So we had a game on Tuesday and we got another "W"! We ended up winning by about 30points or so. We played a team called the Razzle and they are on the bottom of the barrel in the leader board standings. They are one of 2 teams that refuse to take on import players and because of that they get the beat down every week haha. It was a fun game as a lot of our guys got some good playing time and court experience. I finished with 24pts, 15rebs and 3blocks. I also had 3 dunks, one of which was a pretty nasty tip dunk! I guess all this bike riding during the week to the gym and back is actually starting to pay off!! :)
Saturday morning we had a training session at 6:30am for the Northern Territory NBL all-star team and afterwards the coaches told us that they were going to be making a cut to 13 players later that day. The list was posted up on the website and I was on it, but there was a total of 5 import (american) players names on the list and there can only be 3 on the final roster for the tournament game. SOOO needless to say the coaches have to make another cut here soon and 2 more import names have to be cut from that list! I've been playing well and am pretty confident that I'll get a spot on the team, but I'm still working hard everyday!
One of the nice things about this NBL all-star team is that we practice like 5 times a week compared to the once a week practice for the Eagles team. We practice Saturday morning and night, Sunday night, Monday night, wednesday night and Thursday morning. So this is a great opportunity to play against good competition each practice (9 or so import players and best local players) and get in better cardio shape (cuz we run a lot at these practices). Guys are encouraged to come to every practice even if they don't make the final roster for the team, just to make practices as competetive as possible. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks with this team.
Just wanted to give everybody a quick update on our last game and the All-Star team tryouts. Hope this post finds everyone in a good healthy mood and with a smile on your face :)! Here's a little saying/quote that's been motivating me lately, maybe it will give you a litte something in your tank as well. "If it is to be, then it's up to me"
Until tomorrow...
"make it happen"
Friday, 17 September 2010
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
Mid September already....
SO since my last post we've had two games. The first was last Tuesday against Ansett bball club (my buddy Colin's team). We were both tied for first place on top of the ladder. From the get go it was a bad game for us. We were down 2 of our starters from injuries, so we knew that was going to be a big problem. They jumped on us and never looked back. We ended up losing by like 30 points and never made it a game (which most people thought it was going to be a good game because our teams are pretty even). I felt like crap through the whole game and had to be subbed out numerous times to rest. I just felt like I had NO energy at all to fight and be physical (almost felt light headed at times). I figured it out and I hadn't eaten enough "pre-game" food close enough to our match!! I had eaten around noon or so earlier in the day and didn't eat again before our 6:30pm game, so I had no "fuel" for our game. I don't know what I was doing or thinking...!!! hahah obviously I wasn't thinking at all!! Anyways I was dissapointed about that game because it was against Colin's team and I wanted to take them down and be able to talk smack to him about it until we play them again :) . But that's not gonna happen quite yet. I finished the game with 14pts and 8 rebounds.
We had the second game this last weekend on Saturday night and played against the Lightning. They are a pretty good team with two import players, but they aren't the best conditioned team. So we started the run game with them and they couldn't keep up, we were up 16 points by half time and finished the game winning by 15 points. I had a slow start with 2 points in the first quarter, but found my groove and finished with 27 points and 19 rebounds. We are currently 5-2 and sitting in second place on the leader board. After 5 games I am averaging 25 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks per game.
This last Sunday a group of us went to Litchfield National Park to swim, hangout, relax and EAT!! I had yet to visit the park so this was my first trip, it's about a 1 1/2 hour car ride out there. We made our first stop at the Termite Mounds. It was crazy how many of them there were and how BIG some of them were. There was like a huge open field with these mounds sticking up out of the ground like tombstones. Reminded me of a cemetery almost.
This was probably the biggest one there! Me, coach Wombat, and JJ.
Me and coach. You can see some of the mounds sticking out of the ground.
After our quick pitstop at the Mounds to take some pics we headed up to Florence Falls to take a dip and relax under the waterfalls. It was gorgeous!
We hung out there for about and hour or so then headed up to the Buley Rockhole where people just hang out in the shallow water and relax, throw the footey around and get their grub on!
