3 Straight Wins... Tel Aviv Sunday!

I figured since we had early practice this morning, and I have some time to kill before Passover dinner, I would jump on the computer and update the blog.  Right now things are going very very well for the team, as well for myself.  I have started the last three games, and averaged about 20 minutes in each of those games.  We have won all three of those games, including last weekend on the road in Ashkelon against a very very tough team.  They had a much different look this time around (we play every team twice) as they had a few new imported players.  It was pretty neat because one of the foreigners they have is CJ Bruton, a guard from Australia.  He was a teammate on the Australian National Team with my former teammate from SMC, Patty Mills.  After the game we caught up for a bit, and I think he was pretty happy to hear a familiar story!

This week we host the top team in the league... Maccabi Tel Aviv.  We are really excited about this game because we feel like we are playing some really good ball going into this important game.  We can use this game as a measuring stick to see if we truly are ready for the playoffs which are only three weeks away!!  The time has really started to fly over here, and truthfully, I think it is because I am finally getting good playing time!! Makes everything a lot more enjoyable I will tell you that!

Anyway, I am going with my teammate Tamir Goodman to celebrate Passover with his family tonight.  It should be a great experience because Tamir is very religious, and I am pretty interested to see the differences in the way his family celebrates the holiday. 

Well, those are the updates for now, hopefully at this time next week I will be telling you all about a big victory on our home court!

Happy Passover y'all.

First Start as a Pro... Win Gets the Team Back on Track...

Last Sunday's game against Kiryat Ata was good for a number of reasons.  After losing three games in a row, we really needed a win to get back on track, and fortunately for us... we did.  We played some inspired ball, as the guys realized that losing again would really have put us in a precarious position.  The team we played is one of the teams at the bottom of our league, so maybe experiencing success against them was just what we needed going forward.

After playing the last 20 minutes of the Nahariya game the week before, and having another real good week of practice, I was in the starting lineup against Kiryat Ata.  I was proud to have the opportunity to start, and it made me happy that my hard work and continued improvement got me the opportunity!  Hopefully it is a trend that continues, as I am getting used to playing, and I don't want that to stop!

This week we play another team that is fighting for a playoff spot in Givat Schmuel.  They are a young, pretty talented team, and another good effort from our team will be needed! 

Team in a Rut... Trying to work our way out!!

First off, I want to apologize...again... for taking so long to update the blog.  It has been a hectic couple weeks over here, but now that it has calmed a bit, I find myself with a little more time to update you all.  

Basketball wise, we are struggling quite a bit right now... we have lost our last three games, and now we start another week of practice, trying to right the ship.  I got my first significant amount of playing time in awhile this last sunday playing all 20 minutes of the second half.  The only problem was we were already down by 25 at halftime.  We need to get back to playing inspired ball, and find a way to get back on track!  We are now in a 3 way tie for 3rd place again, so we really need to step it up these next couple weeks so we can get a good seed for the playoffs.  

On a personal level, it was good to finally get some playing time after having a couple real good weeks of practice.  I thought I did a real nice job, so hopefully I can keep getting those minutes going forward!!

Non-basketball wise, I had a minor blip on the radar two weeks ago when I had my apartment broken into.  The crazy part was the intruder was still in my bedroom when I came home!! Avoiding confrontation, once I knew he was in there, I walked outside and called the police.  When we came back in, we saw he jumped out my bedroom window, which is 15 feet off the ground or so.  I was super super fortunate, and got home when I did, which startled the guy, and he left without taking any of my stuff, but he had packed a backpack full of all my expensive electronics to take, so I was lucky to get home when I did!!

This next week we play Qiryat Ata, who is currently in last place, BUT has a different roster now and is playing a lot better!! WE NEED TO WIN THIS GAME!!!

One last thing, I want to congratulate my two little cuzo's Daniel and Matthew, who had their bar mitsvah this last weekend in Atlanta!  I wish I could have been there to see the little fellahs on this great day, and I heard they did a wonderful job!! 

