Basketball Camp

Hello guys! Its time to remind the kids around the Huntington area that they shouldn't sell themselves short of their dreams. You got to shoot for the stars. I was told a quote one time and I believe it to this day....  "If people do not laugh at your dreams, then maybe they aren't big enough."

I hope to see you all at my camp. Its going to be fun and informative for the kids. Here is the information you need for the camp. Please send the forms in by July 4th.

Spending Christmas in Germany!

Hey guys, let me begin by saying Merry Christmas and a Happy New! So....Christmas. I have always been at home for Christmas so being away is definitely a big adjustment. In college, I would normally get roughly the 23rd-25th off with practice on Christmas Night being a track meet. Even then I would complain about not being able to do this or do that like all of the other kids did on Christmas break. Looking back now I would love to be able to spend the Holidays with my family. Skype and texts can only do so much when you are used to the time and fellowship with your family. I could have used that Christmas feast for some food, instead I settled for McDonalds for my meal. Nothing says Merry Christmas like greasy chicken mcnuggets and french fries. Rough livin!

Although, I am doing nothing but complaining about being cooped up in my 1 bedroom apartment in the outskirts of Wurzburg, Germany at least I wasn't alone. I got to spend some time with my brothers (teammates). If it wasn't for the firstrowsports.tv I don't know what we would have done.  Everything in the city was essentially shut down at 2pm on Saturday since Germans celebrate Christmas then and on Sundays everything is closed anyways.  The NFL and NBA games definitely got me through these 2 days which seemed to just drag on forever.

I knew that the Holidays would be a struggle before I signed my contract, but I get to come home in a few weeks for a roughly a week so I am looking forward to that. Christmas in January? Guess we will see.....

Sorry for all the mumbo jumbo....a lot of thoughts were running through my head while writing this.

Reminiscing

As I sit here and relax after both practices today I am just thinking about everything that has happened in my life to get me to this points.  Life is never as bad as it seems and never as good either.  Just going to write about some of things that have gone through my head tonight. This will jump all over but ill try to make it easy to follow.

First, I was thinking about my family. Lets start with my brother...thinking how we always used to fight and obviously I would get the best of him in those battles.  One that sticks out was couple years ago and he was running his mouth while some people were over and he just pushed enough buttons for me to be get him outside and try to "take me down."  In about 2.5 seconds I had him on his back and in what looked like a human pretzel with a bloody nose from his leg hitting his nose. Whats crazy about that is that now there is none of that between us and we get alone great....probably because I spoil him and get me about anything he wants.

What comes to mind when thinking about my mom above her yelling at me when to make my free throws or at the refs when the gym is silent is a time when I was younger and wanted to work on my pitching for baseball.  She crouched down and gave me a target as I wound up. Delivered the pitch as if she had on full gear and was a normal catcher...BAM.  The ball catch her on the inside of her leg and instantly was bruised and completely swollen.  I felt pretty bad after that and obviously my pitching workout was cut short.

I remember playing 1 on 1 against my dad and going to all of his games at Community Gym in Huntington.  As a lil tyke I would go over to the side goals with some other kids whose dad was playing and we would chuck the ball towards the 10 ft rim getting lucky every once in a while.  This is where my love for the game started.  I traveled with him to his game just to get a chance to shoot even if I couldn't get the ball to the rim.  1 on 1 obviously wasn't fair since he was a lot bigger than me but he would let me score a few points as he would shoot 3s and stuff.

Secondly, just thinking about basketball and all of the opportunities it has given me in my life. Chances to play all of the US and visit places I would never have imagined going in my life. All began as a kid playing at the Salvation Army, on my strategically stacked team with buddy and beast John Wall and then another one of our best friends.  Playing in Gus Macker 3-on-3 tournaments and getting invited to Gus Macker Nationals in Celebration, FL. Playing AAU for Indiana Stars and Indiana Elite traveling all over the US and having a blast with the guys that shared the same dream as I.  Gotta give respect to a friend/teammate thats life was taken as a Frosh at Ball State..RIP Travis! High school basketball playing with all of my best friends and being able to clown around before and after games as well on bus trips. Chance to continue my dream and play in the B10 for the Boilers.  Play beside multiple NBA and Professional players on our journey to a B10 Championship, BTT Championship, and 4 NCAA appearances.  Traveling to workouts, playing summer league, and preseason for NBA teams. Just getting a taste of what its life at that level.  The D-League last season playing so close to my friends and family and for a great organization.  Puerto Rico in the summer was a blast and got to meet some awesome people.  Now, sitting here in Germany still playing the game I loved and still dream about to this day.

So many memories with my friends that I could write all day about those, but my friends and family help shape me into the person I am today. I haven't had it as "rough" as some people, but I am not going to say I have had it easy.  It is hard work to get into this position but I feel like I made the right decision. Through everything in my life there has been at least some adversity that I have had to battle through.  It has all made me a stronger person.

Love my family! Love my friends! Love this game!

