Checking in during the offseason
6/23/10
Sorry it's been a little while since I last checked in, but I've been enjoying some much-needed downtime after the end of the season. It's been nice to get some rest, I needed to clear my mind a little after the way the season ended. This is a big summer for us, we don't know what will happen with Joe, and we have a new coach now that Coach Woodson is gone.
Larry Drew is the new coach, and I am really looking forward to working with him. He has been our assistant coach the last six years, so I know him well. He would always coach the backups in practice, so I know his style - he's a great mind, he knows the game, and I think he's going to do really good things on offense with the team we have.
Joe is a free agent, so we have to see what happens with that. We'd obviously love to see him back and keep our group together, but you never know it's a business.
I've had a nice off-season. I took some vacation, but now it's getting almost time to get back down to work on getting ready for the new season.
In a week I'm headed back overseas to play for my national team. We have qualification games for the 2011 European championship. Of course it'd be nice to sit at home and have a long summer, but I love playing for my national team so I'm excited to do this.
I join the team in Austria on July 5, but before that I'm going to Istanbul for an NBA camp there. I have always loved doing stuff like this, I've done Basketball Without Borders a couple times so it's great to get to work with kids. I'm really excited about doing this in Turkey, because I played basketball there for six years. I still have a lot of friends and fans there, so I'm excited about it.
The Finals are over now, and it was a great series between the Lakers and Celtics, it went seven games. It was crazy how the momentum kept going back and forth, one day you think the Lakers were going to win, then you'd think the Celtics would win.
It was fun to watch, but every time I was watching I was wishing it was us out there - watching other teams do it, it just motivates us more to work hard and make the Finals someday and make our own experiences.
My vacation is over, and with my national team stuff coming up soon, I'm back to the gym and starting to prepare for next season.
I'm loving watching the World Cup right now as well, its like the Euro championships. My favorite team is Italy, but it doesn't look like they have the team this time around. I think the two best teams are Brazil and Spain, so I am picking Brazil to win it all. I am proud of how the US team has done so far though, so hopefully they can keep it up.