Game versus University of Barcelona-Polytech

As I ran from class in my American sweatpants and Vanderbilt jacket, I started to sweat profusely because today was 78 degrees....I'm going to miss the warm weather.  Anyhow, I literally ran across half of Barcelona trying to find our university's gymnasium. I arrived at the court completely soaked, coach handed me my jersey and shorts, and I warmed up with the rest of the team. I hadn't seen the starting five on the team because they didnt even show up to the walk-on tryouts. The dynamic of basketball here in Spain is very different. Whereas the NCAA in the states is the second highest league beneath the NBA, the University league is the third highest, beneath the club leagues. However, many of the very good players from the club leagues still play for the University's league as practice. Our center is a solid 6'6, nothing spectacular but he has a pretty decent 15-foot shot and good rebounding skills. Our point guard is the best. He is about 6'1, fast, aggressive, good ball-handling skills,  has an unorthodox shot but definitely effective, and is a fantastic passer. He must have scored 20 points today. He plays for the second team for the city of Barcelona. In a few years, he might move onto the ACB.  There's another shorter guard who is also a pretty talented player, but I think he's overrated.

As for me, I came off the bench first because one of the starting five received two quick fouls. I'm so fortunate to be able to experience all of the same feelings I had when I was in high school. My heart rate skyrocketed, and I was nervous as hell. But, after the first play running up and down the court, I felt better. The second possession down I received the ball on the exterior of the arc on the right side....my spot. I gave him a pump fake right and an aggressive, hard, dribble left, crossing into the paint using my body to block the defender. I lightly tossed the ball up and it dropped right in. I felt confident. The following possession I had a 2-1 breakaway in which I pump faked the pass to the left side and pulled up for a short 7 footer swoosh. 4 points in about 3 minutes. I was lovin it.....but I also finished the game with 4 points

4 pts, 3 boards, 2 assists in about 15 or 16 minutes of play. It wasn't too bad for my first game back having sprinted 20 minutes to jump right into a college basketball game.

We went down by 11 at half time and in the locker room, coach gave a motivational speech that seemed to work pretty well. We played much better defense and came back to go up by 1 in the fourth quarter. After a bad call and our star player receiving a technical foul, it was all downhill with 1.30 left in the game. The final score was 75-66...but it was a much closer than the score suggests. Also, in the last second of the game some little white spanish dude caught a break-away and dunked it with two hands...definitely didn't enjoy that.

Overall, it was an awesome experience and I hope I can play in as many games as possible before I leave Europe. My Castellano and Catalan for that matter is getting so much better simply by playing ball and listening to the lingo. I think I'm sounding more and more like a local as the weeks go by. Attached I have a photo from the game today.