Hi everybody! It's Levi posting this time as I have been informed that it's my turn to write a blog post after several from Maura :) So for any of you who want to hear a little more about the basketball side of things this one's for you! So after we arrived in Slupsk on Sunday evening (Aug 12th), we didn't have much time to get used to the time change or get over the jet lag, as the team had to get up at 6:30am Monday morning for bloodwork and physicals. This was followed by evening training at "the stadium" as we call it here, which is not the stadium where we will play games, but a track and field training facility with indoor running lanes, weight room, and an outdoor track. It's tucked back in the woods in the outskirts of Slupsk and is actually a really nice facility where some Polish track and field athletes train for national competitions and the Olympics.
So for the following week we didn't do any practicing on the court, it was all running, lifting, agility drills, plyometrics, etc to get everyone in good enough shape to practice and develop a good strength and conditioning base for the year. I was pleased with the quality of the training and our strength coach does a good job. I would love to have at least been in the gym a couple times to shoot and dribble a little bit during this time, but its a long season so we have plenty of time to get our shots on target for our first regular season game on September 29th. After this week of training, we finally started to practice in the gym and I got to see how our team looked on the court for the first time. So far I am pleased to see that the work ethic and attitude of all of our guys is really good and we have no bad attitude players or selfish guys. We have a lot of guys who have played professionally for a while and I think we will understand what it takes to win and become a good team. Most of the guys on the team have a girlfriend, fiance, or wife so this will really help to have some friends for Maura to hang out with while we go on some long bus rides to away games across Poland. The practices themselves have been productive; putting in offenses and some set plays has been the focus so far because we play our first exhibition game tomorrow (Aug 30th) here in Slupsk! I'm anxious to see how we do, but I can imagine the first exhibition game could get a little sloppy because everyone's nerves will be high. But, the game is closed to the public so it shouldn't get too crazy (I've heard the fans here are some of the best in Poland and the gym gets LOUD). The gym is pretty small and seats just a couple thousand people, but the seats go straight up and surround the floor so I can imagine with the place packed it will feel like the fans are right on the court! Our team seems to be put together nicely with a couple solid guys at each position, so I think we will have a deep rotation and get good use out of the bench. Everyone's roles have yet to be set in stone after just a week of practice, but we have several guys who can shoot the ball and point guards who can push the ball quickly in transition, so expect an exciting style of play!
Our preseason schedule will make the next month of preparation go by fast with games on Aug 30th, Sept 2nd, Sept 6th, Sept 9th, and two different two game tournaments the weekends of Sept 15-16th and Sept 22-23rd. None of these games count toward the regular season record but I think this many games will get us right where we need to be to start the season off strong.
Our regular season schedule is posted below so take a look! Only the first 22 games are scheduled right now...there are 12 teams in the league and we play everyone twice (home and away) in the first round of the league. After this, the teams are ranked 1st through 12th. The top 6 teams will play each other twice more, home and away. The bottom 6 teams will also play each other twice more. After these 10 games which take place in March and April, the initial top 6 teams from round 1 will automatically make the playoffs, and the top two finishers from the bottom half of the league will be added to the mix for an 8 team traditional playoff. The playoffs consist of best of 5 series and start in May and end in mid June if we are to make the finals.
Stay tune to our blog and Maura's facebook page for more pictures of Slupsk, our apartment, the stadium where will we will play called "Gryfia", and there's sure to be lots of game pictures once we start up the season. Hope everyone is doing well and feel free to comment and ask any questions about things I forgot to mention. God bless!
-Levi
Yes, believe it or not, this is Levi finally writing a long over due blog post ;) If you've been following our blog closely you might think that all I do out here is eat the great food that Maura cooks, but I have been pretty busy playing ball too! We've now had 8 preseason games and 2 regular season games. We've dropped our first two games but it's no time to panic. We are starting to gel more as a team and have had some great practices in preparation for our next game this coming Sunday in Radom (8-10 hour bus ride!). We hope to come out with great energy and play how we are capable of playing. I have really enjoyed getting to know my teammates more and more as the season progresses, and there will be plenty more team bonding time in the coming weeks due to our long bus rides across Poland. We always travel the day before the game and leave in the morning (depending on how far the trip is) and travel back to Slupsk through the night after the game. For the most part, Poland doesn't have great highway systems from city to city so much of the multi-hour trips are spent winding through foresty areas on bumpy roads and driving through small towns along the way. Right now everything is still really green and Poland is actually a really beautiful country. It has been really rainy and windy over the past week and temperatures are starting to drop with highs in the 50's and lows close to freezing. We had our first home game last week and our fans are awesome! Our gym gets really loud and its a fun atmosphere to play in. Maura and I are getting excited for visitors to come stay with us over the next month. First Maura's parents will come for 9 days and will get to watch one away game and one home game, and then Levi's parents will come for 11 days in November and will get to see 3 home games! We are soooo blessed and lucky to have family come, and we're excited for them to get a taste of our Polish lifestyle and overseas basketball experience too. Hopefully I'll be posting again very soon with some good news about our team's performance in our next two games, both of which are on the road. Hope everyone is doing great and talk to you all soon!
