Group play

We won game 1 vs Hungary on the road 91-82! It was our first game in group play as we try to qualify for the World Championships next year on the road to the Olympics. Playing on the road in a hostile environment and getting a win for a young team like us was huge. We landed in Budapest Hungary on Sunday and took a 45 minute bus ride to the small town of Szolnok. It is a beautiful little city on a river in the country. Very green, with rolling hills. The ride there reminded me of the fields in Iowa. The reason they played our game there is because they wanted a real home court advantage. They could play in a bigger gym in Budapest but the small (2,500) seat arena with no air conditioning is a better home court advantage. And wow was it! It was packed in the gym. I think they crammed 3,000 in there. They were chanting, singing and banging drums for most of the game. What a great atmosphere!

We quieted the crown a bit early by jumping out to a quick 8 point lead but their hot 3pt shooting in the first half 5-10 50% kept them in the game. We battled shot for shot in the second half and although they got a short lived 4pt lead we fought them off and came up with a huge win. Any win on the road is big in group play. It was great seeing how passionate the people of Hungary are about basketball. They take the game very seriously and appreciate good basketball. They have a good young basketball team. Adam Hanga is a good penetrating 6'5" point guard who had 20pts and 10 rebounds.

We got a big game from Loul Deng playing for the first time this summer, 32pts and 9 rebounds. Most of you know he plays in the NBA for the Chicago Bulls. He has been practicing with us for a few weeks but because of insurance reasons he didn't play until this week or first game in group play. It was great seeing him in a GAME uniform! We also got a good game from Pops Mensah-Bonsu 14pts and 18 rebounds. Nate Reinking and Dan Sullivan also had solid games but it was a team win with everyone chipping in.