It has been about two weeks since my last blog. Since then I had my first hotel experience in Finland, had a career high in scoring, beat the second best team in league, went to a chocolate factory called Panda, taught a basketball class to first graders and tried to get some Christmas shopping done.
The hotel experience was comical because the room was very small, it had bunk beds and there were four of us to a room. What made matters worse was the fact that we were not able to wash our jersey's before our next game so our room had a terrible stench to it. I slept in the smallest bed in the room which was a cot about the width of half of a twin bed and Vanessa whom is 6'3 slept on the top bunk bed that was held up by the wall. This was a classic night, and it could not have been great without several shows of Animal Planet we watched or the stench. Who would have guess overseas life was this luxurious? ; )
As for my career high game in scoring, it occurred the day we arrived in the hotel. We played a team called Team S and I had a great first half. Unfortunately I was the only one to have such a great half which was exhausting and frustrating for me. When the second half came around my body was tired and I was short on all the rest of my shots which got me even more frustrated. We ended up losing the game by 5 or so and I finished with 26 points but seriously I should have had at least 36 points. I say that because I missed some shots that I really should not have missed. But hey 26 is not too bad huh??
The hotel experience was comical because the room was very small, it had bunk beds and there were four of us to a room. What made matters worse was the fact that we were not able to wash our jersey's before our next game so our room had a terrible stench to it. I slept in the smallest bed in the room which was a cot about the width of half of a twin bed and Vanessa whom is 6'3 slept on the top bunk bed that was held up by the wall. This was a classic night, and it could not have been great without several shows of Animal Planet we watched or the stench. Who would have guess overseas life was this luxurious? ; )
As for my career high game in scoring, it occurred the day we arrived in the hotel. We played a team called Team S and I had a great first half. Unfortunately I was the only one to have such a great half which was exhausting and frustrating for me. When the second half came around my body was tired and I was short on all the rest of my shots which got me even more frustrated. We ended up losing the game by 5 or so and I finished with 26 points but seriously I should have had at least 36 points. I say that because I missed some shots that I really should not have missed. But hey 26 is not too bad huh??
Now for the exciting part!! For our final game of the year we beat #2 Espoo team whom previously beat us twice by 30 points or so. It was amazing because it was the first game all three Americans played great together and because it gave us hope for the second half of league. We started the game off on fire and playing great defense. By half time we were up by 15 points and realized we can really get an upset. Like every great team, Espoo started the half strong and went on runs. By the fourth quarter it was a 2 point game and with a few minutes to go Rocky fouled out. Excitingly, the game continued to go back in forth and with 15 seconds left Espoo's point guard got fouled going to the basket and she made both of her free throws. We are now down by 1 point and we call a time out with 11 seconds left and our plan was to get the ball inbounded to me while Vanessa comes to set a ball screen for me. As we try taking the ball inbound I get double teamed which forces us to improvise the plan. So our other Finnish guard gets the ball, everybody is all scrambled up and she finally just throws the ball up for a shot but it gets blocked and Vanessa grabs the ball and gets fouled. Thankfully, Vanessa makes both of her free throws and Espoo inbounds the ball for a hell Mary shot with 2 seconds left and its off. We won and celebrated as if we won the championship. It was a great feeling!
It was great to have Salla back from her ankle injury even though she is not 100% healthy. Vanessa had season high of 27 points and 17 rebounds, Rocky had 16 points and 9 rebounds, and I had 16 points, 6 assists, 5 steals, and 5 rebounds. This was a great win and very exciting game to watch.
PANDA, has the best chocolate!! My awesome teammate Jossu brought me and Rocky to the factory! It was quite smaller than I imagined but I had a blast picking out the chocolate as well as getting free samples!
Other than basketball, I have been teaching a basketball class for first graders. This has been great because I know it will strengthen my teaching skills once I have a classroom of my own. It is pretty challenging sometimes because the kids only speak Finnish. I have to demonstrate everything I want them to do as well as use the few Finnish words I know. Since our last game we have had a lot of down time so Rocky, Vanessa and I have spent quite some time shopping downtown looking for Christmas gifts. I can not say that we found much luck but we still had a great time taking the 20 minute walk in the snow with the hopes of giving to others! lol
And for the best news of all, I will be home soon! I depart from Helsinki Finland Monday December 15th at 6:20 am and have an hour stop in Frankfurt Germany, then a 7 hour flight to arrive at LAX sometime around noon. I am so excited to be home with my friends and family and am so excited to eat at my top ten food places that I have missed since I left California! See ya soon!
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