I will be back on the blog a lot more consistently going forward, so thanks for keeping up!!

Beaten on a Buzzer Beater, Lost by 1 in the Cup Final

This last week has been pretty crazy, as we have had both the Cup Semi-Final game against Jerusalem, and last night, the Cup Final against Hapoel Holon.  

In the Cup Semi's we were heavy underdogs going up against 2nd place Jerusalem without our starting point guard Doron Perkins who is out with a groin injury.  We were 9 point underdogs going into the game, so no one expected us to win.  We played Jerusalem at the Nokia Center in Tel Aviv (where Maccabi TA plays) and the gym was frickin' packed.  All four semi-final teams brought pretty large amounts of people which led to very few empty seats.  Hapoel Holon beat Nahariya right before we played, so their fans stayed to root us on against Jerusalem (figuring we would be the easier team to defeat in the Final).  After a back and forth game all night which saw many lead changes, we were up by 2 with 30 seconds to go in the game.  We played GREAT defense on the posession forcing their four-man to shoot a contested step back 3 pointer with nearly no time left on the shot clock... the shot we wanted them to take... and sure enough... HE MADE IT.  So down 1 point with 8 seconds to go, we get the ball to Moshe Mizrahi on a baseline cut with 2 seconds left, and he shoots a circus 5 footer, gets fouled, and MAKES THE SHOT! We are now up 1, he misses the free throw because they do not have any timeouts, and they have to attempt a full court shot as time expires... and we WIN!!  This is the first time in 20 years of Israeli basketball that neither Jerusalem or Maccabi Tel Aviv were in the Cup Final.  Regardless of who won between us and Holon it would be a new champion for the first time in 25 years or so.

So onto the final...

We played Holon who we had beat three times already this year (two friendly games, and once in league) so we were very confident that we could get the job done.  The final went eerily similar to that of the Semi-final, as there were a lot of lead changes, and a lot of back and forths... and once again it came down to the final posession.  We were up 1 and had the ball with 8 seconds left, and got fouled.  We went to the line and hit 1 of 2 free throws, and had a 2 point lead as they rushed the ball up the court with 7 seconds to go.  Their veteran point guard who comes off the bench, brought the ball up and found himself trapped with nowhere to go 15 ft from the basket.  With two seconds left he dribbled back out to the corner and shot a double pump, step back, super contested three pointer over two defenders...AND MADE IT WITH NO TIME LEFT.  I have never seen anything like it to end a game that I participated in.  We did everything we could do on that posession, he just made a ridiculous shot to beat us, that is the bottom line.  

So in the span of .5 seconds, we went from being on top of the world, to the bottom.  I guess that is why you play basketball for moments like that, you just never want to be on the losing end.  

The crazy thing is we play this same Holon team in the league schedule this weekend in their gym, so it will be a good chance for us to display our character and see what we can do.  That's all for now, and I will be sure to update the blog after that game.  I hope everyone is well, and I will be back soon!

Solid win against Rishon, 8-4 and alone in 3rd...

We played a new and improved Rishon team on Saturday, and scraped a close one out.  The first time we played Rishon, we beat them by 25 at their place.  Obviously their management wasn't too pleased with the way the team was performing because they went out and signed two really good American dudes to help the team out.  The first three games they played with the new players they picked up wins, and in their fourth game we were only able to beat them by 6 at home.  After personally playing real well against Ramat Gan the weekend before, I didn't get in this game, and not really sure why.  All that is important is that the team got the W, and now we got to focus on this upcoming week when we play Hapoel Jerusalem in the Cup Semifinals in the Nokia Center in Tel Aviv.  Also, in the other games in the league this weekend, everything we wanted to happen did.  We have created quite the gap between us and the teams battling for 6th place, so unless we have a major collapse we should cruise to the playoffs.  

