The Puerto Rican basketball league is a short league that consists of about 3 months but there are a lot of games.  We had a nice 3 week preseason where we played in a few tournaments and prepared for our first regular season game which was less than a week ago. We suffered a loss to Guayama Brujos on opening night, however our team then bounced back to beat defending champs Arecibo and then again tonight beating Humacao by 2 points. That’s 3 games in 5 days but it doesn’t stop there. In the month of March, we will have played a total of 15 games. This is very much like this season in the NBA with the shortened season where it’s basically a game every other night. Speaking of the NBA, this season here in Puerto Rico there are more former NBA players than I think the league has ever had. Almost every team in the league, 8 total teams, there is a former NBA player. Here are some of the names in the league that have spent time in the League – Rashad McCants, Jerome James, Shavlik Randolph, Ricky Davis, Julius Hodge, Patrick O’Bryant, Donta Smith, Daniel Santiago, Peter Ramos, Michael Sweetney, Kevin Pinkney, Marlon Garnett, Al Thornton & Melvin Ely. With only 8 teams in the league, each team is loaded and very competitive. There are no off nights here in PR and on any given day, any one can beat anyone.

Very proud of our team for a great win against Arecibo on Saturday night and then to bounce back 48 hours later and beat a very good Humacao team tonight, thanks to point guard Ansel Guzman’s go ahead basket with .2 seconds left. Vamos son Mets!

“When one door closes, another opens.” – Alexander Graham Bell

I write this blog entry with both sadness and excitement. The sadness comes from having to leave my team in Poland midway through the season when we are in 1st place and fighting for a championship. However, I’m excited to have been able to find another team to play for in Puerto Rico – Mets de Guaynabo.

Over the past couple weeks I’ve had to answer a lot of the same question – “Why did you leave Trefl Sopot, Poland?” The simple answer is that both the club and myself had come to agreement that it was time for me to move on. I made a lot of friends in Sopot and I’m grateful for the time I spent there in helping the team to a first place standing midway through the season. It was hard to say goodbye to my teammates, coaches and front office but I’m looking forward to the next chapter in my life. So I wish my old team good luck for the rest of the season! (Continue reading)

Earlier this season we blew a 5 point lead with 40 seconds left in the game and lost to Anwil on the road in Włocławek. It was our first loss of the season and one that still stings every time that game is brought up. Tonight was our chance to avenge that loss on our home court in Ergo Arena.

The 1st 13 minutes of the game belonged to Anwil as they jumped on us early. American shooting guard, John Allen doing most of the damage scoring 11 of his game high 21 in that 1st quarter. He was able to create in the lane and make some tough shots, which helped them as a team to take a 28-22 1st quarter lead. 3 minutes into the 2nd quarter was a completely different game. We completely took control as a team both offensively and defensively in the 2nd quarter by going on a 26-8 run. Our newly acquired shooting guard, Jermaine Mallett, really stepped up for us in that quarter with a couple jump shots, put back dunks and getting to the foul line and having his best game for us thus far in the season. The addition to him in our back court adds another scoring threat to our already dangerous offensive team. (Continue reading)

Photo by Sebastian Rzepiel

It’s no secret that going back to play my former team from last year, Zastal Zielona Góra, was a big game for me on many levels. It’s where I called home last year for 9 months and it will always have a special place in my long basketball career. When we arrived in Zielona Góra, I was able to see many former teammates, coaches and board members and although it felt good to see them again, the main task at hand was preparing for our game with them the following day. This was a big game for us because we were coming off a tough home loss to Siarka, and Zastal and Trefl are very close in the standings and fighting for a top 5 finish. (Continue reading)

Last week we handed PGE Turów Zgorzelec their first loss of the season in a dramatic overtime win, 86-83 at our home in Ergo Arena. As a player the one thing you’re always worried about after coming off of a big emotional win is to have a let down in your next game. This weekend we were on the road playing against AZS Koszalin. Koszalin plays in a small gym that is always sold out and very loud. This was also a game where I’d be playing against my former coach Tomasz Herkt from last year at Zastal Zielona Gora. During the past week in practice our starting center John Turek landed on my foot and twisted his ankle pretty badly where he had to sit most of the week of practice. Some of the players were hopeful that he would play but on game day, his ankle just wasn’t ready and there was no reason to rush him back with such a long season ahead of us. Although John would sit out this game, we would get back injured power forward Filip Dylewicz, who had finally recovered from an arthroscopic knee surgery. (Continue reading)