Pre-season comes to an end.... Now it's SHOWTIME!

What's up world? I apologize for this post being a day late, but we had our last tournament of the preseason this weekend and I got back extremely late. I am dedicating this blog to the culmination of yet another tough preseason! A preseason that I am blessed to say I got through without any major injuries! Anyway it was a good week so let's jump right into it!
We started of the week sort of light due to the fact that we had just competed in another tournament the weekend before and we had 3 games coming up. As usual we worked ourselves into a nice pace by the end of the week though. We played on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday! We had a good week winning 2 out of 3 and grabbing one of those victories by more than 30 points! We made it to the championship game to play against Gravelines (A team who i think is very solid). It was a battle from start to finish! We ended up losing the game by 6 points, but we played well enough to win! I mean if a couple of calls would have gone our way, or if we could have made a couple more of our good looks, we could have came home with the big trophy! It's all good though because it is games like these that prepare you for the real thing. I already know that if faced with some of the situations we saw yesterday we will know how to handle them!
On a personal note, I am satisfied with my preseason. I have worked hard and learned a lot about my teammates! I think that I have a good feeling for how we need to play to win games and at my position that is very important! So with that said, PRESEASON IS OFFICIALLY OVER!!!
In case you were wondering, J.J. Miller is ready for the season to begin! It is time to turn on the lights and battle for every win you can get! Competition at the highest level is what drives me and I am looking forward to it. So from here on out each week a portion of my blog will be dedicated to taking you inside the life of a baller while in season! I am considering doing video blogs the night before each game this season.... still thinking on that one though but maybe! I think it is going to be an exciting season and hopefully you will enjoy it too! First game of the season is against Vichy! This team is known for there defense and they have a few major players! It should be a good one, but they are coming to our house and we must protect our house!
Well take care, check out the pics, have a great week, and as always remember to EXCEED EXPECTATIONS!

Tough Week!

Good evening everyone! It is 11:40 pm on Sunday night here in France. I am about to call it a night, but could not do so until I posted the blog for this week. As I look back over this week, the title of this post is quite appropriate. Basketball is a great game. I love it like no other, but I realize that things may not always go my way! I do know, however, that even in defeat there is a valuable lesson learned. Ok, enough small talk...let's get into this episode of the life of J.J. Miller
So, I know that most people reading this blog probably thought that I would only be talking about the high life that I live. The good things like winning awards, getting money, fame, etc. Unfortunately, my life is not all peaches and cream so that means that this blog will not be all peaches and cream! Now don't get me wrong I am extremely blessed. I am just saying that I am just as susceptible to tough times as anyone else is. Why am I saying this you ask? Well, I have been talking a lot these last few weeks about how good preseason has been going and how well we have been doing as a team. This past weekend we visited Belgium to play a couple of teams that were in the league that I played in last season. Now before the trip if you asked me how I thought the outcome might be, I would have without a doubt told you that we were going to get 2 victories and come back home. Unfortunately, I would have been dead wrong, lol!! Not only did we lose, we got smashed!! Not once, but twice!! For whatever reason we just could not get it together as a team! The teams that we played were decent teams, but with the talent that we have here in Le Havre there is no way that we should be getting beat the way we did this past weekend. All i can say is that we have some serious work to do!!
Work that I looking forward to putting in next week. We went hard last week there is no doubt about that! I recall on last Tuesday being extremely tired when i got back home after our second team practice. It was actually the third practice for me because I had to take a routine bike test/stress test. Stress test is a good name for it because it got pretty stressful towards the end of the test, lol. They put me on a bike with all kinds of cords attached to my chest and back to monitor my heart rate. What the doctors are trying to do is push you as hard as they can to see how much stress your heart can take! Well i think my heart can take too much stress, haha! I was on the bike for longer than the doctors expected me to be. This sounds good, and it is from a medical standpoint! However, I was EXHAUSTED and I still had another practice to go! Let's just say that I am done with the tests for this season, lol!
On another note, I was noticing some things on the bus as we traveled back to France! Things have changed so much from when I first turned pro in 2001! I mean it has almost been a decade in the game for me which is a blessing in itself (Thank God). I remember when i first came overseas to play. The bus rides were one of the worst things about the season. I mean we're talking long trips on slow buses with small seats, no air condition, and loud engines! Now we are traveling in what seems to be first class buses with spacious recliner seats, air condition, and t.v screens in case we need or want to watch a video. I mean looking around the bus, it was almost like I was in a portable best buy, lol. My teammates and I had DVD players, Play Station Portables, Video ipods, Blackberries, Iphones, Entertainment Notebooks, Macs, PCs and more. The two and a half day trip in which we spent what seemed like most of the time on the bus was absolutely painless! The morale of this little paragraph is basically that I/we have come a long way! I could not help but think how great my life is now and how far God has brought me! Sometimes we need to take time to look at where we are, how far we've come, and think about where we could have been! I know we are all busy and believe it or not that is a good thing, but take some time this week to look at where you are. Is it where you want to be? If so great! If not, why not? Either way I encourage you to get with God on whatever circumstances you are in because he knows how to handle any situation! Take care, thanks for checking out the blog, and as always remember to EXCEED EXPECTATIONS!