We had to get back early Sunday afternoon because Bobby and I both had to get to a try-out for an All-Star NT team. The top league (NBL) is coming to Darwin for their pre-season tournament in about a month, and the NT (Northern Territory aka Darwin) is putting together an ALL-Star team to play against the NBL team who finishes in 9th place of the tournament. We are only going to play 1 game but its still a great opportunity to get to play in front of NBL coaches and scouts. The only draw back is that our team can only have 3 import (american) players on it, out of the 11 that are in Darwin. The rest of the team is going to be local players from Darwin and also Aussie players from other areas of Australia. So it's going to be a fight for who gets those 3 spots! The trials go for a couple days then the coaches will decide who to pick for the squad. I think my chances are pretty good, I'm just staying focused and working hard!
Work has been good and I'm getting around 3-4 days a week. My shift is typically from 4-12 at night so I have the whole day to get my workout in and whatever else needs to be done. I like working the bar and getting to talk to the many different customers and regulars. It's typically pretty busy as the Casuarina Sports Club usually has events going on every night. Anything from trivia night to live music to raffles. It makes time fly by when its busy and drinks are pouring! The best part of my job though is when I get my FREE meal!! YES! I can order anything on the menu that's less than 16$. So i take FULL advantage of that deal hahah! I've discovered a wonderful Sausage and Mash w/ gravy dish that is the most bang for the buck and leaves me full and ready for a nap :) . I'm learning some new drinks and feeling more comfortable behind the bar with every shift.
The scooter I was planning on buying didn't work out, lets just say that... SO now i'm thinking of just possibly buying a "beater" (AKA a crappy car) to get from home to work and back. The wet season build up is really starting to hit now and its getting pretty hot and soon the rains will be here and in full effect, so a car would probably be better than a scooter anyway. I've been doing some online research and found some cars that might be "the one" but nothing yet, I'll keep ya'll updated!
Here is the official website link for our league the DBA. So you can follow our game stats and what not:
http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=1-166-0-0-0
Here's my latest highlight video link from my time in Malaysia. Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mis4XVmrdk8
I think that's about it for now. Everything is going well out here and time is flying by. I miss everyone at home a ton and hope that all is good! Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts. God Bless!
Until tomorrow...
"make it happen"
We had the second game this last weekend on Saturday night and played against the Lightning. They are a pretty good team with two import players, but they aren't the best conditioned team. So we started the run game with them and they couldn't keep up, we were up 16 points by half time and finished the game winning by 15 points. I had a slow start with 2 points in the first quarter, but found my groove and finished with 27 points and 19 rebounds. We are currently 5-2 and sitting in second place on the leader board. After 5 games I am averaging 25 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks per game.
This last Sunday a group of us went to Litchfield National Park to swim, hangout, relax and EAT!! I had yet to visit the park so this was my first trip, it's about a 1 1/2 hour car ride out there. We made our first stop at the Termite Mounds. It was crazy how many of them there were and how BIG some of them were. There was like a huge open field with these mounds sticking up out of the ground like tombstones. Reminded me of a cemetery almost.
This was probably the biggest one there! Me, coach Wombat, and JJ.
Me and coach. You can see some of the mounds sticking out of the ground.
After our quick pitstop at the Mounds to take some pics we headed up to Florence Falls to take a dip and relax under the waterfalls. It was gorgeous!
We hung out there for about and hour or so then headed up to the Buley Rockhole where people just hang out in the shallow water and relax, throw the footey around and get their grub on!
We had to get back early Sunday afternoon because Bobby and I both had to get to a try-out for an All-Star NT team. The top league (NBL) is coming to Darwin for their pre-season tournament in about a month, and the NT (Northern Territory aka Darwin) is putting together an ALL-Star team to play against the NBL team who finishes in 9th place of the tournament. We are only going to play 1 game but its still a great opportunity to get to play in front of NBL coaches and scouts. The only draw back is that our team can only have 3 import (american) players on it, out of the 11 that are in Darwin. The rest of the team is going to be local players from Darwin and also Aussie players from other areas of Australia. So it's going to be a fight for who gets those 3 spots! The trials go for a couple days then the coaches will decide who to pick for the squad. I think my chances are pretty good, I'm just staying focused and working hard!
