Season Opener

Over 1,000 fans came to watch. The music was loud. The floors were clean. The new Holiday Check Basket uniforms clothed our backs. The setting was perfect. Management did everything they could to create the perfect atmosphere to start the new season in the new league. But... there was one thing that was forgotten. We forgot to bring our A game. 

The jitters were being passed around from one player to the next just as frequent as the basketball exchanged hands. It was what consumed us in the beginning. Missed lay-ups, missed open jump shots, on top of missed free-throws started to plague our performance, while our guest very just the opposite. They were very confident in their play. I'd even take it a step further and say they were border line arrogant. Somehow though, we managed to still be within striking distance despite our below average performance. 

Half time was spent being verbally destroyed by our disappointed coach. Snippets of his speech were in English but most of it was in German. I tried my best to make sense of it but it's hard when I only speak and understand a little bit of the language. Everyone on the team was disappointed and knew that we were capable of doing better. At this point, I somehow managed to allow my worst critic, Michael Lay, to get in my the way. Deep down inside I knew I was capable of so much more. I was dwelling on the shots I missed. I was thinking about our slow defensive rotation the few times it was actually there. I was trying to translate the half time speech. I know that I have the potential to dictate and control the game, but I just wasn't doing it. I was questioning my abilities as  player. In the last five months I played in 2 officiated games and the rest of the time was spent practicing individually. I'm dying to just play and find my feet again but that hasn't happened yet. I have new teammates whom I'm still learning and trying to lead at the same time. I'm the only American so if we lose somehow there will be fingers pointed at me. All these thoughts ran through my mind at intermission. But then I remembered that my ability to impact a game without scoring is an overlooked quality. I'm the PG I can create for others and get them shots so I decided to concentrate more on this and hopefully I will find a offensive rhythm that can propel us to victory.  

It seemed this altered mindset was working as we came out to a good start of the 3rd quarter. We had the momentum on our side and things were looking good going into the 4th. With about 3 minutes left the momentum shifted as we lacked the confidence to close out the game as well as the ability to execute down the stretch. We still were in the lead though. My offensive performance can me summarized in one play that happened or didn't happen that could have changed our fate. I can't remember if it was a rebound or a steal but I ended up with the ball in the middle of the key way and it was just me and the other teams 6-9 center. I turned on the jets and raced to our side of the court for a lay-up as he trailed in an attempt to block my shot. As I went to grab the ball and lay it up the ball slipped right through my hands and went out of bounds. What a disappointment. At this point the score was 73-72 in favor of Konstanz with under 45 seconds left. The following play BG Illeteral's go-to guy was at the top of the key with 12 seconds left on the shot clock and fired a three up and it hit the back on the rim and just went flat and slowly made it's way through the net. It was a crushing blow. The game wasn't over yet though. We called a time out to draw up a play for me penetrate and create something. I was denied the ball and as the ball was thrown in to our youngster, Marcel Herbelin, he was fouled. The score is 73-75 in favor of BG Illeteral. with about 10 seconds left. He missed both Free-Throws and we fouled them and it becomes a free-throw game and we ended up losing 74-78. 

I guess in someways it's good to have lost because you recognize areas to work on and improve. It doesn't feel good though. I wanted to win so bad. I know I'm capable of doing better. I ended the game with 17 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, and 5 steals. I also had 7 of our 21 turnovers. I was very disappointed with my turnovers as those are lost possessions. And PG are judged by the assist-to-turnover ratio. I didn't shoot the ball well according to my standards. My hat goes off to Marcel though as he played a very good game. So its back to the lab for me. After 5 seasons of international basketball, 4 years of college basketball, and 4 years of high school basketball I'm still a student of my craft. Forever learning, Forever evolving.