This week will be good because everyone will be dialed in for Jerusalem, knowing if we get by them we have a very winnable game in the Cup Finals, which would lead to very nice bonuses for all the guys on the team!! That's really the only update for now, the weather is getting really nice again, and it is almost time for myself to be hitting the beach up again!

Great Visit with the Parents, and a Big Win Last Week..

Once again it has taken me awhile to update the blog, but I have a very good excuse this time.  My parents arrived here a little more than a week and a half ago, and I wanted to spend as much time with them as possible while they were here!  If you know me, you know I am not one for day trips and travel, but since my parents made the trip half way across the world, I owed it to them to be the best tour guide I could.  The first free day we had we headed down to Tel Aviv and ended up spending a good three hours at the beach.  We found a really cool restaurant on the water, and we just chilled, starin' into the ocean for a long while.  It was real cool, and when we were done, we had to head back to Haifa because I practiced early the next day.  During the week last week, we stayed local in Haifa, visiting the German Colony and the Baha'i Gardens... two local touristy spots in Haifa.  Both places were pretty cool, the Baha'i Gardens are beautiful, but we couldn't go all the way in because it was closed up that day.  Other than those two visits, we really just laid low during the week, went to a bunch of great restaurants and enjoyed each other's company.  When this last Sunday rolled around it was game time again (the second game my parents got to see) and fortunately for myself and them, I got some real good minutes in the 1st half, and played real well.  I had two quick 3's as soon as I got into the game, and played 10 mins total in the first half.  We ended up beating Ramat Gan pretty well, by about 20 points, and I ended up with 8 pts, 2 assists, and 2 boards in 12 mins.  It was great to be able to get that much playin' time with my parents in the building, and they really enjoyed it.  

The next day (this Monday) it was their last full day in Israel, and I had the day off, so we day tripped down to Jerusalem.  Knowing we didn't have a whole bunch of time, we headed straight for the Western Wall.  It was a real cool experience to be able to go to the wall with my pops (the wall is sectioned off so only men can go on one side, and females on the other).  We got some really good pictures, so if anyone wants to see them, just shoot me an e-mail at golden.todd@gmail.com and I will send 'em to you.  We spent about 2 hours in the Old City of Jerusalem, and it was a great experience.  

As for hoop, I have been playing a lot more (12 mins last game, 15 mins the game before that) so hopefully this is a trend that continues... we are 9-4, and have 3rd place to ourselves, so we are in very good position right now... hopefully we can keep it up.  That's it for now, and remember, if you want to see those pics, just shoot me an e-mail.  Be good.

Big Cup Win in Afula... Some Interesting Experiences

Sorry for the day delay, but I didn't have a lot of time at my computer yesterday.  Two nights ago we were able to shake off a really pesky second division team in Afula by about 12 points.  This was not an easy game by any stretch of the imagination, as we were down by 8 at one point late in the 3rd quarter.  Personally, this was a good game for me because I played a lot of minutes.  I knocked down and three, and hit some free throws for my scoring, but early in the 4th quarter something happened to me on the court that has never happened to me before.  A guard for their team, a veteran who spent some time in the first division earlier this season, purposely tangled himself up with me, trying to instigate something... When I didn't respond except for holding my ground, and bumping him off me a bit, he fell to the ground, and as he got up, grabbed me in my lower male body region.  After he grabbed my right testicle (I'm trying to be as PC as possible here) I stormed over to the ref, pleading to him what the hell just happened, but he didn't seem to care all that much.  I was pretty furious, but the guy who grabbed me received a technical about a minute later for his 5th foul, and he was out of the game.  

Like I said, we ended up winning by 12, and now we are headed to Tel Aviv for the 'Cup Final Four' which takes place in Mid- February.  It will be a pretty cool experience, and we are looking forward to it.

Next game is tomorrow night, at home, against Bnei Hasharon.  This will be our 11th game of the season, therefore meaning, we have reached the halfway point.  