Work has been good and I'm getting around 3-4 days a week. My shift is typically from 4-12 at night so I have the whole day to get my workout in and whatever else needs to be done. I like working the bar and getting to talk to the many different customers and regulars. It's typically pretty busy as the Casuarina Sports Club usually has events going on every night. Anything from trivia night to live music to raffles. It makes time fly by when its busy and drinks are pouring! The best part of my job though is when I get my FREE meal!! YES! I can order anything on the menu that's less than 16$. So i take FULL advantage of that deal hahah! I've discovered a wonderful Sausage and Mash w/ gravy dish that is the most bang for the buck and leaves me full and ready for a nap :) . I'm learning some new drinks and feeling more comfortable behind the bar with every shift.
The scooter I was planning on buying didn't work out, lets just say that... SO now i'm thinking of just possibly buying a "beater" (AKA a crappy car) to get from home to work and back. The wet season build up is really starting to hit now and its getting pretty hot and soon the rains will be here and in full effect, so a car would probably be better than a scooter anyway. I've been doing some online research and found some cars that might be "the one" but nothing yet, I'll keep ya'll updated!
Here is the official website link for our league the DBA. So you can follow our game stats and what not:
http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=1-166-0-0-0
Here's my latest highlight video link from my time in Malaysia. Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mis4XVmrdk8
I think that's about it for now. Everything is going well out here and time is flying by. I miss everyone at home a ton and hope that all is good! Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts. God Bless!
Until tomorrow...
"make it happen"
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Cricket match and another "W" on the bball court!
Sunday afternoon coach Wombat(that's his nickname) gave us a call to see if Bobby and I wanted to go watch a Cricket match. There had been a three day tournament going on and our Northern Territory (NT) team was playing. So seeing as though neither one of us had seen a live game before we decided to go and check it out. I guess there's a few variations of cricket. The original game can take up to 5 days to finish one game!!! NUTS! The game we watched is called 20/20. It's the same principles as the original game but it's meant to be finished within 3-4 hours, so hopefully a little more fast paced and exciting. Well, from what we saw, it was everything but exciting and fast paced haha! The game was actually one of the worst games coach Wombat had ever been to. I guess for a good game the score would usually be like 180-160, but our game finished 111-109. At least NT got the win! Cricket is definitely a game that I think you have to grow up on to love.
As you can see Bobby thought the game was QUITE exciting lol!
Yesterday we had another game and this time it was against the Darwin Rebels. They were currently in first place and undefeated at 4-0. They are the only team with more than 2 import players on one team, they have 4. It was a close game down to the fourth quarter but we ended up pulling away and maintaining an 8point lead for the win. That puts us at 4-1 and now tied for first place with Anset t (my buddy Colin from Seattle, his team). I had another good game and came out with 20pts and 11rebs. Our next match is actually Saturday, I guess we'll be having one saturday game each month. So it'll be a quick turnaround to play another game without a practice session before hand, but that's just the way it is out here.
Everything else is going really well and I'm really feeling truly settled in. Today is going to be my second day on the job and I'm hoping that it goes well and I can have some fun at the same time. I've really been blessed to be put in this situation. It honestly feels like I'm not to far from home and I think my mum out here has a lot to do with it. Donna takes care of us (me and Bobby) like we're her own kids. She makes us feel at home more than anyone else out here. We eat dinner together, watch CSI or another detective show together every night, she's always at the gym when we are (at least for reffing and games, not working out), gives us rides to where ever we need to go, etc. She really cares about this club a lot and puts more into it than anyone else involved with the Eagles. She is definitely the "mum" of the whole team and I am thankful for her.
I hope everyones summer was good, because from what I'm hearing it sounds like the summer is longggggggggggg gone!!! Geez Seattle is weak sometimes! It's been really nice to catch up with a lot of family and friends as of late. I'm glad that someone invented Skype otherwise this whole playing ball overseas thing wouldn't be so great. I keep everyone in my prayers and thoughts all the time!
Until tomorrow...
"make it happen"
Thursday, 26 August 2010
Another WIN and got hired for a job! Man what a good week so far!
