Bad start, Great finish

Hello Everyone,

Well I officially have had the Sweden puking flu. It was not very fun either as I spent most of Monday night in the bathroom, and the other half setting the world record for the most “flip arounds” in bed. I had originally thought it was something I had ate, but when I limped my way to shoot around on Tuesday and talked to coach there were six other players also suffering through it. I considered myself pretty tough since 5 of the players did not travel to the game (2 of our starters), and I played 32 minutes. I must say I have never felt so weak after and that was another miserable night (Sleeping with a hooded sweatshirt, winter jacket, and blanket).

Later in the week I had actually recovered almost fully and was feeling good. We decided to have a little mini gift exchange with the team, where we would spend 100 Kronas, about $16. Greg (American center) and I headed downtown to do a little shopping. I decided to get a little disco light for my player (the gifts were suppose to be unusual or funny). It turned out to be a great hit. We also had a Christmas dinner with sponsors after Saturday’s game. It was a really good meal and the team stayed there most of the night playing games and hanging out (after the sponsors left). We have a three day break and I was invited to attend a Swedish Christmas dinner with a family after our game. In Sweden they celebrate Christmas on the 24th, I’m thinking about heading over there with Greg on Monday. Also, I made myself a Christmas batch of Brownies (I have to have something to leave for Santa.


Team

We took the short trip over to Stockholm to face the second place team in the league. Like I mentioned above, we were a little shorthanded for the game. We were also playing a good team on the road. They were pretty fired up to play us hooping and hollering over everything. We played well and actually built a little lead until 3:00 minutes left in the second quarter when we went zone. They went on an 11-0 run and ended the half up 7. The second half we played even with them the whole half and ended up losing by 7. Personally it defiantly was not my best game offensively having only 12 points and 5 turnovers. Defensively I have been playing really well, getting a lot of strips and drawing some charges. I have been guarding the other team’s best player the last 4 or 5 games and I kind of like the challenge.

On Saturday we played Uppsala which is Thomas Jackson team. They were one game ahead of us, but if we won we would own the tie breaker as this would be the second time we beat them. We started the game great again running all over them and playing good defense. Luckily for us Thomas had one of his worst games missing 3 or 4 open threes in the first half and he never got himself going. They battled most of the game but we never gave up control or the lead and ended up wining by about 15.

I played another solid game scoring 14 pts, 8 rebounds, 3 steals (four deflections). I also hit a couple 3’s which I have not done in a few games so that was good for the confidence. I have been averaging about 32 minutes of play. I feel like I’m finding myself with this team and I think we have a great chance to make a deep run.

Also, this link is to the webcast of the game so anyone who wants to watch to formal Butler Bulldogs go head to head in Sweden just click the link..

mms://212.112.180.26/match13

I’m going to take a week off from writing the blog so the next entry will be in 2008. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.


This is BC gone for now

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21855244@N08/favorites/show/

(some great pictures of Holiday lights)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071219/us_nm/usa_quotes_dc

(my favorite quote has to be miss south carolina's)

http://www.secretsantaworld.net/

(Christmas is always about giving)

Keep This Train Movin'

Hello Everyone,

This week started out great with a visit to the chiropractor for my neck. I took a charge on the team’s best player to draw his third foul before half, but I paid for it as well. It was another great massage and then the doctor set my neck in place at the end. I’m defiantly going to try and take advantage of these massages.

On Tuesday we headed to Boras, which is about a four hour bus ride south of Sodertalje. We scouted the team and watched video on them on the way. We also watched the Simpson’s movie. We stopped at a little restaurant / gas station in Granna. It is a small town situated around a massive lake, famous for making hard candy. We enjoyed a nice pre-game meal of meatballs and mash potatoes. I also purchased my post card here as we were headed straight to the gym. I am going to have quite a collection of post cards by the end of this whole deal.

I have not touched on the food since I have been here so I thought I would talk about that. The only Sweden dish that is at every meal is cold cabbage with oil. It looks a lot like sauerkraut, but is very delicious. At the six restaurants we get food during the week they all serve it. Greek food is also very big around here (even the pizzerias serve Greek food as well). In fact my Thanksgiving meal was lamb and rice and spaghetti for dinner (I must say I missed the cheesy potatoes, pumpkin pie, and ice cream cake). On Mondays we eat at a small Italian restaurant. Some of my favorites from there are carbonara (like Alfredo w/ bacon), chicken curry, calzone, and of course the pizzas. Tuesday and Thursday are at Greek spots. Favorites include Gyro, lamb, chicken, fish and the occasional hamburger. Wednesday we have our choice of Roxy’s or Tapco. Roxy’s is a kebab slash grill spot while Tapco is Pizza and Greek. I have always went to Tapco since it is right across the street from my apartment, favorites include pan pizza, calzones, lasagna, and fish. There is also a place called crazy town that is like a steakhouse and wok. They have lunch for two player’s everyday. I have only eaten there twice because it is downtown and I don’t really like walking (even though it is not that far). Fridays we eat at a cafeteria inside Volvo corporate offices. The good thing about this place is I am able to box some food up for the weekends. At many of the spots we eat I am able to order take away as well, so I have not been doing a lot of cooking. In case any one was wondering I am defiantly not starving here.