My parents are on their way to Israel as we speak, so it will be pretty awesome to have them over here, and at a few games.  I don't know what we have planned in terms of sight-seeing, but I am sure they will want to do something!!

Up 1 after the 3rd quarter... Unable to Hang on Against Tel Aviv

Last night we were on the road against Maccabi Tel Aviv.  It was a game that would decide who was in sole possession of second place from this point forward as we were both 7-2 going into the game.  There was a lot on the line, and you could tell by the atmosphere in the arena.  Maccabi TA plays in the Nokia Center which seats about 10 to 11 thousand people.  It definitely wasn't full, but I would guess there was between 7 to 8 thousand people there, and it was veryyyyy loud. 

We got off to a great start leading by 6 at the end of the first quarter, and showing Maccabi TA that we were ready to go, and that we were not going to lay down for them.  The second quarter went back and forth, and I got an opportunity to check in the game with a minute left until half-time.  This was a pretty neat experience because right when I got in, I had the assignment to guard Carlos Arroyo.  For those of you who don't know who he is, he had a 7-year NBA career before deciding to sign in Israel for 3 million untaxed dollars a year.  Anyway, he missed a shot, they got the offensive rebound back, and got the ball back to him, and he tried to isolate me one on one from the top of the key.  After he gave me a quick cross-over move, I was able to stay close enough to contest his shot, and he ended up missing front rim, a big win for me hahahahah.  I also got an open look from 3 on the other end, which I missed back-rim.  I'm still mad at myself for missing that shot, but not much I can do now!!

We went into half-time down 5, and played great in the 3rd quarter to take a 1 point lead going into the 4th.  In the 4th we just ran out of gas, and were not able to hit shots when we needed them.  We ended up losing by 11, but it was a 4 point game with 1:30 minutes to go, basically way closer than the final score indicated.  

We are obviously very disappointed we weren't able to take advantage of a great opportunity, but now we can't wait to get a shot at them in our own gym late in the season.

The week ahead is big for us, we have a cup game Wednesday, and we play Bnei Hasharon next Saturday.  Not to mention, Scott and Gale Golden will be making their touchdown to the homeland Saturday morning before the Bnei game.  

I will update everyone after the 'Cup Game', because if we win that we are in the Cup Final Four.  Hope everyone had a great weekend, and I will be back soon!

Big Game Tomorrow Against Maccabi Tel Aviv...

What's up everyone? I hope you had a real good week... After our solid win against Ashkelon last weekend, we have our biggest test of the season, followed by a pretty wild week.  Tomorrow (Sunday) we play Maccabi Tel Aviv in their home arena, the Nokia Center.  If you know anything about European basketball you know Maccabi Tel Aviv is often one of the best teams in all of Europe, and usually dominates the competition in their home country, Israel.  Well this year, they have already taken two losses in the Israeli League (to Jerusalem and Bnei Hasharon), and they have been proven to be beatable.  We head into the game after a long week of practices in an ice box of a gym, but when warm-ups get going, I am pretty sure everyone on our team will be ready to go.  Maccabi Tel Aviv's top players are Carlos Arroyo who spent a number of years with the Pistons, Magic, and Jazz in the NBA, as well as Marcus Fizer who was a top 5 draft pick of the Chicago Bulls almost ten years ago.  They have two real good young Israeli players also named Lior Eliyahu and Omri Casspi, both young slashing type forwards who have high ceilings.  Hopefully we can catch them on an off night, which could prove to be all we need to sneak a victory against them.

As for other things going on in Israel, the war in the south is still in full force, and it is somewhere in the ballpark of day 20.  On Thursday I believe, there were also some rockets shot from the north in Lebanon, and landed in a town in the very northeast portion of Israel.  Haifa, where I am, is located in the northwest, and the closest anything has come to us was when a few rockets landed in Nahariya which is about 45 minutes straight north from us.

That's all I got for right now, but I will update pretty quickly after the Tel Aviv game.  

Big ups to my alma mater, Saint Mary's College (CA)... they are currently 16-1, and chillin' in the top 25.

