Not a good week on the court..

This past week not the best week for our team.  We started our the week playing at Maccabi Tel Aviv (a team we were tied with for 2nd place) and lost by 12 points.  We were leading the game heading into the 4th quarter but it seemed like we just ran out of gas near the end.  It was a great opportunity missed to show the league how good we were.  After this game we had no time to rest because we had a big cup game on Wednesday.  Our draw was Afula from the 2nd division.  This is supposed to be an easy game for a power 1st division team like ourselves but it did not play out that way.  Afula was leading by 8 at one point during the 3rd quarter.  This may have woke us up because we went on a run from that point and won the game by about 15 points.  This now means we are in the semi-finals of the Israeli cup.  Our next game of the week came on Saturday evening when we played Bnei Hasharon.  This is a team about on our level and it was on our home court.  We knew it was going to be a tough game and a very important game for the standings.  They came out very strong and played us tough the whole game.  It was back and forth until the 4th quarter where they built up a little lead.  The final margin was 4 or 5 points.  Another tough loss for our team.  What made this week especially hard was my playing time.  Total, I had probably less than 30 seconds of playing time throughout all 3 games.  It is so frustrating to do well in practice only to watch from the bench as your team loses.  Coach had a short talk with me after one of the games and said to keep my head up and I was here for the long run and everything.  It is nice to get feedback but I would rather just play.

Another League Win

This past Monday, we won our first league game back from the break.  We played Ashkelon, a team who has the potential to be dangerous, and won relatively easy.  The game was back and forth during the first half.  During the second we opened up our lead a little more and pretty much controlled the game the rest of the way out.  We ended up winning the game by 11 points.  I played very small minutes at the end of each quarter and finished with a rebound and 0-1 on shots.  Any win is a good win in this league and it put us in a tie for 2nd place.   We are playing the team we are tied with this coming Sunday in a huge game for us.  Maccabi Tel Aviv is the New York Yankees of our league.  They have the largest pay roll and they are usually the winners of the league.  Carlos Arroyo, an NBA player last season, is their starting point guard.   It will be a big test for us to see how we do against the very best in our league.  

Off the court, I had a very nice week.  It was great to spend some quality time with my girlfriend Kelly before having to see her go the night after we played Ashkelon.  It was a fun vacation with her here and I was sad to see her leave.  I love having visitors from the states here in Israel.  It makes me feel like I am home.   Another small issue that has come up is somebody has made a fake facebook profile of me and has been requesting people that I know and people that I don't know to be their friend.  It is kind of annoying because I don't know what they are saying to these people and the people they are talking to think that it is me.  The messages that I have sent this person have been ignored so I'm not really sure what else to do.  Hopefully they will just get bored with their little prank and delete the profile.  Anyways, besides that all else is well.  Looking forward to warm weather and the upcoming games.  

Update..

It has been a while since my last blog so there is a lot to talk about..

First, our team is still doing very well and is sitting at 6-2 in the league which is good enough for a tie for second.  A very positive start for a team with lots of expectations.  There is also some new news from our team regarding our roster.  Because of the unfortunate injury to BJ Mckie, we have acquired a new player to replace him on the roster.  Ronald Ross, a guard out of Texas Tech, will be our new player.  The coaches are expecting BJ to be out for a month or two so they thought it would be best to add to our depth.  He will have to learn all of our plays but since they are not too complicated he should be fine.  Our next game is at home against Ashkelon.  They are a talented team with scoring guards who are very dangerous.  We should be able to handle them but only if we come out with the right attitude.  

Also, Christmas break was a great time for me.  It was a time to see family and friends in the states that I have been missing since August.  It seemed almost like a dream because it was so much fun and it was over so quick.  Although it was a fun trip, it feels good to get back here and get my body back in shape.  Another exciting thing about coming back to Israel from break was that my girlfriend Kelly got to come here with me.  This is her second visit so it was not as a shock being in a new country for her.  It would be nice to travel the country and go to spots in the south but there is some conflict that is intimidating.  Hamas in Gaza and Israel have been in heavy combat since the 27th of December.  Conflict between these groups is not new and has a history that goes well beyond my years.  The short story of it is Hamas has been sending random small missiles into the southern parts of Israel for 8 years.  They do not hit people every time but the threat was getting so bad that children could not go to school due to the threat.  Israel asked for them to stop.. they didn't.. so Israel is striking them from the air and on land.  It is kind of scary being 3 hours north of a war but I feel safe in Haifa.  If the conflict spreads outside of Gaza I will be very nervous and think of moving.  I hope they find a resolution soon..