Sep 26, 2007

NEW HOME

Hello Everyone,

Looks like I need to change the title of the blog. It now needs to say Hungary basketball. I arrived in Hungary on September 23rd, which was Sunday. It was a decision that was made mutually by both parties. The team was not a good fit for me with the system and type of play and they were looking for someone who was more of a post. It was a unique situation where I actually played with Mulhouse on Saturday in Blois. After the game they took me to Ollie, which is the airport south of Paris. I then got in a cab which the team paid for and was dropped off at Charles Dagulle airport.

A couple things made this unique. First, the entire team sent me off at Ollie. This usually does not happen, but Hungary wanted me there by Sunday and France needed me to play Saturday in hopes of getting there first league win. In my short time with Mulhouse I met some really great people and players that I will for sure keep in contact with, so it was nice that they all got to send me off. The coach was will nice through the whole process. He assured me many times that it was not my play that got me released there were a lot of other factors like how young the team was, the type of play (more of a 1 on1 type system), and need for more of post player. He also said he would keep in touch and make sure everything is good in Hungary. The second unique part of the trip was the cab ride over to the other airport. The cab company called a cab over to get me. There was another guy waiting and since it was 2 in the morning I said we could take him as well, what I did not know was he was picking up a friend in the parking lot a little ways down. My first sights of Paris were shared with two strangers who did not speak English in a cramped taxi cab with a bag on my lap. The funny stories just keep piling up. I had to spend the night in the airport due to the timing of everything. My plane departed at 7:15 and I did not arrive in Paris after the game until around 2 AM. I did not find it so bad due to the fact there were two homeless guys sleeping there as well. At least my stay was only for one night.

I am a little disappointed that I did not win any games in regular season with Mulhouse. I really felt like it was a team that was going to be good for me at the beginning. With me being the competitor I am that is a little disappointing even though it was not entirely my fault. However Mulhouse plays the young French national team next week so that should be at least one win they can get. Also, I was not able to meet up with my cousins in Germany or my dad’s friend. That is also a little disappointing due to the fact I missed them by literally one day.

I flew into Vienna and drove to Kormend with a team manager. Kormend is the city I am playing in. It is about 2 hours from Vienna and around 3 hours from Budapest. The city is very small, only 12,000 residents. It is a very different from the bigger city of Mulhouse. I am within walking distance of the gym and the restaurant which I get one meal a day. There is another restaurant which I get one meal a day as well, but you have to drive to. That is nice bonus and they also pay for cable and internet which France did not. The facilities are also very different, starting with the apartment. In Mulhouse I was in a brand new apartment with two bedrooms and it was very nice. The apartment here was built in 1872 and I only have one bedroom. I believe the last resident was an elderly lady because there are nice dishes and tea cups everywhere. The amenities are fine though I have a bed, a bigger TV, a DVD player and an oven/stove (I won’t have to use that much with the meals I get). Many people in the world don’t have that so I can’t complain. The weight room is about a five minute drive from my apartment, while the gym is less then a block down the road. The gym can hold probably 3,500 at max. The team says it is filled to capacity every game (they don’t have much else to look forward to in this little town). I think the thing I will miss the most being here instead of France is the proximity of bigger cities. In Mulhouse I was an hour or two from really big and nice cities where in Hungary I am pretty far from any major cities.

On Sunday I had a light workout mostly learning the offensive system and got some shots up. The team here is looking for me to play a very similar role that I played at butler: setting on balls, popping out shooting the three and creating mismatches with bigger guys. They are a little concerned with my weight though. I am not as beefy as I was at butler due to a number of factors. First being I had a wrist injury most of the summer that prevented me from lifting real hard, second I did not have the mandatory program and strength coach directing me. Lastly, I worked real hard in getting myself in shape for another level of basketball witch also contributed to me losing weight. I am confident that I will be able to still provide the defense on bigger guys. I always excelled at butler because I used my speed and brains. My first practice went well; we played a little and worked on the system, mostly focusing on defense. I am not making in projections because last time I did that I was not very correct. There was word that a player I grew up with, Tyler Best, would be coming to play on the team as well. I have since heard word that might not be happing but there will be two other Americans. I will try and keep my schedule of updating every Sunday however there may not be much to talk about in this small town. The season starts October 6th, and we play in a preseason tourney this week. I will include the team website in the next post.

Let’s go Cubbies, colts, and I see Purdue football has had a good start as well.

This is BC gone for now

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Brandon!

Sounds like a great move! Now you can say you've lived in 3 countries!! :) I hope everything is going great for you.. Good luck at your first games next week!

Love,
Missy

Anonymous said...

Brandon,

congrats on your new team.

sorry you missed seeing your visitors in france.

good luck in hungary and get some wins!

GO COLTS :)

Big AL

Unknown said...

you will be fine.....Austria is my favorite country in Europe so maybe you can check out some things
there.Vienna is fabulous......
Anyway sounds like a good move for
you but a little futher from Luxemboug......

lv ya Karen