1-1 After Road Trip

Hey there! After the 5 day road trip that we had last week we ended it with a record of 1-1. We lost our first road trip game at Vichy. We didn't play very well and we got beat by 21 points. I try not to remember that game too much. After that game our record stood at 10-5 and still in 3rd place. Last night we played Chalon and we got a much needed win. We won 82-75. We fell behind by 8 points at half, but the second half we battled back and it was a close ball game the entire 4th quarter. We needed some free throws at the end of the game to secure the road win. It was a win that we really needed since we had been on a bit of a losing streak. I ended with 23 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals in 40 minutes of play. JK Edwards had a solid double double with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Demetris Nichols and Cyril Akpomedah each were in double figures with 13 and 15 points. Rob Lewin one of our big men returned to action last night from an injury. It was definitely a nice spark for us having him back in action. Again we had a number of guys in double figures which is always nice to see. Our next game is this Saturday vs the first place team in our league Le Mans. I am looking forward to a good game and hopefully a good turn out with our amazing fans!

Below is a link that you can see some highlights from our Strasburg game which was played a while ago. I wanted to grab some type of highlights even though it is from awhile ago so you can see something other than pictures. Enjoy the French and enjoy the highlights. I hope you all have a wonderful day and I ask that each person that reads this says a simple pray for the people in Haiti as we all know how tragic that situation is. Take Care and God Bless (Joshua 1:9)

http://www.bcm.deltafm.fr/index.php?saison=&cat=4&id=2237

Pictures from Nancy game

Hey there! I am sitting in a hotel room bored right now so I thought I would put up some pictures from our last home game vs Nancy. We have a make up game tomorrow night in Vichy, which will be an exciting game. I am looking forward to getting back on the court after a loss to Nancy. Well here are a couple pictures that you can take a look at. Waiting for some highlights so I can post them as well. As always take care and God Bless! (Joshua 1:9)

Quick Update

Hey!! I wanted to write you a quick update on how things are going over here before I head to practice. We had a French League game on Saturday vs Nancy. We ended up losing 90-74. It was a tie ball game at half 43-43, but the second half they continued to play well and we didn't play our best. We have a number of guys with injuries that doesn't help. Yannick Bokolo our starting 2 guard hurt his hamstring again in the first half of the game and also our other big man Rob Lewin is out with a groin injury still. It definitely is hurting us that those guys are out with injuries. I ended up having 15 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds on 4/13 shooting. I definitely started to get tired in the 2nd half and I could tell that it was taking a toll on the body. I ended up playing 40 minutes that game. Cyril had 17 points and 7 rebounds and JK Edwards had 13 points and 8 rebounds. We play a make up game on Wednesday vs. Vichy that was cancelled due to the H1N1 virus that a couple of the players from Vichy had. Hopefully we can get back on track and come out with a road win. After that game we head to Rouen for another away game, so we will be on a 5+ day road trip. I will definitely let you know how the games go when I get a chance. Below is a picture of my face after the game. Can't remember if they called a foul or not, but lets hope so.

Other than basketball I got a new car. My teammate Demetris Nichols needed an bigger automatic car for his family so they asked me if I could give him my car. I gave him the automatic car that I had and in return they gave me a different car. However, this car is a stick shift. I really enjoy driving it around and it allows me to practice up on my manuel driving skills. I will admit I have killed it a couple times haha but I have had it for 5 days now and I definitely have the hang of it now. Its a bigger car than what I had before and it has more horsepower than my previous car. I do enjoy driving it. Well I wanted to let you know what else was going on over here just besides basketball updates. Everything is going pretty well, lets just hope that we can get back on track and get a winning streak going again. Hope you have a wonderful and blessed day. God Bless you all!! (Joshua 1:9)

Back with a WIN

Bon jour! (Hello, Good Day) Last night we had our last EuroChallenge game. We ended with a Win. We played a team from Russia, who we had played earlier in the year in Russia. We won 77-68. The Russian team had actually changed their team around quite a bit and we found ourselves playing James Gist, and Gerald Green (lottery pick out of high school). It was a fun game even though the game didn't help us in any way. We needed the Germany team to win last night in order for us to move onto the next round in the EuroChallenge. The Germany team lost last night which means we are out and did not qualify for the next round. There were 3 teams at 3-2 in our pool, however it is decided on point differential and we had the highest point differential so we are out. I was pretty bummed about that since now we have to go back to playing 1 game a week until we start the French Cup. Trey Johnson was on fire last night hardly missing a shot and scoring 30 points. I was next with 13 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds. Jk Edwards and Tony Stanley rounded out the guys in double figures with 10 points each. It was nice getting back on track and getting a win for us even though the game really didn't matter in terms of moving on to the next round or not.

