First TEST
Today was our first test to get ready for the season. We played first division German team Trier who has the former 3-time Belgian MVP George Evans and former NBA player Norman Richardson on their roster. They started practicing August 6, and played 4 exhibition games and we only had 8 days of full practice and our starting point guard is injured for two months, so they are way ahead of us in preparation. So you think the game would be a total blow-out but it was only a two-point game.
We played well being our first game, of course our conditioning and shooting wasn’t game-like and of course we made first-game mistakes (we messed up the plays on offense, we didn’t have the correct defensive rotation and we played line-ups we weren’t used to) but there were a lot of bright spots. We had a lot of new guys to play well, and we had a chance down the stretch to win it but of course the Belgian referees took over the game, calling 3 offensive fouls, a travel and a technical, all in the last 3 mins of the game. Who calls a technical foul in an exhibition game ? And no, this time it wasn’t on me but I was about to get one after he called it because I was looking for an explanation, that’s just too crazy. The craziest play of the entire game, we are down 3 points with 5sec to go taking the ball out of bounce on the side. I get the ball with 3sec to go, try the get a shot off behind the 3-point line and their center fouls me, and the ref calls a foul on the floor, so 2 shots. And I asked him, how is that not a 3 free-throw shooting foul, and he said : ” It is because you had the ball below your waist” and I asked him what else am I going to do with 3 sec to go? He said you could have passed. They are too funny. And my wife says leave it at that, this was JUST an exhibition game. But I say every game counts. After watching our team perform like we did today I am 100% positive that we would make the playoffs in first division.