#11
Journal 22 &23 Giants vs. 36er’s and Bullets
The first game of a three game week was against the Adelaide 36er’s in Adelaide. So far Adelaide has been struggling and were expected to finish in th top of the standings this year. They have had some tough losses along the way and just need to find their groove. We are coming off a 2 game losing streak needing this win to keep us in the hunt for a playoff spot, if we lose it could be the start of a downfall. Coming into the game we were confident that we could pull off a victory at their place, but we knew it would be tough. Earlie in the week a reporter said that Paul Rogers was out for a couple of months with a stress fracture in his foot, so that leaves the 36er’s a little thin in the front-court. So the strategy is to pound it down in the post. As a team we have been trying to cut some costs so instead of traveling the day before we don’t leave until game day. This is a little different than I am used to, usually you leave at least the day before, but since we are the Discount Giants, this is how we do it. Leaving on the same say as the game wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It was only an hour flight and before I moved closer to the city that was about the same amount of time that I would drive to a home game, so I was used to it. We arrived in Adelaide and were ready to defeat them, which is hard in their house! When they get their crowd into the games, it can be huge factor, it is like having a sixth player out on the court for them. Playing in a packed arena must be nice, since we don’t get that kind of following, at least not yet, but it would be great if we could get to that point someday. The game starts and we come out of the block slow and trail in the game early. Getting to the players that Adelaide has, one guy in particular is not liked by a lot of the ex Titan players. I guess Paul Rees took out a Titan last year during playoff time and that didn’t go well with the rest of the team, I just heard the story that he was a dirty player, I guess he must get it done, cause he plays in the league still. So back to the game, as we start off slow and stay on slow the whole game, never really getting back into it. We have let our defense slide and anyone and their sister can score on us. The 36er’s were short handed but the guys that don’t get much clock, really stepped up for this one, as they had 50 some points from their bench! They hit everything, I think it was our defense, which wasn’t there. They got any shot that they wanted, our defense was pathetic! We ended up losing the game by 20 or so, and this is the 3rd straight lose! Now we go from being high and having a winning record to being 3-5 and are on the edge of totally losing the race for a playoff spot. In our three loses we have let teams score at will, it has been really bad from a team stand point. We have no problem scoring, but if you can’t stop the other team, you are in trouble cause most likely they will pLay defense and score more than you.
After the game we were told that we would have Monday off, but since we played so badly, we didn’t do that, we came in and watched the game. You don’t realize how bad you really play until you see the film. Let me be the first to tell you, we looked like a bunch of little kids learning to play. No one was playing defense or helping each other out. I will be the first to admit, I am a big reason for that too, my defense has falling off the planet, so I knew that I had to pick it up. We talked about the game and watched only 2 quarters, it took over 2 hours to do so. We sat there and decided as team that we needed to play tougher defense or we will never win another game this year. So with that in mind, we started on a new slate and were getting ready for Brisbane on Wednesday in Geelong.
Ok, where is Geelong? I have no clue, I have never heard of the city before now. The only thing that I have heard about the city was on the news earlier that day. I was watching the news and they were talking about Geelong, so I started to watch. We it turns out that the big news was this lady was trying to keep her pig. I guess the city was saying that you can’t have the pig as a pet, but she was fighting it. So going into the game, the only thing I knew about the city was that the pig is trying to be a family pet. The first thing I thought about was the movie Charlottes Web and the pig, don’t ask me why, but I did. Ok, so this is a home game for us, even though it is a 2 hour bus trip, and it wasn’t a charter bus. The bus was a public transport bus that you pick up in the city, not the most comfortable ride in Australia. This is another way of saving money and promoting NBL basketball, I guess. So, for all of you that think that we have it good and get everything, this will make you think differently. After the nice bus ride we finally arrive at the ARENA in Geelong. The Arena looked like a nice arena from the outside, but once in, a whole different story. The floor was like concrete that looked like a wood pattern had been painted over it. It wasn’t the softest floor for ones joints. The game was going to be tough not only on the joints but on both teams, as we both needed to win.
The Brisbane Bullets just canned their coach and brought in another import, so they came in meaning business. The game was tough from the start, we came out of the blocks gunning and took a 13 point lead. That was a nice cushion but it didn’t last long, we ended up losing the edge slowly throughout the game. It came down to the wire and we were down by a couple of points and we’re looking defeat square into her eyes. Lets take a look at would happen if we lost this one, it would be the fourth loss in a row and we would have a tough time getting back into the playoff race. Plus we would be Brisbane’s first victory of the season, so it didn’t look good for us. But with 5 seconds remaining we tied the game and for the second time against them, it was going into O.T. We had momentum on our side going into overtime an knew that we could win this one. I kind of feel bad for the Bullets, they are a lot better than their record shows. They play tough and almost pull games through but lose it in the end, but they give it their all, it still amazes me that they haven’t won a game yet. If they keep playing with a lot of heart, they will catch some this year.
