 |
 |
 |
|
Wednesday July 28th , 2010 EURO-TRIP! Fresh from the upset tournament win in Sofia over Bulgaria Tuesday night, the sun shined brighter, the air was fresher and the city of Sofia seemed almost as beautiful as her name. After an intense traning camp filled with two-a-day workouts and team meals and team meetings, it felt great to achieve something together. Although there was some thought to reward the players with no practice Wednesday morning, team captain Petr Benda came to Pavel at dinner Tuesday night and asked for a light practice Wednesday in exchange for more rest time Friday. Pavel bought the idea and compromised. It was a win-win situation for everyone that only added to the two wins from the previous two days.
Sleeping on the satisfaction of the hardfought tournament wins, the extra hour before the alarm clocks went off was something special. 8:30am breakfast found everyone in a good mood. Even conditioning coach Ladja Hojka had everyone laughing with some 'Mellon' jokes. Of course I did not understand them until they were explained in english but seeing an entire table of guys waiting with suspense for the punch line before bursting in laughter is funny in itself. But behind the smiles and laughs, our team was beat up. No one played harder in the two games than Pavel Slezak --- unfortunately, he paid for it. Hobbled with an ankle injury, a tender shoulder from getting floored on a screen and late game cramps, Pavel was under close care of physio Petr Toncar. Also needing attention was team leader Lubos Barton who tweaked a hamstring in the fourth quarter preventing him from playing in the overtime. Next in line was point guard Michal Carnecky who suffered a hard-hit on his thigh causing a deep contusion. All minor bumps and bruises that are normal to a team, the players all participated in practice but were happy about the upcoming two days off.
11am walk through on the floor in Sofia Bulgaria with Pavel taking the team through adjustments. Managing the situation, Pavel planned a free shooting warmup, walk through segment to make a few corrections and introduce new sets. After the on-court basketball work, Ladja took the team to the sideline and put the players through active stretching and strength work using chairs from the team bench. It was interesting to watch the variety of core exercises possible with simply a chair and a partner as dips, bridges and abdominal work filled the next fifteen minutes. Ladja signaled to Pavel the workout was complete and Pavel brought the team to the middle of the floor. As I picked up my coaching bag and put on my classic red, white and blue Czech Republic hat, I had the feeling walking out of the gym that it would be the last time I would ever be there and that I would never see that floor again. With two wins in the bag, I did not look back.
Airport in Sofia Bulgaria. We hopped on the aqua-green bus and headed back to the Triada hotel. Lunch was set for 12noon and check out for 1pm. Everyone kept lunch quick and disappeared from the restaurant returning to their rooms to pack. I met with Bulgarian Assistant coach Oliver Kostic for a short cup of coffee and we talked with mutual friend Marko Pesic on the telephone. Pavel joined us for a short talk before running out of time. 1pm came too quickly and the aqua-green bus was waiting to shuttle our team to the airport. The last one out of the hotel, I shook hands with Oli and walked across the street to load my black Czech Republic team travel bag onto the bus. Manager Jakub 'Kuba' Dura was waiting in front holding onto the tournament Cup --- it was nice for the team to head home with some hardware.
At the airport one of the best moments of the trip took place. While the aqua-green bus pulled up curbside in front of the Sofia Airport, everyone got out of their seats and routinely stepped into the aisle toward the two bus exits. Ladja and I both noticed a balding, fat sloppy airport security office sitting in a luggage carrier while smoking a cigarette. Ladja whispered 'take his picture'. Recognizing the brilliance of this moment, I stepped into line to walk off the bus and instead of following everyone to the bags, I got my camera ready and veered to the right. Here was this fantastic photo opportunity which was possibly the best picture of the trip! Turning the camera verticle, I waited for the security guard to look my way. I expected a smile. Snapping the picture with flash, I smiled at the talent and checked the result. Suddenly, this guy hops off the line of luggage carriers, puts out his cigarette and marches toward me talking in Bulgarian. He clearly was not happy that I took his picture and was trying to sieze my camera! I looked at him and said 'I dont know what you are saying to me' and turned around to see if anyone on the team was watching. Of course they were and they loved it. He tried to take my camera and I would not give it to him. For a moment it was a tug-of-war. Finally, Pavel came to the rescue and difused the situation. Unfortunately, I was forced to delete the image and the customary Bulgarian jail jokes followed for the next few minutes.
David Marak, Ales Chan and Pavel Slezak are find joy in a Krtek cartoon while waiting at the gate. While we all enjoyed the jokes from my brush with airport security, a more serious conversation was taking place inside the airport at the check-in line. Pavel was informing young center Tomas Hampl that he was being replaced on the roster by a 3rd point guard. The talented young post player who played last season in ACB Spain with Bilbao was the sixth post player on a 12 man roster so for balance was replaced after the Bulgarian trip. Just happy for the experience and positive about the fact Pavel kept him on the team for the trip to Sofia, Tomas was fine with the news and even asked Pavel if he should go to Spain to prepare for the upcoming season or stay in the Czech Republic to be ready in case he is needed to come back to the team.
Bohie, Big Z and Tomas are amazed by the computer. Once we checked in, we moved through the airport to the gate B6. Our flight was Czech Airlines OK 857 and it was on time for 3:10pm. While waiting at the gate, everyone entertained themselves in their own way. Lubos Barton and Pavel Pumprla read books, Ales Chan and Zbynek 'Big Z' Pospisil put on a movie for teammates. Pavel talked on the phone while the rest of the staff walked around the airport. Despite the differences in entertainment, everyone had one thing in common --- looking forward to get home.
Ales Chan said he was number 1 on the airplane. The two-hour flight was smooth. I did not see most of it as I tried to catch up on some missing sleep. Czech Airlines was simple and without flash of televisions or entertainment. No one seemed to miss it. I did like the 'Turkey Cube' they served for a snack. Returning my watch one hour back to Central European time, we touched down in Prague just after 4pm.
Sofia, Bulgaria from above. The plans were set. After an effort-filled training camp and a tremendous first step together in Bulgaria, the team had earned some time off. Pavel drove home to see his family in Chomutov. Players made plans to visit families. Kuba arranged a hotel room for me to enjoy some personal time in Prague. Physio Petr Toncar drove me across the city to the hotel. We stopped along the way at a store for 'Floor ball' which is basically floor hockey. The entire store was for 'Floor ball'. The sold everything from the best plastic gym-class hockey sticks to whiffle balls to masks and jerseys. I even saw a jockstrap.... and a cup. We were there to pick up an ankle brace for Michal Carnecky. He picked out a white one. I would have gone with black, but its his deal. Michal said 'Ahoj' in the parking lot and drove off. Petr and I jumped in his phyiso-mobile and finished the drive to the hotel. As we made our way across the city, Generali Arena, the soccer stadium for Sparta Prague suddenly appeared amidst construction for a new subway stop. Turning left and driving across a bottle-neck of traffic moving in the opposite direction, Petr weaved his way through the one-way back streets around the corner to the Art Hotel. A newly redone red building, the Art Hotel stands connected to the former home to Sparta Prague basketball, which will be our practice gym when the team returns together Friday night at 10pm. For now, the Czech Republic national team is spread all across the country. And although the team is momentarily apart, positive first steps in Bulgaria bond them together.
Generali Arena, the home for Sparta Prague soccer team just around the corner from Art Hotel Prague --- home base for a few days.
Follow all the fast breaking ratiopharm Ulm and international baketball action all season long on Taylorhoops.com! GO ULM! MIKE T
|
. |
 |
 |
Email: info@taylorhoops.com