Friday night was spent at a teammate’s apartment and then we went to a small club downtown (we had Saturday off). We had some PR for the weekend, Saturday I had to attend a girl’s game (4th -5th graders) and pass out trophies and medals after. Sunday was the same except the game was between old men and it was like a rec. league. That was probably one of the worst hours spent, and I might even have lost some of my basketball skills just by watching this game. The funny thing was they tried to take a charge almost every time down. I mean my body is still young and I don’t try to take that many charges (one or two is good for me). They argue and yell at the refs much like all the rec. leagues in the states.

Also, our winter jackets came in Sunday. They are butler blue with the king’s logo on it. The colors of the team are green and white (not real sure where the blue came in) but it matches a LOT of my clothes. I am going to be a lot warmer walking to the gym and the store. It still has not been that brutal here and I have not seen any snow like the five inches in Indiana.

The Team

We kept the momentum from last weeks game and attacked Boras early. We played stifling defense and they were also a little off on there shots. We built a halftime lead of 45-17. That was defiantly the best half of defense we have played since I have been here. They shot 5-20 from three and had 23 Turnovers to our 8. Of course the refs tried to keep the game a little interesting in the third quarter (they shot 35 F.T.). We kept the defense up and ended up winning 89-73. Personally, I was really in sync (might need to eat meatballs and mash more often). I ended the game with 23 points (7-8 Ft.), 7 rebounds, 4 stls, and 4assists. I was very active, getting a tip in and a diving steal for a score.

This was a good road win as the team was ahead of us in the playoff picture. We will be playing the second place team on the road on Tuesday and if we can steal that one, we will be sitting nice in the playoff picture for the league. We will also be playing Thomas Jackson’s team on the 22nd.

The picture of the floor is of Boras and the restaurant is where we ate after the game. The other picture is the outside of our home gym.

This is BC gone for now



P.S.- I decided I will start including one or two things of interest, funny, or just plain random at the end of the blog. This link is to the top ten words that were added to the English Dictionary for 2007.

http://www.m-w.com/info/07words.htm

Finally, A WIN!!!

Hello Everyone,

It is always easy to start off by talking about the weather, but the only thing is it has not changed. It still rains almost every day with little visibility to blue skies or the sun. I really can’t believe that Indiana has seen more snow this year then I have. I probably should not speak too soon as there is still a long time left in the winter months.

This week was really the most uneventful one I have had since I have been overseas. I am trying to work up some courage to go and talk to the construction workers who feel they must start work at 7:30 in the morning and quit by 9:30. I honestly have no idea what they do every morning accept wake everyone up in the apartments. I watched two seasons of the TV show Scrubs (my new addiction). I also received word that my Aunt has had her third baby. It was a girl, they named it Jordan. That brings the total grandchildren on the Crone side to 23 (with another one the way). My grandparents have no idea what to do with themselves, that is a lot of spoiling. I have also been reading a book about health called “You, the owner’s manual”. It goes through a mini crash course of the anatomy of the body and how to keep it healthy and young. It has been very interesting and I would recommend it. Another very random thing that happened this week was when I was watching “funniest home videos”. There was a family from Frankfort, IN who won second place for their video.

Butler also suffered their first loss to Wright State (I believe that is the 8th loss in a row there). I watched over the internet while talking to an old teammate, while he watched as well. Felt like the bulldogs had no energy or fire. It defiantly made me miss playing college ball with my old teammates.

The Team

Defiantly the best thing that happened this week was getting my first professional win during the regular season. The competitor in me really needed this win. It is remarkable what a win in sports can do to people’s emotions. It seems to make everything automatically better (the opposite holds true for a loss).

The team we played is one of the worst in the league, but we needed a big victory for the spirits of the team. Like I have stated earlier we are a young team and I feel we needed a confidence boost. Akropol had two really good players, a forward from America who scored 31 and a center who scored 27. Basketball is a team sport and we were able to hold everyone else in check. I believe we had 5 people in double figures. I scored 15 and had 6 rebounds along with 1 steal and 4 assist. We had them down by 10 a number of times before they battled back and actually took the lead by one. Then we went on a 15-1 run and ended up winning by 14. We go on the road on Tuesday and our center will be arriving at the end of the week.

