Bring on Den Bosch, Nikki's Friends in Town, and Drama in Leeuwarden - Blog #29 (May 21 - 31)

Basketball Update:

Wow. What a series?! I haven't posted since the Leeuwarden series. Two words... roller coaster. It was a best-of-five series that started at their place on the road. We won the first game in a back-and-forth battle. The second game was one of our best games we played in the season. We blew them out by almost thirty and took a commanding 2-0 lead. We felt pretty good about ourselves and were looking for a sweep. Game 3 was a rough start for us. They jumped on us, and we got down by twenty-five at one point. The third quarter was crazy. We stormed back and cut the lead all the way down to one. We ran out of gas and ended up losing by a few points. Aaron Cook was sick for game 4, and Brad Greene went down with a sprained ankle too. We did not play with enough juice, and they stole one from us. All of a sudden, we were knotted up at two games apiece. We had to go back on the road for a massive Game 5.

We didn't have Brad again because of his ankle. It was a back-and-forth game, but we had control for the whole first half. I have struggled mightily this year with foul trouble, so I was glad to go into the half with just one foul. Well, to start the second half, I "walled-up" on a dunk attempt and got called for a bad foul. I quickly got my third foul, so now I had to start being smart to not get my fourth. A couple of minutes later, I came over to help on a drive and jumped completely verticle to avoid getting a foul. The referee didn't see it that way and whistled me for my fourth foul with four minutes left in the third quarter. In a moment of frustration, I threw my arm pretty aggressively, and another ref gave me my first technical of my career. In Europe, technical fouls also count as personal fouls, so I was done for the night. It was extremely frustrating to say the least that I couldn't go back in the game. It was pretty awesome watching everyone step up throughout the rest of the game. They made a little run, but we held them off and finished the job, 90-85. It was an awesome series, and we are pumped for Den Bosch. They are playing very well right now, but we are 3-0 against them this year. It should be another great series. Here is the technical because I know you sickos want to see it.

Leadership Lesson:

This is not as much of a leadership technique, but I think it can be a useful tool to use as a leader. Whenever something happens to me that is out of my control and that really upsets me, I try to give myself a period of time to be upset and let myself feel angry, sad, etc. A great example was during our game when I fouled out. I gave myself two or three minutes to pout and be pissed off. After that stretch, I was fully present, being a good teammate and supporting everyone on the court. Giving myself some time to be upset helped me move on from what happened and lock in to the rest of the game. This has been helpful for me outside of sports as well. If I get bad news, for example, I might give myself a few hours to feel sorry for myself. After that, it is time to address the problem and control the things you can control.

I just do not think being positive and happy all the time is completely realistic. You have to let yourself feel emotions. Otherwise, I believe those emotions will build up and unleash on something undeserving. It is a much healthier way to deal with things, and it helps you process things that happen to you.

Top 5 of the Week:

Basketball Players

1. Michael Jordan - Don't need to say much here. The GOAT. All-time competitor and love his intensity and fire he played with.

2. Giannis Antetokounmpo - Such an amazing player and amazing guy too. Always maintains his humility and hunger no matter what he has achieved. Also plays for my favorite team which helps.

3. Frank Kaminsky - Huge Badger fan growing up, and there was no one I loved watching in high school more than Frank the Tank. I wore #44 in high school because of him. The back-to-back final four teams were amazing to watch.

4. Kobe Bryant - Similar reasons to MJ, but the Mamba mentality and work ethic are two Kobe staples. Probably has the greatest influence on current basketball players of how he approached the game and perfected his craft.

5. Steph Curry - Simply the most entertaining player to watch in basketball. When he gets hot, it is unlike anything in sports. Watching him take over the Olympics is something I will never forget.

What Else Did I Do This Week?

Sorry for the late blog... again. With games every other day, I just have not had the time to write as much, so I might wait again until the season is over the write my next blog/last blog of the year. Because of the five-game week, I was unable to do much on the days between games. Lots of rest and just hanging out to make sure I had energy for games. Nikki brought a lot of her coworkers to Game 2, so we hung out in the bar area of the gym complex after which was nice.

Two of Nikki's college friends, Kara and Lauren, came to town for the week on Wednesday. They are staying at our apartment, so it has been a packed house. It has been a ton of fun spending time with them and showing them around Leiden and Amsterdam. After they got to town Wednesday morning, we went into Leiden to show them the center and walk around for a bit. We went to the Italian deli spot, La Angela, that my mom and I went to last week. It was really good but not quite as good as the first time. We hung out and ate our sandwiches on the canal with an outstanding view. Wednesday night we ate for our third time at Paco Ciao. Everyone we have brought there loves it, not because of the food but because of the vibes. I have talked at length about Paco Ciao before, so I won't say too much about it. It was a great time, and Kara & Lauren were HUGE fans (especially of the bathroom... iykyk).

After our win on Thursday, we had an off day on Friday. We spent the day in Amsterdam. We got some coffee and matcha from Cloud, and cinnamon buns from Bun Bun. They were all unbelievable. I got a pistachio cinnamon bun that was to die for. We stopped to hang out at Hagen's houseboat for a little bit before making our way to the Albert Cyup market that is in De Pijp. It was Nikki and me's first time there, and the market was superb. Lots of cool shops and what looked like good food. Lauren & Kara got some kind of disappointing stroopwaffles for Holland standards, but we had some really good gyros. Then, it was time for us to head back to the center for our boat tour. It was just us four and a father & daughter from Russia with the tour guide. We got to ask a lot of questions and learn more about the city. It was a great tour.

Then, we walked through the Red Light District to check that off their bucket lists. We met up with Jenny to grab a drink and some apps before dinner. Nikki and I have been wanting to go to Pizza Project for a bit, and it totally lived up to the hype. It was amazing. We shared four pizzas and a couple of salads. It was a big day for pistachios considering the cinnamon bun I had, and my favorite pizza we got was pistachio. We headed back because it was getting late, and Nikki, Kara, and Lauren were heading to Prague the next morning. So far, it looks like they are having a blast there.

Top Meal of the Week:

Pizza Project was my top meal of the week. I may be misremembering, but I swear that a couple of the places we have had pizza at in the Netherlands are better than the places we had in Italy. Like I mentioned, the pistachio pizza was my favorite. They also got bonus points for providing scissors to cut the pizza with. Another unique thing about them is that they had spicy olive oil. I think it was chili-infused, but it was fun to dip the crust in.

One Thing I Miss About the States:

I miss regular plastic bottles. Here, the caps on plastic bottles are connected, and it makes for a slightly annoying drinking experience. Like a lot of the differences between the US and Europe, it is pretty minor and trivial. The reason they do it is for recycling purposes which I am totally down for. They also have bottle/can return here. Still kind of annoying though. Thanks for reading!