2014 arrived very fast, we’re already halfway through the season and so far our team is doing great.
Chistmas & New Year’s time is different in each country. Depending on the schedule of the games you’re either able to go back home for a few days or you don’t. This year I didn’t do anything for Christmas. I just took a day to get ready for our next game and rest my body. After the game on the 26th (87-70 win vs. Ratiopharm Ulm) we had three days off which I used to go to Paris, France. I wanted to do some shopping and link up with my friends participating in LNB All-Star Weekend. For New Years I was able to get some fireworks which are great in Munich and I was able to celebrate with my team. It was a lot of fun.
I know that this time of the year many people come up with New Year’s resolutions. I’m not big on those, I don’t really want to way all year for just one day to try to change things. I set goals and I try to stick to them as long as I achieve them. Now I’m just focused on getting as far as I can in Euroleague and winning Beko BBL Cup and the Championship.
Euroleague has been huge between 2013/14, right now we are in the Top 16 playing against the best teams in Europe. Our last game against Partizan NIS Belgrade (71-65 win) was a tough one where we had to overcome being down early and beat their strong team. At this point I would consider this being our toughest game of the 2013/14 season. Out of the 12 remaining games in the round the one against Real Madrid has to be the one I’m looking forward to the most. They are the best team in Europe right now and one of the guards is Dontaye Draper. We’re from the same city and he has to be one of the guys I look up to the most from Baltimore players in Europe. So this should be fun, playing against him. (the game is on Wednesday, January 15)
Bundesliga
To remain at the top of Bundesliga at this moment we have to continue finding the right balance between Euroleague and Beko BBL. We have improved a lot through the last couple of months but we still have a lot to work on to get where we want to. We will fight and see what the new year has in store for us. We have to be ready every game, have to keep playing our best basketball because every team is playing their best game versus us.
Everything is a team effort here and I can’t take credit for any wins. I am definitely a leader and I try my best to be vocal as well as play my hardest every game. The team follows their Point Guard and I take pride in my leadership.
Playing on hot/cold streaks and maintaining focus is crucial in the game of basketball. We have a tough season and you can never get too high when you are winning. You always hit tough spots in a season even for us the last round of Euroleague where we lost 6 straight games but we were able to recover. I just try to stay balanced and never get too high or low. Just staying focused on the tasks and the next game.
Aside from basketball, you can see on my Instagram feed that I post a lot about food, travelling and other things. When it comes to food, many people want to know how athletes are eating and all. As of now I’m not following any special diet. I just eat a lot of different types of food and love to be creative with new food I’m cooking in the kitchen. I always do my best to maintain a lot of fruit and vegetable in my diet. If any of the youngesters need a short advice, follow this:
The better your body is being taken care of, the better your performance is.
As for my pictures from the buses, planes etc. There isn’t much to do on the road trips. Each player approaches the stuff differently but mostly we just try to focus fully on the upcoming games. I mostly just sleep and eat, sometimes I have some time to watch a few TV Shows.
Thanks to everyone for checking up what I’m up to. More posts coming soon, remember to also follow my Facebook Fanpage.
