This will be the first time in my life that I am not home with my family on Christmas. To be honest it is kind of sad not being there doing the "normal" things that our families do for Christmas. Our job is to play basketball and the work schedule says we have to work, so that is what we will do. I love my job and it could be much worse, like people in the military who always spend the holidays away from home. I think for Christmas our three Americans will spend it together, watching an NBA game on Christmas night with the Lakers and Heat (after practice of course).
It has been nice to see the way Poland does Christmas. In the States we would call you last minute shoppers. In the United States Christmas season starts in November and here I think it started last week. Kind of weird to see Christmas without snow. I know this is unusual for Poland, we do not have snow back home where I am from in the States either, so not sure what is going on. That is OK because I do not like snow very much and it is never fun to drive on.
The atmosphere in Orbita for the game vs Prokom on Friday was incredible. We knew that we could play with them and had an advantage because they had to play Wednesday in France. What we did not expect though is for one guy to make every shot. Slanina, was incredible and he hit some very tough shots, but also he got some easy ones early and that got him going. I have never seen anything like that in my life. Despite all that, we still had a chance to win. We just could not do the little things to win the game. Believe me, we did not miss those Free Throws on purpose, or let Atkins get a lay-up or not box out, whatever you want to say. We hope that this game will allow us to learn and grow as a team, so that the next time we are in that situation we will be able to win those games. I just would like to say thanks to the fans of Śląsk for the amazing job you did on Friday. It was a great game to play in.
There will be no blog next week, as I will be in the United States. Coach has generously allowed us to go home for a few days and I am looking forward to it to see my wife and family. I have a lot of plans but most of them consist of just hanging out with friends and family, along with eating some good home cooked meals. I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed as well. Since my wife and I bought our house in June, I have spent more nights away, than in my own house. Besides that it should be fun just to be home. Merry Christmas again and I will see you in the New Year.