the scholarship to Charles Bass who later transferred, oh what could have been.) Being able to catch up with the teams and schools I grew up with is one of the reasons I love the Big Ten Network.

They constantly have replays on of classic Big Ten matchups. The only downside to this is having to possibly watch Wisconsin, in that case I change the channel or if I know the outcome I will watch the Badgers lose. It doesn't get much better than watching the Badgers lose. The only thing better would be watching Notre Dame lose. Anyways, the classic games are pretty awesome.

Also, I believe that the basketball coaches in the Big Ten are phenomenal. From Tom Izzo to Bruce Webber, there is a great collection of coaching talent there. I also have an added interest since Tom Crean is now coaching Indiana. Even though they are down it is great to watch the Hoosiers play and see the development of his team. I have said it before and I will say it again, the more success that Coach Crean has the more success I will have in my professional career on and off the court. I really believe that he will go to a Final Four within the next 5 years.

What really put me over the top for the Big Ten Network though is watching the Indiana vs Minnesota game this weekend. For those that didn't see or hear about it, Indiana won the game in overtime. To make it even better, Gus Johnson was calling the game. The man can make watching paint dry exciting. I love it and can't get enough of it.

If the Big East had some kind of agreement or network like this I would be writing the same thing. I obviously like the Big East (at least basketball) more than the Big Ten. I think it is a better conference top to bottom and has better coaches, teams, etc. I don't want to get into the Big East so much but I will in a later post.

I know the Big Ten received a lot of flack for the network but I think it is fantastic and other conferences should follow suit. I would love watching the Big East basketball replay on Sunday afternoons. The Big Ten also has great behind the scenes series. I just watched one on the basketball teams and it was awesome. They showed how teams prepare for each other and the struggles of being a student athlete, which I believe is not shown enough. Everyone always sees the games on tv but they don't see all the work in class, study hall, practice and the film room. I thought it was an excellent inside look at athletic programs.

If you haven't watched it yet or only watch it occasionally, I advise you to take a look into it. Thanks.

Christmas Time Part 2

As I was saying about Christmas. Liz and I spent all of Christmas day on a train heading to Michigan. We arrived in Ann Arbor around 6 pm and my parents picked us up from the train station. We hadn't seen my parents in 4 months and I think they were pretty happy to see us. Shoot, we were really happy to see them. Living in Switzerland is hard sometimes because we are away from the ones we love for so long. That's what makes Christmas time so special.

Since we arrived so late on Christmas day and because of my sisters other family commitments, we were going to celebrate the Grimm Christmas on December 26th. Christmas night was really nice though too. We played Christmas music on the family stereo while my dad made a feast for us. I love American food.

On the afternoon of December 26th, all of the Grimm kids and my Grandma Kay came over to my parents house to celebrate Christmas. It was very nice and I can honestly say it was one of the best Christmases I can remember. It was also great to see my niece and my nephew. They are getting so big and are getting to the age where I can talk to them. They wanted to open the presents as soon as they saw them. I remember when I was like that as a kid. Those were the good old days.

The celebration continued until 2 am. Actually it continued later than that but that is when Liz and I went to bed. I showed my family that I am the dominant beer pong player and then decided to head to bed. My brothers in law and father stayed up later to talk and be merry. The jet lag was killing me though and Liz and I needed to hit the hay.

The rest of break was so much fun as well. I wish I could have seen some more people when I was home but the time just flew by. I really did enjoy the people I saw though. Especially my former high school coaches. It is always a good time when I am around them and I think our relationship has been past the player coach. It feels more like family to me so it is only natural that I see them when I come home.

During the rest of my break I shopped for cheap American clothes and ate all of the American food I could. Liz, my parents and I enjoyed a great night watching the Marquette vs West Virginia game at BW3's. I have been in Switzerland so long I forgot how cheap it is to eat at an American restaurant. The meal we ate there would have cost around $250-300 in Switzerland. It is just crazy.

We managed to eat at Outback, Taco Bell, Qdoba, McDonalds (breakfast only), Friday's, Rosie O'Gradys, BW3's, Chilis, Champps, and Jets while we were in the states. I might have missed a restaurant or 2 in there but that is what I remember. Now I'm back to eating Swiss food and the only American food I can hope for is the Hooters in Zurich.

We ended our break as a family eating at Rosie O'Gradys in Ferndale. All of my family made it out there for a New Years Eve dinner. It was so nice to see the whole family one last time before Liz and I headed back across the water. When we got back home we sat down on the coach and I think everyone was sleeping at around 11:30. We woke up though just in time to see the ball drop. My mom popped some champagne and then we went to bed.

Liz and I flew back on New Years Day on Lufthansa airlines. I was expecting long lines and a lot of security at Metro Airport. I was very wrong. Something on me set the metal detector off 4 times. I was not pulled to the side. I was not patted down. I got nothing. I just got a pass through. Good to see everything is working there.

We arrived in Milan, Italy (after one of the worst landings I have ever been a part of, apparently you can land with the wings tipping) and took the 45 minute drive up to Lugano on January 2nd. It was a wonderful Christmas break and one I will never forget. I can't wait to get back home in the summer so I can see all of the same people.