Bye Week, Illness, and Zwolle Rematch - Blog #15 (Jan. 20 - Feb. 2)

Basketball Update:

After our win versus Mons, we had a bye week. That meant a lot of practice. Overseas basketball is unique because every team participates in its domestic league which plays most of its games on the weekends. Then, several teams play in international competition which is selected for based on performance of the previous season. Those inter-country leagues play during the week. Leiden played in FIBA Europe Cup last year which is an international league. This meant they were playing their normal league schedule on the weekend in combination with the Europe Cup schedule with games being played on Wednesdays (most of the time). Because we are only in our domestic league, BNXT, we have one game per week most of the time. Then, when we have a bye week, we have virtually two weeks of just practice. We got after it in practice, and I think it really helped us in our game against Zwolle.

The game was on Sunday, so tip time was 2 pm. It was a huge game for us because we are essentially out of contention for the BNXT title and need to start positioning ourselves for the Dutch playoffs. Every game against a Dutch team matters that much more for this. The top two regular season finishers automatically make the semifinals for the Dutch playoffs, so that is the goal. We had played Zwolle in the preseason and smacked them. Then, we lost our home regular season matchup against them and needed to get them back. Zwolle has a guy from Wisconsin that I played against in the high school state championship back in the day, Quincy Anderson, who is from Oshkosh North. He is their best player who is coming off an amazing January. We controlled the game for the first half going up by about fifteen at some point. We kept them in check besides Anderson, who ended the game with 26 points, a game-high. We sustained a comeback and won the game 75-78. Things got shakey for us down the stretch. After I missed a jump hook with like 20 seconds left, they came down and missed a shot to tie the game. Then, Lukas grabbed the rebound, got fouled, and made one out of two FTs. They called a timeout with 1.2 seconds left and had a pretty good look to send it to OT and missed. We survived! Back to .500 in league play. I played solid overall and had (I think) a career-high in assists with six!

Leadership Lesson:

It always blows my mind the impact that one individual can have on a large group of people. More specifically, I am talking about a person who holds themselves to a certain standard and raises the level of everyone around them. Good leaders do this, but how? An example of this that I am going to use is something my classmates and I did at Hillsdale. After basketball practice, everyone would shower up, go to the dining hall, and head home as was customary for members of the Hillsdale basketball team. My classmates, Peter, Jack, Jacob, and I were all redshirting during our freshman years. It was a fun thing to go through together. One of the traditions we started was to make fifty threes at the conclusion of every practice. We were very consistent in doing this, and while it was not a ridiculous milestone by any stretch, it was something we were doing to improve and get better every day. Eventually, it caught on, and a few other guys joined in. Then, the next year when the new group of freshmen came, they kind of just assumed that everyone was supposed to get up extra shots after practice, so they joined in. Our class set a standard and the other people around us raised their level to meet that standard.

Individual people can have this same effect on a team or on an entire organization if possible. One person who works abnormally hard or treats people abnormally well can rub off on the people around them. I am sure you all have been rubbed off on by someone in your life who has made you stop and think, "Wow, I should really be better at xyz..." My hope in writing about this is for you to be that person for someone else. Whatever talent or passion you may have, let your pursuit of how you are trying to accomplish it rub off on someone else in a positive way! Here is a couple pics of our freshmen class at Hillsdale that started this great tradition of getting up extra shots after practice.

Top 5 of the Week:

Craziest NBA Moves in My Life:

1. KD signing with the Warriors - As crazy as Sunday morning (Saturday night) was for a lot of people, nothing will top the shock in the NBA community when KD left the Thunder to join the Warriors in the summer of 2016. Fresh off LeBron's 3-1 comeback versus the 73-win Warriors, they add the second-best player in the league. The most divided and fun period of the NBA since I have been alive.

2. LeBron's "The Decision" - LeBron joining the Heat live on ESPN was an immense shift in the landscape of the NBA and sports. It ushered in a new era of player empowerment in athletics. A player with LeBron's profile had never made the type of move that he made before in history. Also, one of the many reasons MJ is the GOAT.

