First week of the season, First win of the season!!

Good evening everybody! It is 7:50 pm here in Le Havre and I am chilling after an awesome week. If you have been following my blog you know that I was really looking forward to this past week, because it was the first week of the season. There were a lot of things that had to take place and I must say that it did not disappoint. Also my wife and I had a chance to do some site seeing today and it was nice. So here we go. The first week of the regular season went like this:
We started off the week with a very focused attitude. I notice from the beginning that we were working hard and precise. I wanted to make sure that I stayed in tune with making sure everyone understood the assignments that coach gave us, and that we were committed to getting them done. As the point guard and captain of the team I wanted to make sure we were communicating a lot! The practice week went really well and I felt good going into the game on Saturday.
As for the beginning of the season formalities, everything was in progress and made for a very busy week. I think that I had to do at least 2 interviews as well as some photo shoots. But that is normal for the beginning of the season. Normally these type of things can distract you from the task at hand, but this was not the case for me. Actually it was these things that made me even more focused! I mean every interview made me realize that this week's game was for real. It counted! It was extremely important for us to get off on the right foot and set the tone for the season in front of our home crowd (which might I add was a great crowd!).
As far as the game goes, it was a good one! Vichy is a team known for their defense and I must say that they lived up to their reputation. They doubled the post every time we passed it in and they were aggressive on the ball as well. However, we were prepared and handle the pressure pretty well early. We got off to a good start and led by 10 for most of the first half. Unfortunately for us Vichy made a run towards the end of the first half and cut the game to 1 at halftime. Coming out in the second half I wanted to make a conscious effort to be more aggressive on both ends of the floor. I did just that and together with my teammates we once again built a lead of 10 points and held it until the end of the 4th quarter. With 3 minutes left to go Vichy tried to shake things up with a little zone press and they did just that. We made some untimely turnovers and let them back in the game. But the clock and the bonus was on our side and as long as we could have the ball we could score on the line. We knocked down our free throws and kept a hold on the game until the last minute of the match! We missed an opportunity or 2 and found ourselves down by 1 point with 35 seconds left to go, but we had the ball! I must admit that I was concerned but still confident that we could get a bucket and secure the victory. They denied me the ball as any smart team would, lol! But our other guard handles the ball well enough to make plays and he did a good job of finding me on the wing where I was able to elude my man and get a wide open jump shot for the win. Unfortunately the shot rimmed out but our big guy was there to collect the rebound and kick it back out with less that 10 seconds left. Again another penetration drew my defender to the middle and allowed me to get free for just a second. I got a look at the basket from 3 point range and was not only able to get a shot off but was fouled in the act of shooting!! There was 1.8 seconds left on the clock, we were down 1 and I was on the free throw line for 3 shots. Needless to say, I iced 2 out of 3 free throws to secure the win and STB LE HAVRE is now 1-0!!! I want to tip my hat to Vichy who came into our house and pushed us to the end. However, the best team prevailed last Saturday night! To all my teammates I say JOB WELL DONE! We did what we had to do to get the win and that is big time in my book! On a personal note, I am happy with my play but not satisfied. I finished the game with 17 points and 8 assists but there is still work to be done. There are always ways to improve. I have included a few pics from the game below.












So earlier today Monica and I went to enjoy some of the beautiful sites that Le Havre and the surrounding cities of the Normandy region have to offer. It was a nice day of relaxation and enjoyment. I really had a chance to soak up some of God's wonderful work! I am really blessed to be able to see the world! Again I have included some pictures for you guys to checkout. Hope you enjoy and tune in next week as we hit the road to face another good team (Dijon)! Be blessed this week, trust God for the best in your life, and as always remember to EXCEED EXPECTATIONS!