Other than that, things are going well over here. I see the Lord blessing me day in and day out which I am extremely thankful for and praise him for it constantly. I pray that He is doing the same in your lives. It is kinda cold over here with snow on the ground right now. People say that they never get snow over here but so far this winter I have seen it pretty much every morning on the ground. I know is nothing to you people living in the Dakotas/Minnesota with the frigid cold weather, I get updated on it from my Grandpa and Grandma all the time haha!! Well I hope you have an amazing day, wanted to give you a quick update on how things are going over here and the game last night. Talk again soon! God Bless (Joshua 1:9)

2 game losing streak

Good afternoon! I really really really don't like losing so you can imagine how the last couple games have gone. We are on a 2 game losing streak right now. We lost to a team out of Germany last Tuesday and we lost to Poitiers on Saturday (French League game). The French game really hurt us when we walked off the court with a lose. We have a couple guys with injuries/sickness so that doesn't help. Rob Lewin, one of our big men is still out with a groin injury and Yannick Bokolo (our combo guard) didn't play in the game on Saturday in Poitiers. We could have definitely used both of those guys. I came down with a sickness before the trip with a 101+ temp, having the fever and getting hot and cold chills (so much for that flu shot working huh??). I still played the game since we were short on players the way it was. Let me just quickly tell you how I was feeling. The entire game I was extremely weak, but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was my head felt like it was in a box!! I was so congested it was hard for me to hear what was being said in the huddles haha. Thought I would just throw that in there and let you know how my body was feeling. I feel a lot better now and I am glad because we have another EuroChallenge game tomorrow at home. The game vs Poitiers we didn't play well at all. We didn't move the ball well as a team, played no defense, and we didn't shoot the ball that well. Trey Johnsen lead the team with 21 points, he was knocking down his shots and creating for others. I had 13 points (0-6 3 Fg), 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 5 TO :(! Hopefully we can get back on the winning streak that we were on. We are currently 10-3 and in 3rd place in our French League. I hope you are all having a wonderful day and if you ever want to chat or have specific questions for me don't be afraid to ask me. I am back to just myself over here in France so I will have plenty of time to respond. Take care and God Bless (Joshua 1:9)

Victory in Strasburg

Good Afternoon! I am going to get right into what happened this past Saturday. We had an away game in Strasburg for our French League. It was quite the game. To start the game Strasburg was on FIRE. It seemed like they were never missing a shot. We got down by 14 at one point in the first quarter. However, we fought back and ended up being down 50-51 at half time. As you can see it was a high scoring first half. The second half started with both teams going back and forth for most of the 3rd quarter. We started to stretch the lead in the 4th quarter and eventually ended up winning 102-91. It was the highest point total we have had as a team this year. We had 5 guys in double figures. I had 23 points (5-9 FG, 2-2 3FG, 7-10 FT), 6 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals. Our big man JK Edwards ended with 17 points on 7-13 shooting, 4 rebounds. Our new addition to the team Demetris Nichols had 16 points. Cyril had a nice double double with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Yannick Bokolo had 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists to round out the 5 guys in double figures. As you can see it was a very balanced scoring night. We have had this type of productivity in a number of games and it is always a pleasure playing this team basketball that we have! Our French League record stands at 10-2. There is two teams at 11-2 and we are at 10-2 to round out the top 3 in our league. We play a EuroChallenge game tonight at home verse a team from Germany. We are tied for first with the German team we play tonight. If we win tonight its pretty much a guarantee that we will play in the next round of the EuroChallenge. I will let you know how the game goes tonight with another update on the blog.

I pray that everyone had a safe and Happy New Year. I forgot to mention that I went to Brugge with my girlfriend yesterday and it was amazing there. Below are some photos from the trip that we went on to Brugge, Belgium. If you can ever get a chance to come over seas I suggest you hit up Paris along with Brugge. It is a wonderful place. They call it the Venice of the North supposedly. Well take care and I will write again soon. God Bless (Joshua 1:9).

Back In Business

I am back in business with my blog. I was on Christmas Vacation back home and took a minor leave of absence from the blogging scene. I arrived in France on Tuesday and played in the All-Star game that I got invited to on Wednesday, had two practices Thursday, traveled to Strasburg Friday, and we have a game tomorrow. It has been pretty eventful these last couple of weeks for me. I traveled back here in France with my girlfriend, which was nice because it allowed for some great company for all the travel hours that has consumed most of my time lately. Its always great having company at the house being able to talk with someone other than just my computer. We got to go to the Eiffel Tower, and a couple other sight-seeing places in Paris. Since the All-Star game was in Paris we got some time to venture out and check some places out. Paris is an amazing place!!

Well I just wanted to let you know that we have a game tomorrow and that I will get back to updating a couple times a week and filling you in on the life over here in France. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year to you! Be thankful for the things you have and God Bless! (Joshua 1:9)