So I'm officially the new bartender at the Casuarina Sports Club! God has answered my prayers of finding a job, I just didn't think it would be as a bartender haha! The Casuarina Club is a members only establishment, so people can't even enter unless they have paid for a membership. The Cass Club (as they call it for short) is also a sponsor of our bball league, the DBA. It's a pretty big place to be at and I think it should actually be a lot of fun. There is an area with 60 slot machines for gambling as well as an area to place bets on sports games and horse races (which is HUGE or as they say MASSIVE out here). There is a full restaurant available then you also have the bar, which is where I will be :). Connected on the outside of the building is what Aussie's call a bottleshop (which is basically a drive-thru liquor store haha). The Cass club is not like other regular bars or clubs downtown, our sports club/bar is going to have a different customer base. Rather than the 20 something year old getting wasted and acting dumb, we'll have more of the older crowd who are responsible (for the most part), but love to gamble and drink haha.
I have absolutley no experience in the Bartending industry, but that didn't seem to matter. I went into work for my "test run"/Interview yesterday for a couple of hours to see if I was going to like it, and if they were going to like me haha. Within 30 minutes I was pouring beers and mixing some cocktails, and I gotta admit, it was FUN! Learning all the beers and drinks will be tough as well as learning to use the register, but give me a week or so and "I'm in there like swimwear baby!!" I think when it gets real busy on certain nights time will fly by (and when you're making almost 30$ an hr that's A-OK). Plus chatting it up with people/customers is what I love to do and that's one of the main jobs you have as a bartender (other than getting them their drink of course). Overall I'm excited that I'll have the chance to learn a new trait/skill and get to meet a lot of new people along the way!
We finally got to play another game this week on Tuesday, after having no game for the past two weeks!!! It was rough to have to wait, but well worth it. We got the win 102-73, I had another good game and ended up with 34pts and 15rebounds. We are now 3-1 and tied for second place! Next week will be a much more difficult game as we get to face the Rebels who are currently 4-0 and on top of the leader board. They have a tough team that consists on 4 import players compared to most other teams who have two import players, but that doesn't matter I'm still ready for the challenge! I really like our team a lot and I feel that we can make it far this season if we keep continuing to gel. Some of our younger players are making positive strides each week and that will only continue to make us a stronger team.
Our host mom Donna has a grandson Cohen who gets to spend maybe 1 night a week over at the house with us so that his parents can have some "alone" time haha. He is about 16 months old and just adorable. He already recognizes me and can pretty much say "matt" although it sounds really funny. This past weekend we (me, bobby, donna and cohen) were all at the gym watching and supporting our younger Eagles players play. Bobby and I wanted to grab a Subway (since I can drive now :) ) and Cohen decided he wanted to come along for the ride hahah! So we strapped him into his car seat and took off. While we were waiting in line for our subs he was sitting at a table listening to Bobby's ipod (which probably wasn't the best music for a 16 month kid to be listening to haha)! He's a funny kid and loves his electronics big time, he already knows how to unlock his moms Iphone! It's cool having him around at times and being able to play with him and just watch him do funny things and try to say new words. I feel like it's kind-of a practice session for me, I've never really had the opportunity to be around or take care of a young baby. I've always be gone from home when my friends or cousins have kids. So it's fun!
This is Cohen with Bobby's cell phone and as you can see Bobby has Cohen's shirt off and his shorts sagging! hahaha it was just for the pic tho!
Cohen with momma Donna getting his grub on while we eat our Subways.
It's been 3 full weeks now and I honestly can't believe it. It's almost been 2 full months since I left Seattle for Malaysia. Time really is precious! So make the best of it!
I wanna give a big shout out to my brother Addison for recently getting engaged to his girlfriend Ashley! I'm happy for you guys and will be home to celebrate in December! Another big shout out to my cousin Robby and his wife Katie for having twins on the way! My family just keeps growing each day, but it's awesome and I can't wait to get home and see what else has changed!
Until tomorrow...
"make it happen"
I have absolutley no experience in the Bartending industry, but that didn't seem to matter. I went into work for my "test run"/Interview yesterday for a couple of hours to see if I was going to like it, and if they were going to like me haha. Within 30 minutes I was pouring beers and mixing some cocktails, and I gotta admit, it was FUN! Learning all the beers and drinks will be tough as well as learning to use the register, but give me a week or so and "I'm in there like swimwear baby!!" I think when it gets real busy on certain nights time will fly by (and when you're making almost 30$ an hr that's A-OK). Plus chatting it up with people/customers is what I love to do and that's one of the main jobs you have as a bartender (other than getting them their drink of course). Overall I'm excited that I'll have the chance to learn a new trait/skill and get to meet a lot of new people along the way!