3. Luka/AD trade - Waking up Sunday morning to that news was pretty insane. Luka is a top 3 player in the NBA who is still entering his prime. No one in that state has ever been traded before. The Mavs must really not like him, and now, the Lakers are going to be good for the next 10 years. Crazy. I really doubt Cuban would have done it.

4. Dame to the Bucks - This definitely has not lived up to the hype, but I was ecstatic when this news dropped. Dame was one of my favorite non-Bucks prior to us acquiring him. Hopefully, it ends up paying off for us!

5. Paul George and Kawhi to LAC - These two meeting up in LA with the Clippers was pretty crazy when it happened. I remember thinking they would at least win 2 titles. They never came close because of injuries, load management, and bad luck.

What Else Did I Do This Week?

I didn't post a blog last week because I was pretty down bad. Nikki and I were super excited to go visit my Hillsdale teammate and world-class violinist (IYKYK), Pete, who is playing in Bochum which is about a 2.5-hour train ride away from us In Germany. With the bye week and weekend off, it was a perfect chance for us to visit Pete, Bella, and Ezra and catch a game. We woke up Saturday pretty early, and I was not feeling great. My stomach was kind of hurting, and I felt kind of light-headed but thought I was just tired. We got to the train, and I started feeling worse and worse. Finally, it got to the point where we had to get off the train just before entering into Germany and headed back to Leiden. It was the right decision because once we got back, I could not get out of bed. Chills, fever, nausea... it was rough. At one point, I blew chunks and almost overflowed a decent-sized pot. I had a crappy day and felt bad that we had to waste our weekend off. I went to practice Monday and had to step out early because I was feeling nauseous and light-headed again. I was back in action Tuesday and started feeling much better throughout the week and played decent in our game.

Earlier in the week, Nikki and I went to see Wicked. I would highly recommend seeing it if you have not yet. I had never seen the musical either, so it was my first time learning about the story. I laughed out loud several times and thought the acting and all of the performances were great.

On Friday night, Nikki made her chicken soup that she made for my team for the Christmas dinner we had. We invited Hagen and Jenny over for dinner and a game night. Nikki also made salad and some chocolate-oat dessert bars. We played Monopoly Deal which is a card game version of Monopoly. Your boy got two dubs and went undefeated on the night. Normally, Nikki beats me in board games, so it was immensely fulfilling to beat her. I drove them back to the train station, and they were on their way. It was a great night! Because our game was on Sunday, we also had Saturday to hang. I had practice with Nikki then we met up with a bunch of her work friends in Amsterdam-Noord (North). It is a different area that is a bit more industrialized with less canals and bigger buildings. We hung out at Oedipus Brewery, had some beers, and a great dinner. It was a ton of fun, and the brewery kind of looked like a Nickelodeon hotel on the inside. I had a couple of non-alcoholic beers that we very solid. We came back, read a bit, and went to bed. It was honestly a really nice weekend. It wasn't too eventful, but we had a good time with some friends and the weather is starting to turn a little bit too. We have seen the sun a few days in a row!

Top Meal of the Week:

I had some good food the last couple of weeks, but my favorite meal was the chicken noodle soup Nikki made the Saturday I got sick. I really do not know what I would have done if I was out here being that sick without Nikki. It sucked being sick, but this soup was the highlight. It hit the spot and definitely made me feel better which was nice. In close contention, the kimchee burger at Oedipus Brewery in Amsterdam that I had on Saturday was really good. Probably the best burger I have had since being here.

One Thing I Miss About the States:

I miss being able to watch the NBA. Because of the time zone difference, I can very rarely watch or am even awake for NBA games. I have watched part of only a couple of Bucks games this year which is much less than I normally do. The Luka/AD trade really made me think about this. What are the Mavs doing?! Insane... the NBA never disappoints. Thanks for reading!