Beat at the Buzzer

Last night was game 3 in Germany.  We played Frankfurt who had some Americans that many people would know (Juice Thompson from Northwestern, John Leuer from Wisco, and Justin Gray from Wake Forest).  It was back and forth for most of the first half and we trailed by 3 going into half.  In the second half we started making a run until there was a very controversial call.  What should have been called and inadvertent whistle was not called and we gave up a 3 and then our coach received a tech because it was not called when it should have.  With that said in 3 possessions we gave up 14 points.  The three against after the whistle 2 free throws for the tech, two more free throws on a foul after the tech, another 3, and then a 4 point play.  We went from up 6 to down 10 in less than a minute...one of the most drastic turns in momentum I have ever witnessed.  Even after all of these events we came together for one last big push late in the fourth quarter.  We were able to get steals and stops on the defensive end and able to create baskets on the other end.  Had a chance to tie the game at the line with under 30 seconds left but we connected 1-2 free throws.  Only having 2 team fouls with roughly 15 seconds left....they threw it in the first time and we fouled immediately. The second time we got a steal and I was fouled in transition right before I passed the ball to a cutter for the go ahead score.  I had 2 free throws as we were down 1 with 11 seconds left.  Knowing the situation all of my concentration was on the first free throw since that  is the biggest one and since I struggled from the line so far this season.  Knocked them both down and we were up 1 point.  We had a foul to give and fouled a little earlier than we wanted but they had about 10 seconds left and Justin Gray worked the ball up the court and took about a 40 footer and buried it as the buzzer sounded.  Our whole team was totally shocked but he stole the show with that last shot when we put so much effort into coming back and taking the lead.  The good thing about basketball, however, is that we have a game on Saturday.  Cant wait to get back out there and play again.  Bad taste in my mouth after losing that way.

If some of this doesnt make sense I am sorry...quickly threw this together.

German Experience

After a hellacious plane ride between two very unsanitary people I made it to Germany.  On the way from Frankfurt to Wurzburg I got to experience the autoban as a passenger.  As fast as I thought we were going really wasn't that fast when you convert km/h to mph.  I received a small but clean and nice 1 bedroom furnished apartment outside the city and a car (looks like a Prius).  The day I arrived our team had a preseason game so I tagged along and got to see first hand how the game was played and reffed over here. Seemed like Techs were giving out like water was to the players.  We pulled out the game on their court to finish the preseason.  Our team looks like we could be very competitive as we moved into the top division after being in the second last year.  We have good guards, forwards who can score inside and out, and some big strong centers that can play.  Our coach is all about defense...so thats nothing new to me.

I am getting adjusted pretty nicely over here after about a week.  The jet lag has worn off so sleeping through the night is no longer a problem.  The guys on the team are showing me around and letting me tag along with them as they go places.  Having a lot of Americans and guys that have played in Germany before is very nice and extremely helpful.  The two bad things about living here so far though....Not speaking the language and always just putting down the change I am given.  Those of you that do not know 1 and 2 Euros are on coins over here so those add up for sure.  In America I just keep the quarters in my car for maybe a big gulp of gum at the gas station but I cant do that here.  I need all that money!

First game is Oct. 3 so another blog will come shortly after that.  Everyone have a safe and enjoyable weekend.  Those of you that read this I am going to make a bold prediction for the Purdue ND game.

Purdue-27
ND-24

Wiggs kicks a field goal to win the game with seconds remaining.

Final Thoughts from Puerto Rico

As our final game concluded I was able to sit back and reflect on this experience I was blessed with.  What an amazing opportunity I was given by my dear friend Edwin Loubriel Jr.  I want to thank him and his father for asking me to come and join the Guaynabo Mets.  Although, we did not win the championship or get to that point it was a good run for our team.  We were short handed due to injuries but never let that get us down we still went out and fought until the end.  I would be remorse if I did not thank the fans of the Mets for all the love and support they showed me from my first day on the squad.  Y'all made the games a lot of fun...."Guaynabo ahii!"

I hope to be invited back again next year so I can participate in this great league.  Guaynabo would be perfect if it was able to happen.  The lone bad thing of my experience in Puerto Rico was all of the rain.  I had enough of that back home before I left...it just followed me down here it seemed.  Hurricane season killed my chances at coming back with a nice tan lol.

I also need to thank the employees of the Quality Inn for putting up with my horrible sleeping habits.  The maids had it set so they wouldn't knock on my door until at least 1:30pm for service but most of the time they would wait until about 3.  Most of the time I would still be laying in bed exhausted but I would get up and go get some food so they could clean my room for me.  On top of the Quality Inn Staff I need to thank the Marriott casino personnel for being so kind and generous to me during my stay.  It was about two and half weeks strait I would find myself there every single night playing black jack or 3 card poker.  The casino was very good to me until the last couple days I attended...it got old after a while.

Another blog to come about the basketball experience soon.

Semis dead locked at one game a piece in the best of seven

Monday was a great day for the Guaynabo Mets.  We walked into the gym that holds roughly 15k and delivered a win against the defending Champs.  It was a total team effort and a much needed win to take control of the series.  We battled back and forth in the first half and then we took control of the game in the mid third quarter.  We played very sound defense, moved the ball offensively, took good shots, and capitalized on their mistakes.  Personally, the picture I have posted was my personal high light of the game.  Buster (our 4 man) blocked one of their guys shots and that led us to a 2-on-1 break and I had the ball with their point guard back.  He never stopped the ball so I took it all the way and when I jumped he jumped as well so I knew I had to take it to the rim and try to dunk it.  From that point on we made plays offensively and defensively so we could get the win.  I think I had 7 points, 7 rebounds, 4 ast, and 4 steals in the game.

Game 2 started out pretty good and then hit a turn for the worse.  Arecebo has a player who is the "shooter" on the Puerto Rican National Team.  Tonight he did that very well, and so did the rest of his teammates.  They shot the ball very well from the perimeter and when we would battle back and get into the game we would have a mental lapse and they would capitalize.  I played pretty well in the second half and finished with 16 and 4 rebounds I believe.  Tonight, I experienced something that has no place in sports.  Our fan were throwing things on the court, one of which almost drilled me.  Due to the throwing of objects we had to wait to dry the court and we received technicals for those actions.  I was in  awe and didn't know what to do when objects started flying.

Game 3 on Friday as we had to a packed house in Arecebo.  Its going to be like walking into IU, MSU, or Wisco for me. Cant Wait!