Two games out of three gone for this week and up next is TOWNSVILLE Crocs, a team that is struggling but is capable of beating anyone. It would be nice to get this one, but we have to play better than we did in the previous games of the week in order to do it. But we will come out swinging, hope to see you there!!!!!!!!!!!!
#12
Journal 24 Giants - 96 vs. Townsville Crocodiles -
100
Ok, now before I start talking about the game let me tell you that it was not pretty and probably the worst individual game for me. Townsville was a team that we could have and should have beaten, but with my horrible game, I was a none factor in this one. I have no clue how it ended up that way, before the game started I was feeling good, thinking that this was going to be a great game for me and as a team. But that wasn’t the case, we started the game like a bunch of little kids that have never played before, getting down by 11 points early in the game. I think might have played 2 minutes the while 1st quarter and 2 more the 2nd quarter, not really getting into any kind of flow! We couldn’t do anything right, no defense, no offense no nothing! We played like a bunch of street-ballers with no organization, maybe at some points in the game we had something organized going on, but I don’t think I was in the game at those points. So the first half was pathetic and the second half wasn’t any better. We went into the locker room talking about what we have to do, but we came out doing the same damn thing! We got down by 15 or more and had to climb back into the game once again. We have a problem of getting behind early in games, I have no clue why it is like that. But we scratched and clawed our way back into the game and made a fight to win it in the final minutes. The Townsville team was out hustling us and doing everything that was needed to beat us. They came with their “A” game and we came with the “Z”, so in the end we lost another that we should have won. Now we are 4-6 and are the edge of losing sight of the playoffs, we have to buckle down and start winning or we will have a long off-season. I have to come back in the next game as we play the Sydney Kings, it should be a good game. Hopefully we can come with some fire and bring it this game! I will update ASAP after the next game... Hope to see some of you at the games!
#13
Journal #25, November 26th, 2002
This is the first time that I have talked about the off the court issues in a long time so here I go. We have been on a losing streak over the last couple of weeks and are 4-6 and are on the verge of losing sight of the playoffs. Once you go on a skid it is 2 times as hard to get back into the game! We have Sydney this Friday at home, this is going to be a very interesting game. For those of you that don’t know the who story, Sydney has Brian Gorgian as their head coach, but he was the Titans head coach last year, Titans are now called the Liberty Giants (us). The new ownership decided that they didn’t want to hire Gorgian again, so he went to Sydney. I don’t think that well with supporters of the area, cause Gorgian was loved by many, I guess he is a good coach. The one thing that I don’t understand is that people won’t support us because we are called the Giants. There was a team a few years back in Melbourne called the Giants, and a lot of them didn’t support the Titans when they changed that name, now many won’t support us because we changed back to the Giants. I don’t understand this, because we don’t have this in the states, if a team changes names and they are the home team we just follow them anyway. I would guess that the supporters are closer to the teams in this country than we are to ours. So this game Friday is a big one in many ways, especially for those that have been following basketball in Melbourne.
We have had some bad luck in recent practices as we lost 3 players to sprained ankles, Cooper, Nathan Crosswell and Jahmal Mosely. These guys went down all at the same time, except Cooper, but Mo and Nathan went down 20 minutes from each other. I really thought that a sniper was in the building when these guys went down, cause I wasn’t looking at the time. All I heard was a loud scream and I was thinking that someone got shot by the way they were screaming! Thank God there were no snipers and it was just a sprained ankle. That doesn’t help us going into this Fridays game, but I think that these guys are soldiers and will play no matter what! That’s enough about basketball, lets talk movies.
I went to the movie “Tempted” tonight with some of the guys, it was pretty good, but I don’t get how a guy that was killed towards the middle of the movie can still narrate at the end? lol Overall it was a good one, but movies here come out later than in the states. This bothers me, because I will talk to my friends and family back home and they will ask me if I have seen a certain movie and I always say that it won’t come out for another 2-3 months. But they still go on to tell me what happens in the movies that they just have saw, so they ruin it for me!!!! But I have to see 8 Mile with Eminem, I heard it was off the hook! Other than that, nothing else exciting going on, I am having hard time keeping up with the news in the USA. I don’t have SportsCenter, NBA, NFL or any of the sitcoms, that is a little frustrating. Other than missing American sports, I love it here, the people are great along with the weather...
So until next time, keep it real and post on the D-Rych.com chat....
