Basically, he didn't want to deal with the team because he is not a professional coach and he can't deal with the pressures of coaching. I was actually ok with this. I liked our coach a lot. He was a nice guy and he let me do my thing on the court. What more can I want? I also respect the fact that he is not a professional and coaching a basketball team is a huge commitment and takes time away from him and his two young children. I can get that. So whatever. No big blow to me. I have been through this situation before when my coach was fired in Sion. I am more grown up now and I can handle the situation better and like a professional.
We were all wondering who was going to be our next coach. The coaching search was extremely intense. People were jumping at the chance to coach one of the bottom dwellers or the Swiss basketball league. I would like to think our coaching search was like this but it was not. There were two candidates. Both individuals were fully qualified to coach us. I just really wanted to find out who it was going to be so we could get on with our season and win some basketball games. When we didn't know by Wednesday we knew that the new coach would not coach us for the game on Saturday. So, we were going into a big road game (in Monthey), coming off of a bad loss without a coach. Welcome to SAM Massagno.
We did find out who our coach is the next day. They promoted Massimo Aiolfo (not as easy to pronounce as Phil Jackson) from our B League team to the head job. Coach Mass worked with Cantu Basket (one of the top teams in Italy) for a number of years. While working with Cantu he worked with Bootsy Thorton, Shaun Stonerook and other top Italian players. The experience he brought with him from Italy had/has me excited to play.
Now that we knew who our coach was, we could prepare for our game against Monthey on the road. Coach Mass wasn't going to be coaching us though. That task was left up to the assistants from the team. We knew going into the game it was a big game. Monthey has some good professional players and a very good coach. The gym also has a great atmosphere to it. There is nothing to do in the town of Monthey so all of its residents come out to support the team. It is not like Louisville or Wisconsin but it is still good for Switzerland.
It took us 7 hours to get to the game. Traffic, distance and weather prevented us from getting there 2 hours before the game like normal. We got to the gym with an hour to go until game time. It was a little different because our pre game routine was different. I expected a slow start from us. Boy was I wrong. We were clicking on all cylinders. Our defense was great. The ball was moving on offense. There was hustle and enthusiasm from the team. It was definitely a fun game to play in. We won the game too. SAM Massagno picked up the first road win of the season in convincing fashion with a score of 78-65.
I played pretty well in the game too. I had 12 points (6-8 from the floor)and 14 rebounds. I have been rebounding pretty well this year. I think at a higher level than I was at last year which is very encouraging. I feel more athletic and powerful in grabbing the boards. I figure as long as I go hard to the glass and jump I can get any ball.
After the game we were riding high off of our victory. The team purchased us a bunch of beer for the bus ride home. Unfortunately after a game I have no desire to drink beer. So, I stuck to water for the 5 hour ride home. We were all happy though and excited to start on Monday with our new coach and hoping that we were going to be on a roll. Hoping is the appropriate word here.
More on that next time. Until then........
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