We finally got to play another game this week on Tuesday, after having no game for the past two weeks!!! It was rough to have to wait, but well worth it. We got the win 102-73, I had another good game and ended up with 34pts and 15rebounds. We are now 3-1 and tied for second place! Next week will be a much more difficult game as we get to face the Rebels who are currently 4-0 and on top of the leader board. They have a tough team that consists on 4 import players compared to most other teams who have two import players, but that doesn't matter I'm still ready for the challenge! I really like our team a lot and I feel that we can make it far this season if we keep continuing to gel. Some of our younger players are making positive strides each week and that will only continue to make us a stronger team.
Our host mom Donna has a grandson Cohen who gets to spend maybe 1 night a week over at the house with us so that his parents can have some "alone" time haha. He is about 16 months old and just adorable. He already recognizes me and can pretty much say "matt" although it sounds really funny. This past weekend we (me, bobby, donna and cohen) were all at the gym watching and supporting our younger Eagles players play. Bobby and I wanted to grab a Subway (since I can drive now :) ) and Cohen decided he wanted to come along for the ride hahah! So we strapped him into his car seat and took off. While we were waiting in line for our subs he was sitting at a table listening to Bobby's ipod (which probably wasn't the best music for a 16 month kid to be listening to haha)! He's a funny kid and loves his electronics big time, he already knows how to unlock his moms Iphone! It's cool having him around at times and being able to play with him and just watch him do funny things and try to say new words. I feel like it's kind-of a practice session for me, I've never really had the opportunity to be around or take care of a young baby. I've always be gone from home when my friends or cousins have kids. So it's fun!
This is Cohen with Bobby's cell phone and as you can see Bobby has Cohen's shirt off and his shorts sagging! hahaha it was just for the pic tho!
Cohen with momma Donna getting his grub on while we eat our Subways.
It's been 3 full weeks now and I honestly can't believe it. It's almost been 2 full months since I left Seattle for Malaysia. Time really is precious! So make the best of it!
I wanna give a big shout out to my brother Addison for recently getting engaged to his girlfriend Ashley! I'm happy for you guys and will be home to celebrate in December! Another big shout out to my cousin Robby and his wife Katie for having twins on the way! My family just keeps growing each day, but it's awesome and I can't wait to get home and see what else has changed!
Until tomorrow...
"make it happen"
Sunday, 15 August 2010
Holler at me when you see me in the streets BABY!
So I got a "push bike" as they call it out here about a week ago from Donna's son. Now I can get myself around whenever I want to and don't have to ask for rides or wait on anyone else. I've been riding back and forth to the gym to meet up with some other fellas to workout and get shots up. It's about a 20 minute ride one way, so its not bad at all plus it's all flat and there's usually a nice cool breeze which makes for a beautiful little bike ride. Any exercise is good exercise seeing as we only practice once a week, so I'm actually happy about getting to ride everyday and keep my legs strong.
I know you see those 20' rims I'm sitting on hahaha!!!
I think I'm gonna call her "BIG RED"
So I've just recently gotten my NT (northern territory) drivers license just in case I ever need to take the car somewhere. It only costs $24 and it all I had to do was show some paperwork (passport, US drivers license, proof of address) and take an eye test. There was no road test or even book test hahah! Which is perfectly fine with me, the only thing they really do different over here is drive on the left hand side of the road, most everything else is the same. Still though it seemed wayyyyyyy toooooo easy to get a license, I could be a TERRIBLE driver (WHICH is obviously not true, I have a pefectly clean driving record :) ) in the US and they wouldn't have any idea! Craziness, but at least it wasn't a hassle.
I've almost been here two weeks now and time is really flying by! We have a bye this Tuesday so we don't play until next Tuesday. We have practice or training as they call it, tonight, which will be my first with the team. As far as my job hunt goes, I have a good ammount of resumes and applications out around town and am just waiting for a call back so I can start ASAP. Don't get me wrong, I definitely enjoy having the entire day to workout, eat, chill, catch up with people online, read, nap (def a favorite), eat again, watch some tv, get on some pushups, BUT I am starting to get a little bit bored of sitting around and am ready to start working! I'm praying for a job by mid-week!