#14
Journal #26, November 29th, 2002 Giants vs. Kings
Should I even begin to talk about this game? I don’t even want
to remember it, after getting blown out by 40! It feels like a 2 ton
truck hit me at full speed, it hurts that bad, and to top the loss off,
I played like a huge pile of dog crap! This is the second game in a
row that I have played very poor, I have no clue what the deal is with
that. It’s amazing how fast you can fall in the game of sport,
not just basketball but all of sport. Sport is unique in the way that
it allows one to grow as a person and build some character. When the
times are going well it seems as if everyone is on your side, but when
you start to lose and the times get tough, people jump ship fast. Everyone
wants to be a part of a winner, no one wants to go through the tough
times or losing. You have to fail before you can succeed in life, and
we are failing right now, it’s the hardest road to go down. When
things are going bad it is so easy to want to quit, but you have to
pull through, this is one of the many tests of sport. Also from an imports
point of view it is even more difficult, cause you don’t have
the ears of your friends and family. No one to talk things over, sure
you can call the home, but they haven’t seen the game and seen
how badly we have lost so they can’t be f any help. I don’t
know if that is a fair, but that has been one of the hardest things
to deal with since I have been out here. All of these tests in the game
that we all have grown to love! Now to the game on Friday night, from
the start I knew it was going to be tough, since it was Gorgians first
game back since last year. The stadium was half filled with Gorgian
supporters and they made him feel right at home, but they still didn’t
compare to the Giants fans. I have to give the Giants fans some love,
they keep cheering through the thick ‘n’ thin! Got to love
fans like that, it softens up the pain. The game was close in the first
half as Sydney kept a 10 point cushion into the second half. The second
half is where we lost everything, none of our shots would fall and it
just got more frustrating as the quarters went on. I think this point
of the season is the lowest so far, and there is only one way to look
and that is up. We ended up losing to Sydney by 40, but that wasn’t
it, Sydney started the trash talking! They were up and knew that they
had the game won, then it was on. People almost starting fights and
Sydney players yelling at our coach. I have never seen a player talk
trash to a coach before, but Shane Heal was doing just that and Kingma
hit one jumper and felt that he had a license to talk also! It was all
messed up from there, this is something that you don’t see that
often in the states, so it was weird for me. We have 18 more games to
go to turn things around! Hope to have the support the Giants fans!
You are great! Next I hope to have something positive to write.
#15
Might be the last journal in OZ! December 18th, 2002
It seemed like yesterday I was just getting off that plane to experience
a new chapter in my life! I was happy and excited to get going on this
part of my new life! I had been signed by a team that was starting fresh
with new faces and talent! So I fit in good, the guys welcomed me with
open arms! I called home later that week and told everyone that this
was a good fit for me and that this year might be the year, that I start
having fun again! After a couple of weeks we were shuffling different
players in to try them out, each time letting them go and not finding
the right one. So I knew from the start that this team was dedicated
to find quality players to put forth a competitive team! As the season
slowly crept up, things were looking good, our preseason was good, we
were competitive. Everyone was so optimistic and ready for the first
game of the year against Perth! But how quickly can things change and
one day you are on that same plane that brought you here almost 6 months
ago. After winning a couple early matches, raising our expectations
from fans and supporters, we started to struggle. When a team struggles
people start to jump ship quickly! They say that they will stick with
us, but over time one by one it thins out and once was 1000 people slowly
goes down to 100. So something had to give, something had to be done
to show that they want to win, so another change was to come. I had
this gut feeling that I was going to be next! It was this gut feeling
that I had, people were looking at me weird and not talking to me. People
that before this would have come up and chatted, but since I was deporting,
they looked the other way. It is a weird thing, this sport of basketball
especially at the Pro level. You have to be prepared for the worst and
when that time comes you must deal with it! I don’t consider this
as failing, I see this as another bump in the road for me! I have had
many of those, and I can add this one to the collection. You have to
fail before you can succeed, I have learned a lot from this team and
the fans! The hardest part of all is not that I am leaving basketball,
but I am leaving all the on and off the court relationships that I have
built. I have never been on a team from top to bottom where all of my
teammates get along and support each other so much! Don’t be mad
at this team, cause the guys on it need your support through theses
times! I have so much more to tell, but unfortunately I have to pack
my bags, I have a lot to take back home! But I will always remember
how great Australia was a warm, and welcoming country! I give it a A+++++
for the people and atmosphere! Maybe someday I will be back to visit!
Keep posting and following d-rych.com...throw me an email at any time!
More to come!!
#16
January 30th, 2002 Adelaide 36er’s #28
It has been a fast and bumpy ride over the last couple of weeks or the last month for me, going from being released to signing on with the defending national champs! I was sitting in my room in Melbourne right after I got released and started to think what is next. I had no clue what I was going to do or where I was going with my life or career. It hurts you as a player if you get released in your first year out of college, other teams start to wonder why you got released. Was it cause I was a horrible player, or I had an attitude problem, these are what teams want to know and it could make it very difficult to get another job. It was a frustrating time, it is a part of business and I understand that, but it was not what I needed for my first year. So I sat around Melbourne for 3 more weeks doing nothing, trying to organize my flight back home to the states, was harder than pulling teeth! While I was trying to get my ticket home, I got a call from Canberra, they were back in the league and had lost an import player, so they wanted to try me out. I was told that they could not sign me to a contract until they get enough money from more sponsors. They wanted me to workout for them in Geelong, Canberra was playing the Liberty Giants, so it was easy for me to get up to the game since I was living with some of my old teammates. I worked out for 2 days and watched them get beat by my old team. I had mixed feelings about the game. I was supposed to be on Canberra’s side, but I couldn’t help but be happy for the guys, with their first win in a long long long time. Still Canberra had no answer for me, they said stick around through the weekend and we will let you know on Monday if we can sign you or not. This is what has killed me through this whole thing, always waiting, sitting around doing nothing! There is no worse feeling than sitting there wondering what is next, not knowing what the other team is thinking or if they are full of bull. Not having a place to workout or a car, I was going insane. I had to get out of Melbourne, it was time to leave, I didn’t want to stick around. So thinking that there was nothing left for me in Australia I decided to plan a trip up the coast to see all of the sites that brought me to this beautiful country! I didn’t realize how boring it is to sit around and do nothing for 3 weeks! You start to go insane and go nuts, I couldn’t wait to get home. It was also harder living with my old Liberty Giants teammates, cause I would see them go to practice and games! I would sit there thinking that I need to play again, but I was always told that if you work hard and be patient good things will happen. At this point I figured yeah right, I just want to get home. You just feel like a huge loser when you are doing nothing, it was a great reality check for me. You never know when it all could come to an end, you have to appreciate everything while you have it and never take it for granted!