Steady Progress

Hey! What's up world? I am sitting in my apartment watching the Panthers and Eagles game on my slingbox. The Panthers are getting smacked! Anyway, this week's blog will be a short one. Basketball is the only thing to talk about and it is mostly practice. Preseason is still here and we are hard at it. We had a tournament this weekend and played decent but fell a little short in the championship game.
It was a full week of hooping for STB LE Havre! We had practice twice a day all week long. We played my former team from Paris last Tuesday and got a good win! The rest of the week was full of tough match ups in practice and I think that it prepared us for the tournament we had in Rouen this weekend. The first match was a well played game. We pulled away from our opponents in the first half but allowed them to creep back into the game. It ended up being a dogfight, but we made the plays down the stretch and pulled it out securing our ticket to the championship. In the big game of the weekend we met a good team from Paris. We had just played each other earlier in the week. We got the win on their floor so I am sure the were a little eager to try to get some revenge. For the first half of the game it looked as if we were going to cruise to another victory. However, Paris came out hungry in the second half as we expected them to. They hit some shots and were back in the game before we knew it. We battled for most of the second half. Unfortunately for us, they made the necessary plays down the stretch and we didn't. We ended up losing a game that should have been ours by 8 points. Paris played a good game and actually deserved to win more than we did tonight. This was a good experience for our club, because now we know that even though we can play good we have to stay focused for 40 minutes. We have some work to do, but there are a lot of positive things to build on!
I did sneak in a little time to give an interview to be published on our team's website. They asked some good questions to which I had no answers, lol just kidding. If you guys are interested in seeing the interview you can find it at http://www.stblehavre.com/spip.php?article114
On another note, It was great to see all my friends from Paris this week. I wish you guys all the best this season except when you guys play Le Havre, lol!
I am back home now getting some much needed rest and relaxation! I plan on taking things up a notch in the coming week. We have tomorrow off and then back to work to get ready for a 3 game stretch in Belgium this weekend! I wish everyone the best and as always EXCEED EXPECTATIONS!

Trip to France Photos

Well guys here are some photos of our trip to Paris! We had a bit of a time in transit as you read in last week's blog but we made it. There are a couple of things that I want to mention, if you guys notice i have put a before and after picture of the in-flight meal. THAT CHICKEN DISH WAS BANGING!! lol I also included a couple of pics of my wristbands in memory and dedication to Justin! The season is for you son! NEXT POST BELOW! (it's a must read, lol) Be Blessed Everybody!

Preseason In Full Motion

Hello Everybody. I am extremely happy to be in the comfort of my own living room here in Le Havre! That's right, my internet is in full effect now, lol! This week felt long but I got through it. I really believe that I got better this week both on and off the floor. I worked hard, took care of business off the court, and had some funny experiences to tell you guys about.
The week started off with a funny story that I have to share with you guys. Last week, I mentioned that my car was by far the worst car that I have had in my career. I had planned on showing you pictures of it this week but unfortunately that will not be possible. You may be asking why? Well here is the answer:
A teammate of mine who's name I will keep private for the time being wanted me to help him out. He cannot drive a manual (stick shift) car. The vehicle that the team had for him was a stick shift and it was a big van. Now my car is a stick shift as well but not quite as big, and the clutch is a little easier to handle. He felt that it would be easier to drive my smaller car. Now since I am an excellent driver, lol, I decide to test out the van and give him a chance to use my car. If it worked out, I would bite the bullet and keep the van and let him have my car (I know I am such a nice guy haha). Now before we take off with the cars I ask him, Teammate are you sure you know how to drive this stick shift. He says, "Yeh man our other teammate let me drive his and it was easy." So off we go and we get about a quarter of a mile before he pulls to the side of the road to ask me a question. (unrelated) When we take back off I notice that my car, which he is driving, is overcome with smoke! I signal to him with my arms swaying from side to side STOP STOP!! He stops only to try to take off again and even more smoke comes from underneath the car. I get out of the van and walk to the car which smells like the engine is on fire and could explode at any minute! I was afraid that this could be a big deal. I get him out of the car and I get in to check things out. Well, wouldn't you know it. My fears were confirmed when I tried to put the car in gear! This young energetic fella which had gotten into the car with extreme confidence that he could handle it had burnt out the clutch! LOL I will be the first to say that the car had seen better days before he got in it, but he ended its days on the road in a hurry! Haaaa!! Now I am stuck with the van that you see below which has officially earned the nickname "The Tank"! That's right your heard it. As you can see it is definitely not easy on the eyes. It has the blackout spare tire look all around. It has tape holding the bumper and headlights in place. The mirror is hanging on for dear life and the inside could use some work to say the least. But I have to be honest and say that it is good on gas and runs pretty well, lol! It may be a keeper, Haaaaa!




Now i want to clear things up. The way this car looks is no indication of the professionalism of the STB Le Havre basketball club. The club has handled all our needs in a timely manner and have made our stay here really comfortable so far.
As for the basketball side of things, practice is run as good as any team that i have ever been apart of and we really get after it. This past week came in a stretch of the preseason where we do not have any friendly games. This means that we went pretty hard in the conditioning department! This is never a fun part of the game but it is necessary. We left practice a couple of days this week with our tongues hanging out of our mouth. We also got a few 3 a days in this week! When I look back on this week it was a good week of work. It is easier to say that now in hindsight, lol! As the captain of the team ( a position that I am honored to have) I feel good about the guys and the work ethic and chemistry that we possess early.
So after a tough week of practice, Monica and I got a chance to enjoy the city of Le Havre. In case i have not mention in previous blogs, we live on a beautiful beach with a great view! The weather was really nice this weekend and we got out and took some photos to share with you all. It felt good to get out with Monica and enjoy some downtime. We got a few laughs riding around in "The Tank", grabbed a bite to eat, and came back to listen to the big AGGIES vs. RAMS football game. I am an Aggie. She is a Ram. So you know that we were talking a little friendly smack. Of course, the AGGIES won! Aggie Pride!
Well, that is about it for this week's post. Tune in next week as we get back to preseason games. I am going back to my old stomping grounds next week to play the team from Paris, a team that I used to play for and am looking forward to facing. I hope you enjoy the beautiful pictures of Le Havre. Have a great week, let someone know how much they mean to you, and as always EXCEED EXPECTATIONS!