I have yet to find a church to attend while I'm out here, so I've been doing some stuff online following sermons at the Rock Church in San Diego and Mars Hill in Seattle. It's nice to be able to get my daily dosage in without having to even leave the house, praise God for the Internet haha!
I hope that this reaches everyone is good spirits and that all is going well! I hear that the Seattle summer is finally starting to heat up a little bit, which is great. Soak it up while you can, cuz I get that sunshine everYdaY! Suckers muahhh ahhh ahhhh!
Until Tomorrow...
"make it happen"
I know you see those 20' rims I'm sitting on hahaha!!!
I think I'm gonna call her "BIG RED"
So I've just recently gotten my NT (northern territory) drivers license just in case I ever need to take the car somewhere. It only costs $24 and it all I had to do was show some paperwork (passport, US drivers license, proof of address) and take an eye test. There was no road test or even book test hahah! Which is perfectly fine with me, the only thing they really do different over here is drive on the left hand side of the road, most everything else is the same. Still though it seemed wayyyyyyy toooooo easy to get a license, I could be a TERRIBLE driver (WHICH is obviously not true, I have a pefectly clean driving record :) ) in the US and they wouldn't have any idea! Craziness, but at least it wasn't a hassle.
I've almost been here two weeks now and time is really flying by! We have a bye this Tuesday so we don't play until next Tuesday. We have practice or training as they call it, tonight, which will be my first with the team. As far as my job hunt goes, I have a good ammount of resumes and applications out around town and am just waiting for a call back so I can start ASAP. Don't get me wrong, I definitely enjoy having the entire day to workout, eat, chill, catch up with people online, read, nap (def a favorite), eat again, watch some tv, get on some pushups, BUT I am starting to get a little bit bored of sitting around and am ready to start working! I'm praying for a job by mid-week!
I have yet to find a church to attend while I'm out here, so I've been doing some stuff online following sermons at the Rock Church in San Diego and Mars Hill in Seattle. It's nice to be able to get my daily dosage in without having to even leave the house, praise God for the Internet haha!
I hope that this reaches everyone is good spirits and that all is going well! I hear that the Seattle summer is finally starting to heat up a little bit, which is great. Soak it up while you can, cuz I get that sunshine everYdaY! Suckers muahhh ahhh ahhhh!
Until Tomorrow...
"make it happen"
Monday, 9 August 2010
Beer Can Regata
Yesterday Donna, Bobby and myself went to the Beer Can Regata races down at the beach. It only happens once a year and I guess doesn't happen anywhere else in the world (or so says Donna haha). It was a fun little event and the beach was packed with people. There was also a market/fair set up with a bunch of good food and also some art and craft things for people to shop around. There was about 15 teams that made a boat, most of which were pubs or clubs from Darwin. They also had a sand sculpture competition and also some "foot races" for the kids. The weather was beautiful and I am really getting used to waking up to the sunshine every morning. It was a fun time and reminded me a little bit of home. We used to have foot races at Whidbey Island for the 4th of July, and there's some milk carton boat races at Greenlake that happen in the summertime. A lot of fun!
There are no games this week because of a National tournament for U18's being held at our gym, so this week will just consist of workouts and getting shots up. Our team actually has a bye week next week too, so we don't play for two weeks! Which sucks, but every team will have a bye week eventually so we're just gonna have to ride it out. I'm still in the process of getting my job set up, but should hear something back by today or tomorrow.
All is still going great and it's already been a week now here in Darwin. Hope everyone is having a fun filled summer back home!
Until Tomorrow...
"Make it Happen"
There are no games this week because of a National tournament for U18's being held at our gym, so this week will just consist of workouts and getting shots up. Our team actually has a bye week next week too, so we don't play for two weeks! Which sucks, but every team will have a bye week eventually so we're just gonna have to ride it out. I'm still in the process of getting my job set up, but should hear something back by today or tomorrow.
All is still going great and it's already been a week now here in Darwin. Hope everyone is having a fun filled summer back home!
Until Tomorrow...
"Make it Happen"
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
Goodbye Malaysia ...Hello Darwin
So the Finals weekend came to an end and we ended up losing in the semi-finals to Perak Pharcochem by 11pts. The final night was fun as the NBL league rented out a bar/club for the whole league to come and enjoy, including coaches, management and owners. It was a nice way to end a tough month long season, plus it was nice to get to see everyone in the same spot and not have it be on the court haha.