By my 3rd week I have had enough with basketball and just wanted to
get home or vacation. I would have been gone home to the states, but
I was trying to get my ticket and was getting the run around. I wanted
to leave in early Jan, but I could not get the ticket until Jan 26th,
for reasons unknown. So I decided that I would fly up to Cairns to see
the Great Barrier Reef. While I was on the phone to the travel agent
and getting my credit card out to confirm my flight details, I got a
call on my cell. I put the travel agent on hold and answered my cell
thinking it was my agent. I answered and it wasn’t my agent, it
was Phyl Smyth, coach of the Adelaide 36er’s. I was thinking why
is he calling me, thinking that he was calling to wish me luck or something.
But before I really could think of anything he asked me if I would be
interested in playing for the 36er’s. I didn’t hesitate,
I am lucky that I had trouble getting my ticket otherwise I would have
lost this opportunity. A few days later I signed with the 36er’s
and just recently played my first game as a 36er. Being patient is hard
to do, I was not patient, I was forced to stay here, I think I am a
very impatient guy. You learn a lot when you go through adversity, you
have to fail before you succeed. Now I am in a better situation, with
a better team, a team that has a chance to win the championship. Adelaide
is a great city, with great fans and fantastic basketball atmosphere!
Glad to be here!!!!!!!!!!
#17
Feb 10th 2003, 3 games under the belt. 29
It has been over 2 weeks since I arrived in Adelaide, I got 3 games under my belt with 4 more to go. The first game that I was supposed to play in was a few Fridays ago against the Brisbane bullets, but my paper work didn’t go through as expected, leaving me to sit out that game. The game was closer than the score, we had opened up a 35 point half time lead and they cut it down to single digits late in the game. You have to give the Bullets credit, they could have easily gave up, but they kept on fighting. I was looking forward to that game, thinking that it would be the first game since I left the Giants, but I had to wait another 4 days to finally play again. The second game was against the West Sydney Razorbacks, a talented team when at full strength, but have been bothered by injuries, that really have set this team back. At the beginning of the season, this team was picked to win the regular season, but mid-season injuries have killed them.
It was finally here, my first game as a Sixer, not knowing what to expect or how much playing time I would get, I just was happy and anxious to get back on the court! I was also a little worried about my teammates and the fans. I didn’t know if I was going to be accepted by all of them, but I just wanted to play. When I was introduced onto the court I got a pretty good reaction from the Sixer crowd, that helped ease me a little. The next step was to see if I would fit into the mix, with the team. I must have sat on the bench for 5 min or so before I got in, my heart was racing, like it was the first time I have ever played the game. But once I got in, it felt great as if I won the lottery and my racing heart was pumping! I could tell it was going to be a tough one for me, since I was not in the best shape, I took my self out of the game a few times cause the lack of conditioning. Sitting out 3 weeks does not help ones stamina, I felt like I was a 300 lbs man that has never ran before in his life, lungs burning and feet hurting. I was rusty and a little lost, not knowing all of the plays, since I was only here for a week, so that was understandable. But overall I had a blast playing with the guys, playing on a team that passes the ball is great! I missed my share of easy shots, but you have to expect that, since it has been awhile. The thing that amazed me was how well these guys play together, working hard and just playing the game! It was the most fun I have had in a long lone time playing basketball at a high level. I always have fun playing pick-up games, but at this level it is more than a game, it is a business and sometimes you lose the fun of it all! In the end we played very well and won the game easily, but I was tired, exhausted even though I only played 20 min, but it will take awhile to get back into great shape again.
