Mar 23, 2009

Cup Champs!!


Hello Everyone,

Well we have had two road trips in the last week. One for the final game of the regular season and the other for the Polish Cup, I would say they both turned out pretty successful. I guess I should point out that we took a BUS!! I know I got on some peoples nerves when I pointed out the vans, So yes we did take a BUS!!! You would be amazed at how much complaining I did not have to hear from my teammates due to this.



Sportino was the final game of the regular season for us. Going into the game we knew if we won we would be tied for 2nd place with a 16-9 record and finish in 3rd place due to the tie breaker. With knowing this we came out and built an early 26 point lead which was washed away to 6 before half. We then built it back up to 20 and won by 22 I believe. Of course a lot of guys had good games. I was not one of them. I had another pathetic game of 0-5 from the field with not really ever getting myself into the game. I did make 2 free throws! The most important thing was we finished in Third and sprayed some champagne around. Drew, Pete, and I bought some $2 champagne and had a little fun after the win.

This was by far the best road trip of the season, not only because of the win, but the food and the hotel were great as well. We stayed at a hotel that was run by 4 women. It was more like a bed and breakfast. I believe there were only 15 rooms total. Skip and I lucked out by both getting a single room. Our rooms were situated in the top floor of the second building. Not only did I not have to listen to Drew’s snoring, I could use the INTERENT!!!



But like I hinted at the food was what made this trip. The first stop on the trip was at a road side gas station and a restaurant. It also had a mini zoo. This is the second mini zoo I have seen at a stop off the road, except this place actually had some crazy animals. Monkeys, an ostrich, huge owls and it even advertised a hippo, but I have NO CLUE where they would have kept it. No we did not eat the ostrich for lunch.



I just this picture was funny!!



They had some tomato soup and chicken surprise. That is usually what we eat for lunch on road trips. We have nicknamed it chicken surprise because you never know what is inside. It could be spinach, cheese, butter, meat, or all of them. You just cut and see what pops out. The meals at the hotel reminded me of grandma’s cooking (of course not that good though). These four ladies knew how to throw down in the kitchen. They put out some big spreads for dinner and lunch the next day. The favorite dish was the cheesy potatoes with some meat in them. I think this was the reason I was not able to have a good game because I had like 4 helpings of those. I could not help myself. On the way home from sportino we made a final dinner stop at sphinx. It is a chain restaurant like Applebee’s in the states. Anytime you don’t hear Sefton complain about the food the entire trip you know you did a great job. Not talking bad about him he is just a pretty picky eater.

The weekend was started off by a bus trip to Lublin for the polish cup. A little March madness of there own here in Poland. The polish cup is where the top four teams of the regular season play in a single elimination tournament. All the other teams in the league are playing pre-playoffs, which allows for teams that did not finish in the top 8 to earn a place into the playoffs. I personally don’t believe that is a good setup, I think the top 8 teams should be rewarded in playoffs and not have to play in a 3 game series. Anything can happen in three games, but luckily we don’t have to worry about that.

We played Turow in the first game, and played really well. We shot the lights out in the first half and skip did it the whole game. He finished with 29 and hit a couple crazy shots. We trailed only one time early in the game and pretty much dominated it from there. I played pretty efficient in my 19 minutes. I shot 2-4 from 3, 4-5 from the line, 1-1 from 2. I had 12 points, 4 boards, 2 steals, and 2 assist (2 TO also). Next up was the polish champs from last year Prokom.

I doubt very many people had us winning this game. We were def. considered the underdog and the fans were for us. We played another great game offensively. We were a little short handed because Drew had a hurt ankle, but Dawid came through huge. He had prob. the best game of the season scoring 17 and playing really well on D. I scored 8 points and had 3 boards I believe. I got my hands on a lot of rebounds tipping them out. It was a great game for us on both sides of the floor. We are the only team in the league that has had the same roster from day one. I think that shows when we play, and how we play together.


That was a fun bus ride home. We stopped at a restaurant that served the biggest portions in Europe I have ever seen. One of the words translated to “poor” I believe the word was Bida?!?! We were having a field day with all that food. We also celebrated with a few drinks which made the bus ride go a little faster.

We have done all we can now, winning the first polish cup for Kotwica EVER!! NO one in their right mind picked us to win this at the start of the year. Hopefully the team will be rewarded for their efforts and hard work they have put in.

I received your comment asking to write about March madness, since we have no games this week I will give my personal experience and view of the tournament next week!.

Until next time!

This is BC gone for now

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

BIDA, haha :) Who translated you that? ;P

Patrycja

Anonymous said...

Brandon,

great updates and pics! :)

good luck in playoffs!

Big Al

Anonymous said...

Congratulations for the whole team, we are proud of you guys!!!Kotwa- fan

zigmoz said...

Congratulations !!!! Great weekend !!! Great games !!!! Great team !!!! Congratulations for the whole team.

my said...

Excellent post, superb season, awesome games in Cup challenge.
Congrats to all the team.

I really liked your post.Nice photos and stories. We cant wait for this wednesday.We will gather to celebrate. All portals and medias write about Kotwica success.
WE ARE PROUD.
YOU PLAYED FOR YOURSELVES,FOR US and forgot about the monies for a little bit.That never happens in todays world!

Robbie

Anonymous said...

congratulations!!!you were playing really good in Lublin!!!RESPECT!!!I hope Turow or Kotwica is gonna win polish basketball championship( and they will beat sopot)!!!!
:))))
kisses

zigmoz said...

Have you seen this ? :) :)

http://www.e-kg.pl/wydarzenia/1107-niemcy-w-szalikach-machowski-na-pomniku.html

http://www.kolobrzeg24.pl/Wiadomosci/Aktualnosci/mio-do-klubu-czy-skandal.html

:)

cienX said...

bro, you were all over the place playing against Prokom! we almost got heart attack watching this game. never underestimate an underdog:) well this was a great suprise and the best present you could possibly give to all the kotwica fans. I hope you guys finish the season despite of the whole financial situation in the club. If not you are still THE BEST!

SADO said...

btw this poll. T-mac best forever http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79qeHe7BF2k&feature=related