AS YOU KNOW, THE NY LIBERTY SEASON ENDED UNEXPECTEDLY WITH THE UPSET IN THE 1ST ROUND OF THE EASTEN CONFERENCE PLAYOFFS. I DON’T TAKE LOSING VERY WELL SO IT WAS A LITTLE HARD FOR ME TO RECOVER. I WENT TO MY HOME IN CHICAGO AND BEGAN PACKING BECAUSE I KNEW SOON I WOULD HAVE TO LEAVE FOR THE USA BASKETBALL EURO TOUR.  I HAD A FEW DOWN DAYS SO I BOOKED A NICE TRIP TO VEGAS TO GET AWAY AND TAKE MY COUSIN AND BROTHER BECAUSE THEY HAD NEVER BEEN THERE. IT WAS A LOAD OF FUN AND GREAT EXPERIENCE.  THE VIRAL VIDEO OF ME HOOPING WITH THE NBA GUYS IN VEGAS WASN’T PLANNED AT ALL. CHAUNCEY BILLIPS INVITED ME TO COME WORK OUT WITH HIM. WE WORKED OUT FOR TWO HRS ON DIFFERENT MOVES AND GOT TONS OF SHOOTING IN. AS WERE FINISHING UP AND IM GETTING READY TO ICE, MYBIG BRO, AL HARRINGTON TELLS ME TO PICK UP A JERSEY AND THAT’S WHERE IT BEGAN. IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IT, U CAN DEFINITELY CATCH THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE.

I FLEW FROM NY TO ITALY WHERE THE TOUR BEGAN WITH ONE FULL PRACTICE AND TOUR OF FOUR TEAMS.  (NAPLES)  ITALY THE TEAM THAT HOSTED, VALENICIA (ROS CASARES), (SKIO), ITALY AND OF COURSE, THE USA.  IT WAS A TOUGH TASK WITH JUST SEVEN PLAYERS BUT WE WERE ABLE TO WIN THAT TOURNEY. UP NEXT, OUR TRIP TO VALENICIA..ALTHOUGH, WE LOST TO THIS TEAM, IT WAS AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE. A FEW DAYS LATER WE FLEW TO PRAGUE AND FACED YET ANOTHER CHALLENGING TEAM THAT GOT THE EDGE OVER US AS WELL.

LATER THAT NIGHT WE DROVE TO HUNGARY WHERE WE WOULD FACE SHOPRON AND WOULD END THE USA EURO TOUR. I WAS VERY HAPPY TO LEAVE ON  THE NOTE WITH A WIN BECAUSE WINNING ALWAYS MAKE THE SOUL FEEL GOOD. WE FINISHED THE TOUR OUT 3-2!!! 7 STRONG A BOND THAT WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED AND NEVER BROKEN!

NEXT, I MET MY TEAM  (UMMC) IN GYDNIA POLAND WHERE WE WOULD HAVE OUR 1ST EURO LEAGUE MATCH OF THE SEASON. I DIDNT PLAY BUT MY TEAM FINISHED WITH A WIN ON THE ROAD AND A NICE TRIP BACK TO EKATERINGBURG. I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD ACTUALLY MISS THIS PLACE BUT I TRULY DID. I MISSED THE CITY,PEOPLE, FOOD AND MY LOVELY APARTMENT FOR 4 YEARS.  SO MUCH HAS CHANGED SINCE I’VE BEEN GONE TO AMERICA. I WILL SEND UPDATES AND TAKE PICS SO U GUYS CAN HELP LIVE OUT MY EXPERIENCE THIS SEASON.

BLESSING

CAPPA23

A pair of Olympic gold medalists, Swin Cash (Seattle Storm) and Cappie Pondexter (New York Liberty), scored 14 points apiece to lead the 2011 USA Basketball Women’s National Team (3-2) to a 73-63 victory over UNIQA-Euroleasing Sopron in Sopron, Hungary, on Sunday night.

All seven American women scored in a key third-quarter surge that saw the USA, which went into the locker room tied 41-41, outpace the hosts 21-9 and take a 62-50 lead heading into the final stanza.

“It was the complete opposite of the way we started (the second half) the other night,” said Geno Auriemma, 2009-12 USA National Team and University of Connecticut head coach. “There was a much better focus on the defensive end to kind of limit what the other team was doing. Because the defensive stops were there, we were then able to convert that into good offense. I think we took them out of their rhythm. They had a really nice flow offensively in the first half. And then, some defensive things that we did really caused them some problems. We had great ball movement in the third quarter and got open shots. It sounds so simple, but that’s basically what it was.”

For more..http://www.usabasketball.com/womens/national