My second game would be against the Perth Wildcats. I have played them twice with the Giants, the last meeting with them they smashed us by 40 and it was one of the most humiliating games that i have been apart of. I especially don’t like playing Perth, they are physical team and very talented! I have not done well against them, but this time I would be on a better team and a chance at actually winning. This game is very important for us and we need to win to keep ahead of the Crocs who are closing in on us and the fourth spot. Going into the game I knew it would be a war and probably go down to the wire. But Perth was coming off a very tough game against Sydney a couple of nights before, so I figured that fatigue might play a big role for them. I was right, they came out hard but we came out even harder and put the game away from the start. This was a game that we were a little worried about since we did not have out best player and floor general Brent Maher. So winning this without him was huge for us, giving us that confidence that we need going into the last couple weeks. I was in a little better shape this time and not calling to the coach to take me out every min or so, I had got a little more of my conditioning back. I think that since I have been out here, I have been in better shape. I think, I know the reason for that, I don’t pizza out here, in the states I lived on it, but here I have not had more than 5. So eating a little healthier is helping me a little, but I do miss my pizza, I will have to wait for that! I think I might have a pizza from the states shipped out here over night delivery, so I have a chance of getting warm! Haha Enough about pizza and back to basketball, Perth was a great win for us, but we did not have time to let it set in, because we were off to Melbourne the next day to take on the Tigers!
Going to Melbourne for the first time since I got released was fun, I would get to see all of my friends and catch up. The Tigers have been playing strong as of late and have put together some nice wins over the last couple of weeks. They have a very strong and veteran type team that when playing at full strength can be unstoppable. The Tigers are tough at home, especially when you got Andrew Gaze on the other team, he seems to get all the calls that he wants, I don’t know if I am the only that sees this, I might be, but it seems like it! We started the game out and were up fast, having at one point a 19 or 20 point lead. You would think that this game easily should have been won by us, but we let this one get away from us. We could have used the help of brent, but we didn’t have him, a lot of the guys stepped their games up, but we just ran out of gas in the end. We fought hard, but we had no one to stop Mark Bradtke in the end. I was in him, he is such a huge guy that I looked and felt like a little ant next to him. We lost the game by 3 or 4, can’t remember, but it was one that we should have and could have won. Another lesson for us, we just have to build from it~!. Overall the games that I have played in, have been good, i feel real comfortable with the team! I am really enjoying my time here!
Enough about the on the court issues, lets talk about off the court. The Sixers are a much more organized team than the Liberty Giants were. It was just so frustrating with the Giants at first, they didn’t pay anyone for a month when we first got their and other stuff to go along with that. Here, they get the job done asap and there are no worries about it, so I can concentrate on basketball and that is it. It is a lot more relaxed here, I don’t live 30 min from practice or an hour away from the home court like I did in Melbourne. Less traffic and a lot less driving! I liked Melbourne, but I was living so far from everything that it was not worth it, I was spending half my time driving, not fun! So all in all I am having fun and enjoying my stay. I appreciate the warm welcome from everyone here in Adelaide! Thanks!
More to come!
#18
February 23rd 2002 Journal #30
It has been a while since I last wrote into my journals, but I have been so busy that I had no time to do so. A lot has happened over the last couple of weeks, some things for the good and some for the not so good. Well I am going to start with the not to good part. Over the lat couple of weeks we have not played at full strength, first losing Brett to family issues and then when we get him back, Martin (CAT) goes down with a partially torn ligament in his Growing. ( Is growing spelled right? I don’t care, you know what I mean) Losing Cat hurts us because he is such an aggressive player and brings a lot to the table, he draws so much attention that it creates a lot of open opportunities for the rest of us, which is a good thing! I think it is a good idea for Cat to sit out a while, I would rather have him at full strength at playoff time then have him play through some pain and have a possibility of hurting himself even more. So we had to play 2 games without him, one versus the Wollongong Hawks and Victoria Giants, both tough games for us. The first challenge were the Hawks on their home court, which is always a tough place to win!
Wollongong to me brings me some negative vibes, because the last time I played there was with the Liberty Giants and we had lost by 20 or so. That was not the worst part about it, I also got released later that night at the airport on the way back home to Melbourne. I was wondering why everyone around me was acting different, the coach was not talking to me the while trip and I quickly found out why. A word to those of you, when people start to look the other way when you walk into the room, take that as a hint that something is either said about you or something is going to happen to you! In my case, it happened to me, I was sitting in the Qantas lounge and I had to go to the bathroom to wash up or something. As I walk in to the bathroom I see the coach, walk past him and he neither looks at me, or even acknowledges that I am there, like I was a invisible or something. Ok, to let you all know, I was never on bad terms with him, but not to acknowledge someone, you know something is about to go down! If this was a drug deal, I would have been in big trouble! haha So I get done doing my thing in the bathroom, and as I start to walk out to get something to ear and read, Coach Wright comes up to me and says that he needs to talk to me, I was like, “ ok, what is going on here, first off a couple of seconds ago I was invisible and he did not talk to me the whole trip, but all of a sudden he wants to talk”. So I put down my crackers and told Darren Smith, “ Dude I am about to get cut”, I had this gut feeling, and sure enough, they sat me down minutes before my flight back home, that they were releasing me. What the hell am I supposed to say or do at this moment in my life, I do realize that this is a business and not a game. Know this is why Wollongong brings me a few negative vibes, but life goes on and I have found a new home! Now on to the game and outcome.