Although we got knocked out early I decided to enter into the 3pt shootout contest on Sunday night to try to bring home a trophy and some extra cash ;) lol. I was the last one to get knocked out of the first round (so i almost made the finals), but it was still fun to be in!
I really had a great experience in Malaysia and would definitely do it again, or anywhere else in Asia for that matter. I met some great people and made some new friends, played some good bball and ate some good food (minus the food poisoning in week 2 hahah). Nothing much more you can ask for when going in blind into a situation!! The month went well and I ended up averaging around 14pts and 7rebounds a game.
This is me and some of the other imports with LOH, one of the commissioners of the NBL. He was the one that got us all set up with our teams and situations. Good guy!
I arrived in Darwin August 3rd at 4:30AM. My host mom Donna was there to pick me up and take me home, she's awesome! As soon as I got home I went straight to bed and slept till around 2pm, got up, ate some food, chilled out, then went to the gym because we had a game at 7:45pm that same night hahah! No rest for me baby!! We played a team called the Warriors, they were pretty good, but we were better that night. We ended up winning by 13pts or so, I had 32pts and 12rebs. A nice start to my Australian career, and not to bad for no practices with the team too. My team "the Eagles" is made up of a mixture of guys. We have some youngsters at 15, 18 & 20, the we also have some guys who are mid to late 30's. It should be an interesting season here to say the least. The plan is to play well and put up some good stats then get to the next best league in Australia down south in Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane. We'll see how that plan exactly pans out :)
As for now I'm getting set up with a job that I'll have for my time while I'm out here and also reffing at the gym for the local men's and women's leagues. I'm looking into working at the Darwin Sports and Recreation Association, so that I can build my work resume at the same time as I build my basketball resume too. Sounded like a smart idea to me :) ! My schedule isn't too busy yet, but will pick up soon and I'm looking forward to that. You can only be online soooo much haha!
I miss all my friends and family back home sooooo much, but it's already been over a month that I've been gone and that leaves only 4 1/2 months left. Time flys when you're having fun! SOOOO let's do it!
Until Tomorrow...
"make it happen"
Although we got knocked out early I decided to enter into the 3pt shootout contest on Sunday night to try to bring home a trophy and some extra cash ;) lol. I was the last one to get knocked out of the first round (so i almost made the finals), but it was still fun to be in!
I really had a great experience in Malaysia and would definitely do it again, or anywhere else in Asia for that matter. I met some great people and made some new friends, played some good bball and ate some good food (minus the food poisoning in week 2 hahah). Nothing much more you can ask for when going in blind into a situation!! The month went well and I ended up averaging around 14pts and 7rebounds a game.
This is me and some of the other imports with LOH, one of the commissioners of the NBL. He was the one that got us all set up with our teams and situations. Good guy!
I arrived in Darwin August 3rd at 4:30AM. My host mom Donna was there to pick me up and take me home, she's awesome! As soon as I got home I went straight to bed and slept till around 2pm, got up, ate some food, chilled out, then went to the gym because we had a game at 7:45pm that same night hahah! No rest for me baby!! We played a team called the Warriors, they were pretty good, but we were better that night. We ended up winning by 13pts or so, I had 32pts and 12rebs. A nice start to my Australian career, and not to bad for no practices with the team too. My team "the Eagles" is made up of a mixture of guys. We have some youngsters at 15, 18 & 20, the we also have some guys who are mid to late 30's. It should be an interesting season here to say the least. The plan is to play well and put up some good stats then get to the next best league in Australia down south in Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane. We'll see how that plan exactly pans out :)
As for now I'm getting set up with a job that I'll have for my time while I'm out here and also reffing at the gym for the local men's and women's leagues. I'm looking into working at the Darwin Sports and Recreation Association, so that I can build my work resume at the same time as I build my basketball resume too. Sounded like a smart idea to me :) ! My schedule isn't too busy yet, but will pick up soon and I'm looking forward to that. You can only be online soooo much haha!
I miss all my friends and family back home sooooo much, but it's already been over a month that I've been gone and that leaves only 4 1/2 months left. Time flys when you're having fun! SOOOO let's do it!
Until Tomorrow...
"make it happen"
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