So I am just hanging out in the gym shooting around with a couple of the girls in my group, when two of the guys on the team come up to me and tell me they need me to play in their intramural game this afternoon. Cool, sounds like fun to me. They were excited because I have made a name for myself on the team by just busting my ass and giving 100% the whole time. I figured I would just mark up on whoever the opposing team's best player was and just play hard defense and let them do the scoring. Then they told me we were playing the other group of guys from the team, including the starting point guard and shooting guard (the starters on the team are actually pretty good, much much much better than the average Greek). Shoot. Alright well it'll still be fun.
We come out and are immediately down 7-1 with the 1 being a free throw I hit after going to the basket and drawing the foul. Then something weird happened. For the first time in my life, I let loose on offense. Anyone who has played 5v5 with me knows that I really do not shoot the ball much, instead electing for the extra pass or establishing good rebounding position. I rattled off our next 13 points and we took the lead. With three minutes to go, it is 25-23, our lead and I have 18 or 20 of our team's points. Then, of course, I start to really screw up. First, I get my pocket picked BADLY from the front and the guy scores a one on none fast break. Then two plays later, I lose my handle, get my pocket picked again, leading to another one on none. Oh boy. Next play, our point guard gets trapped right after crossing half court, throws a bounce pass to me that I don't move to and the same guy swoops in, and another one on none. Next thing we know, we're down 34-25. My three clangs out and that settles it.
So what did we learn today Peter? Step to your passes, protect your dribble, and remember all the small things that Pops taught you when you were younger. I single handedly KILLED our team's momentum. Really frustrating.
On the plus side, if I get a physical from a Greek doctor, sign some papers and provide them with a copy of my passport, I can play with the team in league games. Their league, however, is a "company league" as the coach phrased it. That means we are playing some guys our age, but then we'll face some teams that are 35 year old guys. That's going to be weird. I never play against older guys and don't like to because they usually play dirty because of their waning athleticism. So I think I am going to go ahead and play and that will give me some more stuff to blog about.
Coming up tomorrow, a review of the soccer game we are going to tonight. Greece's national team is playing Latvia in a Euro 2012 qualifying match. I am bubbling with excitement to see what a national team game is like in Europe. Sure it is only Greece and Latvia, but come on, I think we all know it will still be intense. Make sure you check back to the blog often, tell your friends about it and if you really want to make me happy, become a follower of it so I have some idea of who actually reads my posts.
Missing the USA, but definitely loving life here.
NBK!
ReplyDelete