The 36er’s had beaten the Hawks once and have been defeated once, so this game was a big one for the both of us. The win for us, means that we have the season split and can place as high as 3rd on the ladder for home court advantage during the playoffs. Plus it was a big game for Charles Thomas, he has some beef with Wollongong, or should I say that the Coach for Wollongong has some beef with CT. He will not shake CT’s hand after games. CT used to play for the Hawks and won a championship with them, and for some reason or another had a fall out and the coach their does not really care for him. I don’t know why, CT is a nice guy, maybe it is because he talks so much! (Kidding CT) So CT was pumped to play them again and they were pumped that they needed this win as so did we! The game was neck and neck throughout the first 3 quarters, 36er’s leading by a few points going into the 4th. For some reason the Hawks ran out of gas in the 4th and we ran right past them. I had a good game, scoring 38 points and grabbing 11 boards, Ct had 26 and Brett had 21, the bench guys came in and played tough. Again CT would not get a hand shake from his former coach, not even a look. This win gives us the season split on them, so not in order for us to capture 3rd, we have to win out remaining games. If we can do that, it will give us great momentum going into the playoffs.
Up Next Liberty Giants. Playing my old mates, I was a little worried about this game, not knowing if I was going to be nervous, anxious, scared, or what! I just knew that it was going to be an emotional game, all of these guys are still good friends of mine, and I talk to them every week. Papers, media and everyone kept asking me how is it going to be playing against your old team? I did not really know how to answer that question. I want to do well, but my main concern was winning, and beating them badly. I wanted to mentally prepare for this one, this is probably the hardest game to prepare for. I have never been put in a situation like it ever, I have never been cut from one team and picked up by another. So this would be another mental obstacle that I would have to over come and a difficult one. This was probably the longest week that I have had in Australia, I just wanted to game to come but it seemed as if it would never be. Saturday finally showed up and it was time to lace the shoes up and get down to business. I figured that once the ball was thrown up that I would just concentrate on hoops and that was what happened. We as a team started the game off slow and kept going slow throughout the first half. We could not hit anything, cold, and played no defense. I have no clue why we played like this, but it was just one of those games that we were not clicking as a team! We started to come on hard at the end of the first half, and the third quarter. After being down by as many as 22, we clawed our way back into the game and actually took the lead late in the Third. It was close the rest of the game. It came down to the last couple of seconds. Before I get to the last part of the game, can we talk about how shitty my free throws were that night! I was 2-8, what kind of shooting is that! I was a career 80% free throw shooter before I got here. I think it has to do with being in the Southern Hemisphere, haha, kidding. I missed some clutch free throws in the 4th, I guess I will have to shoot a 1000 everyday, until I get my shot back. Lets forget about the missed free throws and talk about the 4 shots at the end that could have put the game into over time. Mark Nash had a lay-up and Pero altered that I was there to clean it up and put it back, but D-Mac clipped my arm and the ball hit the rim, I got it back and missed the lay-up and then the ball got kicked out to Brett for a 10 footer and that missed. We had 4 chances to win this game, but I guess it was not meant to happen. The game ended and I had fouled out, I was very disappointed that I shot so badly from the charity strip and missed a easy lay-up not once but twice! Life goes on!
After the game I caught up with the Giants players at their hotel and talked for a bit. They gave me some crap for losing and missing free throws, but it was all good fun. It was nice to see them again, as I am good friends with a lot of them. We just have to learn from this and hopefully this is the wake-up call that we need to get into gear again! Up next is Sydney in Sydney and Cairns in Cairns, 2 tough games that we need to win.
More when we get back from the road trip! Plus I get to go to my first AFL game up in Cairns, I am very excited!
#19
2002-03 Season Over, March,18th 2003
After losing to the Giants back in late February, it was on to Sydney to meet the Kings and then on to Cairns for the Taipans. If we were to win the following 2 games, we would have had a chance to take 3rd on the ladder and it would give us a great opportunity. But since I am writing this a few weeks late, many know the outcome of the games! I am going to talk bout them anyway, haha. Playing the Giants was supposed to be the start of the winning streak, but that ended on a 2 point loss, we knew going into the next 2, that Sydney would be the toughest test for us. Since I have got to Adelaide it has been a very welcoming situation, and basketball as good also! It seemed as soon as I got here, people on the team were getting hurt, injured or having family problems, so I don’t know if I was the bad luck charm or what. Haha We were never at full strength and that hurt us. Not being able to mold togther fast enough because of the injuries and stuff. That is a part of sport, you just have to deal with it, just like life, everything throws its curve balls and you just have to adjust. Back to the games, knowing that we had to win 2 games to gain 3rd spot, was going to be difficult.