Beat Ashkelon...now 7-2 and tied for 2nd place...

Last night we hosted Ashkelon in our gym for the Monday night game of the week.  I really had no idea how we were going to play because we were still a little banged up, and had never really put it together in our previous week of practice.  Fortunately for us, Ashkelon was dealing with the same issues.  They have the leading scorer in the league, and for some reason he didn't start, nor did he play with the same scoring tenacity that he had on the film we watched.  Regardless, we played very good defensively in the second half, and after spreading it to a double digit lead early in the 2nd half, it never got close the rest of the way.  

This leaves us at 7-2, and tied with Maccabi Tel Aviv for 2nd place behind Jerusalem.  Next week we have the very tough task of heading down to Tel Aviv and playing them in their home gym, the 10k seat gym of Nokia Center.  It should be pretty cool playing against Maccabi Tel Aviv for the first time.  They are the New York Yankees of Israeli basketball, always playing in EuroLeague competition, as well as always having a much bigger budget than the rest of the league.  Either way, it will be a real good test for us, so we can see how we measure up.

As for the non-basketball, everything is safe and sound here in Haifa.  The only minor scare we had was the one instance where rockets were fired from the north and landed in Nahariya (40 mins away, a city we have played in before).  Fortunately, it seems as if that North attack was a one time thing, and seems to be nothing to worry about in the future.  Obviously the stuff in Gaza is still going on, but one report on the TV over here said Israel is close to hitting all of their targets, which means it might not be lasting that much longer.  Although I would rather not see any war at all, it has been very interesting being over here during this time, and seeing the back and forths between Israeli leaders and Palestinian leaders, and being here while it is all going on.  

That is all I got for now, but I will be back later in the week for another update.  Hope all is well with everyone!

Happy New Year to All... I'm Backkkk

First off, I want to wish everyone a safe and happy new year!  Hopefully everyone had a great time on NYE and made it home safely.  We kept it pretty low key in Haifa, as most of the guys from the team met at a restaurant for dinner, and to ring in the New Year.  It was good to be with the guys as they are my 'family' over here.  

If you are wondering where the blogs have been, they have been in hibernation, as I was in the states for a good two weeks.  It was awesome being back home, spending time both in the Bay Area, and Phoenix.  To see all my friends and family was great, it had been tough being away from them all for 3 and a half months!!!  But all good things come to an end, and it was time to get back to my 'job' so back to Israel I headed.  I have been back since the 26th, but it has taken me awhile to get acclimated again, and get back on the time here.  Now that I am back settled, and I finally have done my grocery shopping, I figured I would send an update out.

On the basketball front, we were supposed to play this Sunday,  the 4th, but due to the fighting going on down in Gaza they had to change the date because Ashkelon was supposed to have a home game, but they do not want to host because it is so close to the fighting.  Therefore, to keep it fair, they are pushing all the games back.  So now, we don't play again until either the 11th or 12th, I'm not sure.  We came back, and started practicing fully off the bat, and that was a problem for some of the guys who weren't ready for it.  We are a little banged up right now, but we should be ready to go for our games. 

Lastly, here is a little update on the Gaza situation.  Today is the 6th day that the fighting has taken place, and there doesn't seem to be an end anytime soon.  For the longest time, Hamas continued to send these man-made rockets over to Israel crashing into southern Israeli cities.  While these rockets are very small in size, they are obviously deadly.  Israel was very patient, and continually told Hamas to stop with the rockets, or else Israel would have to retaliate.  Well, Hamas did not stop, and Israel was tired of their kids being worried about playing at school, and people being scared of leaving there houses in the south, so Israel retaliated...like they should have.  Fortunately for me, my team and city is in the far north, so we are not in danger, but still, we obviously would love to see this fighting stop.

That is all for now, we have a friendly scrimmage against the defending champions Hapoel Holon, so I will send an update after that to let you all know how it goessss.