Playoff Time, Nikki's Last Visit, and Summer Is Approaching - Blog #45 (Apr. 27 - May 20 '26)
- Patrick Cartier
- 16 hours ago
- 7 min read
Sorry for the delay in posting, it has been a busy few weeks here! We have been traveling a lot for hoops and had way more games than normal, but now I have a couple of days off to catch up with you all.
Basketball Update:
Wowza! A LOT has happened since the last blog. To close out the regular season, we went 2-1. We beat Krosno on the road in what was probably the lowest-minute game of my career. I played just 8 minutes and felt pretty out of sorts and just was not being aggressive. My defense and rebounding were not up to snuff, so I fell out of the rotation for that game. We won the much-needed game though. Then, a really good Slask team who had lost their previous six games which caused them to sack their coach two days before our game with them. They came out and played well to beat us at home by six. Another rather lukewarm game for me. We played one of our best games of the season to close out the regular season against Dziki Warsaw at home. We won by 19 and controlled the game the whole way through. I played better, and this game locked us into the 8-seed for our play-in game.
The play-in games work as follows: the 8-seed (us) plays at the 7-seed. The winner of that game gets the 7-seed. The loser of that game plays the winner of the other play-In game (10-seed plays at 9-seed). We played at Anwil, the most hostile environment in the league for our play-in game. We played outstandingly and carried over our good momentum from the Dziki game, and won 71-86. We did this without our top scorer, Chavaughn, who was out with a concussion. I played really well too which was a nice lead-in to the playoffs. It was very satisfying to win in such a great environment. It was nice not to have to play in that next play-in game and get a couple of days of rest before our playoff series.
The first round of the playoffs in Poland is a best-of-5. We had a matchup with our old foe, Szczecin. They were the 2-seed, and we had already had some great matchups with them this season. A preseason matchup, an early regular season loss, a cup win, and the home loss when I missed the potential game-winning FT's. Not to mention the fact that our best player, Andy, and head coach just came from Szczecin. Two of our other players won a championship with them as well, a couple of years back too.
The first game was a great game. We had a late comeback that ended up falling short even though Jayvon hit a game-tying clutch three with 10 seconds left. Former Duke guard, Jeremy Roach, hit a buzzer-beater to claim game one over us. Game 2 was another great back-and-forth game. We definitely asserted ourselves more. They were also dealing with a couple of injuries. We played well, and they missed a shot at the buzzer. 1-1 going back to ZG. The third game was maybe the defining game of the series. It was a really fun game that was super chippy. I shot the ball really well, and we won by 14 to go up 2-1. With our next game at home, we were cautiously optimistic to close the series out. Our fans came ready to roll for game 4. It was our best crowd of the year, and I think it was on par with some of the best environments I have ever played in. I don't want to be dramatic, but hitting a big shot in front of a raucous crowd is what I would imagine doing a hard-core drug feels like. It is an amazing feeling that I wish everyone could experience. Andy had yet another masterpiece and led us to victory. It was pure elation from all of us and our fans. It was a pretty fun celebration with the fans. A ton of chanting, pictures, and handshakes. Our team's goal for the year was to make the playoffs. To meet that goal and then exceed it is extremely rewarding for everyone involved. Still more work to do, but it was fun to enjoy this one! I will put the team's Instagram account below. They posted a ton of fun stuff from the series that is worth checking out.
Leadership Lesson:
Care factor is one of the most underrated leadership skills out there. It is something Coach Medved used to compliment me and some of my other teammates about. I used to think it was kind of weird, and it was maybe something I took a bit for granted during my time at CSU. At Hillsdale and CSU, we had a great culture of guys who genuinely cared about basketball, their teammates, and the success of the team. People were dedicated to their passion, basketball. Professional basketball is less like that for a bunch of reasons. Some people love basketball, and some people love the things that basketball gets them. It is a harsh realization that some of my former teammates and I have had. This is definitely not meant to talk down about any of my teammates from my last two years, but it is more to say that basketball is just viewed differently once it becomes your job. I think one of the reasons that we have exceeded our season's expectations so far is that we have several guys who really care a lot about basketball and take their job very seriously. It is a tough time of the year, especially for Americans who have been away from home for so long. Guys may start looking ahead to the offseason or losing focus. However, if you have a group of people who care about basketball and the team's success, then you can have success like we have had. Our captain, Andy, has one of the highest care factors of anyone I have ever been around, and it has rubbed off on all of us.
What Else Did I Do This Week?
We went back to the speedway as the season just started for the motor bike sport that is one of the most popular sports in Poland. It is bigger than basketball here for sure. I talked about this at the beginning of the season, but they do not have breaks. It is fun to watch, and it was fun to be in attendance for a sporting event.
The highlight of the last couple of weeks was definitely Nikki's visit. It was most likely her last time coming to ZG for the year. It was during the week of our play-in game, so it was an intense time. It was really nice to have her here for that. She saw our last home win of the regular season, and then, I had to leave quick for a day and a half for the Anwil game. We had a nice off day after our Anwil win. We walked around the city center a bit, went to this cool building to walk around at, and had one last il Viccolo date. I also took Nikki to my favorite coffee place, Coffeehunter, for breakfast and cappuccinos. Then, we went to the same winery/wedding venue like 20 minutes outside of ZG that I went to with my parents. We enjoyed a glass of vino while chatting overlooking the grape trees. It was a great week with Nikki. We also spent a morning in Poznan and went to an awesome breakfast spot before I dropped her off at the airport.
On the way back from the airport, I finally stopped at the massive Jesus statue that is beside the highway. I have been wanting to do it the whole year, but had not until now. It was once the tallest in the world and currently ranks in the top 5-10 of Jesus statues in the world. They had a cool path to walk up to the statue and also stations of the cross around the statue. It was really cool to check out and get up close to.
While in Szczecin, we had two off days in between games. We had a couple of great dinners. Because several of the guys on the team had lived there, they new some good spots to go to. I had some of the best wings I have ever had at Colorado Restaurant in Szczecin. We also had good steaks the next night at a steakhouse. It was kind of good team bonding to be there for so long and spend so much time together. It was nice to end the trip on a high note with the win as well.
Top Meal of the Week:
This one is a tie. The Colorado wings I just mentioned were unbelievably delicious. However, I also have to shout out the breakfast place Nikki and I went to in Poznan. I had a brioche BLT that was outstanding. The place is called Trzecia Kawa, and it has 4.8 stars with 1394 reviews on Google. It lived up to that hype.
Cultural Difference in Poland:
I have discussed the crazy fans in European sports a couple of times before, but I had a really weird thing happen after our most recent game to defeat Szczecin. We won the game, hung out with the fans for a bit, and headed to the locker room. I forgot to grab my water, so I jogged back to the bench to grab it. I was looking for it, and realized that some random fan was drinking my water bottle and was drinking it. I think that shows a couple of things about the fans here. They are crazy, they don't care about germs, and they think they can come to our bench and grab things. To be fair, I think the guy was very overserved, but it was still pretty funny and worth telling. Thanks for reading!