The first game of the road trip was in Sydney, if they beat us, they would secure first spot on the ladder and their first minor premier championship in the clubs history. This was game was as big for them as it was for us, so we knew that it was going to be a war. Going into the game, we were confident that we could beat them, Cat was back for the first time in a couple of weeks, so that was an added bonus, not knowing if he was going to make the trip or not. Nothing exciting happened off the court, but this was the first time that I have ever been to Sydney, other than the airport. Our hotel was right by some harbor, I can’t even think of the name of it, but it was a cool area of town. A lot to do, shopping, eating, clubbing and sites! I was very impressed with it, it seemed like a mini New York, but with a little less people, but similar! The first day that I was there I went to a place called Ali-babbas, it was a Giros place. It seemed like a good place, a lot of people were eating, so that is a good sign that it might have good Kebabs. So we entered and looked over the menu, we decided to eat there, once again I had trouble ordering. I guess I don’t speak Australian that well, cause the guy behind the counter had a real tough time figuring out what it was that I was trying to order. He acted like I was asking for something that was not on the menu, it was actually kind funny! Then CT and I decided to hit a movie up, it was the movie with Stephen Siegal and Ja Rule, don’t remember the name but it was an ok flick. I enjoyed my time in Sydney, I would love to take some time and site see there, but I would hate to live there, way too crowded! Since I enjoyed myself, it was game time! The Kings are a tough ball club, with ex-NBA player Shane “Hammer) Heal, MVP Chris Williams and a great supporting cast, this team is arguably the deepest and most talented team in the NBL. The game was physical and the refs were not giving the visitors any calls! What is with the refs in this league, i trust their professionalism, but it kind of looks like some of them are getting paid extra to give the home team calls! That is just me, I am not saying that is true, but it sure seems like it. Sydney came out the gates hard and fast, especially Shane heal, he came out gunning and killed us for 41 points. They had us big early in the game, but we fought back and made it competitive until we ran out of gas at the end, losing a tough one. We knew going into this game, it was going to be difficult. Now we have to beat Cairns at their place in order to get as high as 4th seed in the Playoffs.
Cairns is another place that I have not been too, thanks to the Liberty Giants. I was released by the Giants a week before the trip to Cairns and Townsville weekend double header. That really mad getting released that much worse, that was the one road trip that I was looking forward too! So I was excited to get a chance to see this city that I have heard so much about. As usual ever time that I someone tells me how beautiful a city is, the whether is crappy when I get there. The whole time that I was in Cairns it was raining and cloudy, not one ray on sunshine! That disappointed me a little, and that we didn’t have some more time to chill and go see the town. I have to say that I did see my first footy game and that was kind of interesting. The game was cool, but the people watching the game were the interesting part. I think everyone was drunk, even the kids, it sure seemed like it. I enjoyed myself, but we had to leave at halftime, it was hot and muggy, and we had a game the next day. Not much happened off th court n Cairns, I wish it would have been nicer so I could really appreciate the city, but maybe I will go up there for a week or so before I head back to the states. Now the game was delayed for about 20 minutes because the electricity had gone out, so we had to sit down stair and wait for them to give us the ok. By the time they told we could go up on th court, we were cold again and had to stretch all over. To me it sounds like they did this on purpose to disrupt our train of thought, but who knows. We started out on fire during this game, we could not miss if we wanted to, it was great! We built a big lead early in the first half, but as hot as a team is in the first half, they can cool off even quicker. That is exactly what we did, by the time the second half came, we had run out of buckets and Cairns made their run. We went from being up 20 ro losing by 20 or so, so as quick as we started we cooled and lost quicker. This is the 3rd straight loss going into the playoffs, so we captured 5th spot on the ladder and 5th seed in the playoffs, facing the Perth Wildcats in a best of 3 series.
Beating Perth is going to be difficult, because they are almost perfect
at home, with only 1 loss all year. In order to win this series, we
would like to win the one at home and one of the two on the road, i
would prefer win the first 2. The last time that we played Perth we
beat them by 18 at our place. We knew that we had a chance to take this
series from them. The one thing that I did not get when I got here,
was the rule of the highest losing seeded team gets to go the semi-finals.
I look at it and wonder why the NBL allows this, rewards losing. I know
that it is hard to come up with a bracket that doesn’t allow this,
but with only 11 teams it is hard, but I still find it stupid. Back
to our series with Perth, the first game being at the POWERHOUSE. The
game at Perth was another shocker, the refs did us again. The one play
that made it obvious was when I clearly stole the ball that was passed
to Ricky Grace, while I was running down the court and Ricky grabbed
me. In my book it would have been a foul on Grace, but in the NBL book
it was a foul on me. I went nuts, I couldn’t believe that they
called it, I was onto the races for an easy lay-up, I would say dunk,
but knowing me I would have laid it up, haha. That was the high light
of my game, I didn’t get that much time on the court, about 15
minutes. We ended up losing this game by 3 points, once again losing
a 11 point lead going into the final quarter. I was so mad after this
game, this is one that we should have and could have won. I walked off
so pissed about losing, not about the playing time, it was a little
obvious. I had people e-mailing me thinking that I was mad about my
playing time, but I was just mad about the outcome of the game and the
refs. This game should have put us up one, but instead we were down
one and winning 2 in Perth was going to be difficult.
