Take A Licking...And Keep On Ticking!

What's up world? I am laying in my bed getting ready to find some breakfast from somewhere, but I decided to go ahead and post my blog for this week. Well it was a tough week for J.J. Miller! I am still standing though and I think the saying goes: "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." Well hopefully I am gaining some strength, lol. Let's get into another week in the life of J.J. Miller.
Well after a tough loss last week, I was determined to make sure that we did not harbor a losing attitude. I wanted to get myself and our team back on the right track immediately! I showed up an hour early for practice on Monday to get an individual work out in. I was just fine tuning some things that I felt needed to be sharp for the upcoming game. I also wanted all my teammates to see me putting in the extra work so that they would know that there was no time to worry about last week's loss. We needed to be fully focused on getting this week's win! Practice started off well on Monday and spilled over into to Tuesday! Unfortunately, that would come to an end before the end of Tuesday's practice. I was working hard on defense, and my rotation called for me to switch on to one of our big guys! Well this meant bad news for me because my teammate can sometimes be out of control and he is really strong! He hit me with an inadvertent elbow or backhand right smack in the mouth. I knew that serious damage was done. Blood was all over the place and I could feel my upper lip swelling up! One look in the mirror and it was obvious that I would be spending some time in the emergency room.
I get to the E.R. in France.... and well my french is o.k. but this is not the time to be mixing up words and having my accent lead the doctors to think I meant something entirely different than what I was really trying to say. I was a little worried but Thank God everything worked out. The doctor spoke a little English and together with my little French we were able to figure things out. I made it clear from the beginning that no action would be necessary if I did not know what was going on, lol!! I ended up getting 4 stitches on the inside of my upper lip and 2 cuts on the outside of my lip that are not suppose to leave a scar. The doctor suggested that I sit out of practice the next day. Even though I was not my normal self I knew that missing practice would not help our situation as a team. Sometimes you have to TAKE A LICKING AND KEEP ON TICKING. Besides, I did not have to mix it up inside the paint if I did not want to. So the very next day in practice we lose our starting big guy to a hip injury that was caused by the same guy that knocked me out of practice, lol!!!! He is a good guy though, and I am sure that he is not taking guys out on purpose????? haha
Anyway, we go into the game shorthanded and nursing a lot of injuries, but we are still capable of winning the ball game. Unfortunately, we come out playing just like the week of practice (incomplete) and we end up getting smashed! This game was the worst performance of the year and we definitely have to do some soul searching after this one! It is not going to be easy, but we have to find a way to get back to doing the things that make us a good team.
As for life off the court, We are less than a week away from Christmas break (one that I really need). Monica is excited about getting back home, but because of our current basketball situation it has not really hit me yet! Don't worry, I am sure it will! We are gonna go check out the Christmas Market here in Le Havre today. I think that will get me into the holiday spirit! I am sure Monica is gonna take a lot of pictures so I will be sharing those with you guys!
Well, I am gonna go now because I am hungry and I need to find something to eat, lol. Eating is not that simple for me right now with these stitches in my lip...haha! I will figure it out though. Thanks for stopping by! I hope your week was better than mine, and I hope that next week is great for everybody. No matter what put your best foot forward and remember to EXCEED EXPECTATIONS!

Even in Defeat...A Valuable Lesson Learned

Good Morning Everyone! This week's blog will be short as this week was a relatively uneventful week. Sometimes this can be a good thing. Basketball is the main attraction as always. So let's hop right into it.

We faced the #1 team in the league(Le Mans) last night at their place. All I can say is that they showed us why they are in the top spot. They outplayed us in every phase of the game! I have to show some love to my homeboy Dee Spencer. He plays for Le Mans, and he really put it on us last night! He is also a part of the Higher Vision Sports AMG family. As I mentioned before, our agency represents the best of the best in Europe and Dee showed why he is in that category!

As for Le Havre, we did some positive things but we also made some mistakes that we have to correct this week. I don't think that this loss will be detrimental to what we are trying to do in this league. I actually think that this loss will be good for us. Last night was a measuring stick and now we know where we stand and exactly where we have to get to.

I did not have the individual game that I wanted to have. However, I did the things that my team needed me to do, in order for us to have a fighting chance! Sometimes the ball bounces that way, and you just have to make the best of it. So I guess it's true that "Even in defeat there is a valuable lesson learned."

Well I have to go now because I have a lunch date with my beautiful wife! Tune in next week as we look to bounce back at home against another tough opponent! Plus, Christmas will be here before you know it! This is normally a very eventful time for me, lol! So thanks for checking out the blog and as always remember to EXCEED EXPECTATIONS!