I had a question regarding my teammates and where they have played before. There are only 3 teammates that have played outside of Sweden. We have an older 4 man (who is leaving when Greg arrives) that played in Georgia at a small Division 2 school and has played in multiple places in Europe throughout his career. Also we have 2 guards that have played professional basketball elsewhere. Thomas is from Sodertalje, but has played in Spain before returning to Sweden to play for a couple years. He will most likely be leaving Sweden next year to move up to a higher league. We also have another veteran guard from Russia who has played in a number of different leagues in Europe, but never in America. All the other players are under 25 and really have little experience in playing professionally (including me;).
P.S. I forgot to get a picture of our home gym but will get that in here next time.

This is BC gone for now

I Copied this off the Butler message board but changed the faces.. you all should enjoy.. Happy Holidays from last years Butler Seniors and Coach

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1191380326

Total Chaos

Hello Everyone,

I boarded my second prop plane in my life (the first time was the trip to Florida State for the NIT) and I really don’t like them. It was only about an hour in a half plane ride to Helsingborg, but felt longer with those propellers flopping around. We flew out of a really small airport in Stockholm and flew into an even smaller airport about 30 minutes outside of Helsingborg (at least we rented to big vans for the trip into downtown). The city was on the Atlantic Ocean across from Denmark. Downtown was beautiful with a huge walking center lined with shops and a really big castle tower. We ate at an Irish pub and stayed at a really nice hotel downtown. After the game I walked down by the pier where they had a nice little sitting area. I sat there for about 15 minutes just thinking how blessed I was to be there, looking at Denmark and smelling the salt of the ocean while also freezing my butt off ( a lot of boats were in the harbor at 11 PM). I mean I have bounced around a lot, but my spirits have stayed high through the whole experience. I mean I am living in another country seeing all these wonderful places, and playing the game I have loved since a youngster on someone else’s budget.

I was joined there by a couple of other players a little later and was able to learn about where they have come from. One of our best players is from Israel where he spent a year in the army. He actually even had to spend 29 days in jail because he wanted to leave. It is pretty amazing to hear stories like this and the perseverance of people in the world. I asked him a lot of questions about the situation in Israel because to be honest I was pretty clueless on what is happing in the country. I have been able to learn a lot that I never knew before and it is quite interesting coming from his perspective. The other player I was talking with is from Sweden and I was just finding out as much as possible about how they grow up and some traditions. It was nice to talk with them and learn about their cultures.

Everything with my apartment is situated. I actually moved in last Saturday and the kitchen is a huge improvement from what I had in France. Internet and cable is provided for me here so that will help me save even more money. Also, everything is within walking distance and I don’t have a car. There is access to one if I need to get something or go somewhere special but the gym, store, and downtown are all within 10 minutes walk. This will also keep my expenses low as I’m sure I would drive everywhere if I had the car and gas is not cheap here (not much of anything is cheap here).

Team

We did not play a very good game against Helsingborg, who really was not that good. They had three guys and one of them would go one on one every time. I’m not sure what it is but we play down to the other teams’ level. I guess that is a sign of a young team. I got in foul trouble early and got a little frustrated (they called a foul on me diving for a ball). Our main offensive player never got himself into the game either. I believe him and I were 7-25. I ended up with 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals. We had a couple chances in the game where we could have put them away, but let them hang around. Then in the fourth they did not miss a shot and we could not get a stop. That game left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and frustration was shown after the game.

There was a dispute between one of our players and theirs (just some pushing and shoving). When I turned around to see it our coach was going crazy on the other teams coach and looked like he was about to clobber him. Everything was cleared and we went to the locker room where it started again. They brought a ton of security and everything was broken up. I was really just hanging in the background because I had no idea what was happening or what sparked it. Needless to say coach was furious at us and at them and we paid for it in practice.

I had two of my hardest practices in my career this week (a ton of running along with just a lot of angry grown men battling in practice). I think it was good for us and hopefully things will turn around for us. We were off this weekend and play again on Friday at home. We have to turn it around or there will be some changes with the team as the board is riding the coach pretty hard.

The team headed to downtown Stockholm on Friday night for a dinner at our assistant coaches restaurant/bar. It was nice to get out and build some chemistry with the team after a hard week of practice. We have four days of practice this week and hopefully we will come out hungry and with a little attitude and get on the winning track.

This is BC gone for now

P.S. I stayed up till 4 AM on Saturday watching the bulldogs hand it to OSU. It def. is not as fun watching it on game tracker but I am glad to see them playing so well.