Game 2 in Perth was one of the best comebacks that I have ever been
apart of. I will skip to the 4th quarter, cause for the first 3 are
not even worth talking about. We were getting smashed by Perth, down
by as much as 30 at a few points in the game. Halftime came around and
this was the first time that I have witnessed coach mad at us, usually
he is calm, but he was pissed that we were getting beat. Where was our
pride, did we have any? That was the question we were all faced with,
we went into the second half trying to save our pride, not to lose by
50 or more. It didn’t work for us in the that 3rd quarter, we
lost it by 1 and were down by 26 or so going into the last quarter.
We as a player I am always thinking that we can win, no matter what
the score is, but if I was a fan I would have counted us out and said
that we were a bunch of losers with no heart or pride. As the 4th went
along we cut the lead and cut it more, down by 11 with 7 minutes left,
you think you have time, but sometimes you just run out of gas. Well
that is what I thought was going to happen, but the gas tank was full
and we kept going and cutting the lead even more, to my surprise with
2 min or so to go, we were shooting free throws and up by 6. I was in
the back court with Cat, asking him how the hell we did this, in amazement,
we looked at each other with shit grins on and were speechless. We both
could not believe that we just witnessed and were apart of the biggest
comeback in NBL history. It was an amazing accomplishment! We were still
alive, one more game to go and advance to the second round.
Before we get to game three of the elimination series, we were stuck
in Perth for the rest of the week. I have to say that Perth has some
beautiful beaches and people! The whether was great, the beaches sandy
white and the people outstanding. I enjoyed my time here, and would
love to come back to visit or site see. One of the days we decided to
got the mall as team and see what we could buy and then grab a bite
to eat. On our way we had some trouble finding street parking so we
decided to park in the parking ramp. We parked out cars and all packed
into this old elevator and hit the ground floor button. We were only
up 2 floors, so I hit the “G” button, but nothing happened.
We landed but the doors were not opening, thinking that the doors must
be jammed or something or I might have not hit the right button, I start
to hit any button that I could see. Nothing worked, we were stuck in
an elevator in Perth. It was actually kind of freaky at first, not knowing
if air could get into us, but it soon got extremely hot and muggy. The
capacity was 15 people, or normal people, we had 13 in there. I don’t
what normal people are classified as, but we sure did exceed the weight
limit by a few hundred kilograms. It took the fire department an hour
to get us out, it was funny as hell to watch their faces and we all
piled out of the elevator. It was like they were all amazed that we
could get that many people of our size in there, it was good fun after
we got out. We were all glad to have got out of there and quickly went
about our way and went shopping and grab a bite to eat. Some think that
Perth organized that elevator to malfunction, but we have no proof.
Haha
The next day after the elevator incident, we had the 3rd and final game,
to decided our fate. The game started out good for us, as we climbed
to an early lead, but that did not last long. It went back fourth throughout
the whole game, but once again the refs decided this one. I think it
totally takes away from the game of basketball when the refs are one
sided or call way too many fouls. Perth shot 46 free throws to our 18
or something like that. We could not hit anything in the last quarter,
not even if our lives depended on it, nothing was going in. We had spent
all of our energy to try and win this one, but could not get over the
hill. So that was our season, ending on that note.
The season went quick for me, I had a lot of up and downs for my first year of playing. I had some highs and some lows, but the worst time was that period that I had no team to go to. I am glad that Adelaide came around and gave me a chance, without this, who knows where I would be right now. My plans are up in the air, but I would love to come back to play here again next year, but one never knows what the future holds. I will keep you all posted on what my future plans are, but I loved playing here. I will have a full story about my whole season when I hit the states, my ups and my downs all on paper, and what I went through with the Giants. You all take care and keep visiting D-Rych.com
One more thing, the spelling in this document might be a little messed up and wrong, but I never said that I could..Yes I do have spell check, but sometimes it doesn’t work right....
#20
The Journey Home! March 27th, 20003
I just arrived at the LAX airport after 15 hours of flying, and it was not fun! I didn’t sleep the whole trip, thinking that I would stay out all night so I could go to sleep, but that quickly backfired on me! You have a lot to think about on the plane when the hours slowly go by and you are wondering when the hell am I going to land. I was so happy to hear the captain say to the crew, prepare the plane for landing. This was the first glimpse of America since I left to come to Australia some 7 or so months ago. For some reason it was an exciting moment for me, don’t ask me why, but I loved seeing something related to the good old USA. I quickly am over the excitement of being in LA, I can’t wait to get home and see my family and friends. I have not seen them for a long time, but then again I start to think about all the great people that I left behind in Australia. I wish life as fare and easy, but that is not how this world of ours works. The first thing that I did was go to an ATM and get some American Money out, it is totally different to the Aussie dollar, smaller and less change to deal with. Then I went and bought some apple juice and muffins, money goes real quickly, I kind of forgot how it was. I was really hoping that the airport would have some pizza out somewhere, but I have looked and there are none! I am going nuts, I will have to wait another couple of hours before I can sink my teeth into a juicy American pizza again! Yes! I love pizza! Other than that, I am just sitting in the airport before I catch the connecting flight home and then I will have some more to write about.. My parents are supposed to pick me up, but my mother makes me think that they will get lost, I hope not. More to come later, maybe some exciting stories, who knows...
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