| 23 November 2011
Cau, or "Hello" as we say in the Czech Republic...
Again, I would like to take the time to thank everyone for reading my column here at Beyond the beat. I appreciate it.
The season is in full swing. We are 9-5 with our next game coming this Sunday at home. We haven't been playing well the last month after a really good start. We won our first five games then we had some injuries which I think disrupted our rhythm. This past Saturday was the first really bad loss of the season. We were up 21 points with five minutes left in the second quarter and ended up losing the game. Our opponent USK Prague started playing zone and we couldn't solve their zone. The main reason was that we couldn't score from the perimeter. During the second half we shot 0-17 from the three point line. I was 0-6 myself and finished the game 1-9. As a team we finished the game 5-27 from three. It doesn't help that we are missing our best player: Pavel Houska is the league's reigning MVP, and is out with a back injury and nobody is sure when he will be back. He is averaging 18 points and 9 rebounds per game. In the meantime guys have to step up.
I have to take on more of a scoring role. I am looking forward to the game Sunday especially after losing the last game.
The thing about playing in Europe is if you are not playing in any European competition you play once a week. The bad thing about that is if you lost during the week and don't play well, you have to wait a whole week to get back on the court to redeem yourself.
The games become so big because you only play once a week. All the fans really look forward to the games because you might play home one week and then you might not have a home game for another two or three weeks. This is the exact situation we are in now. We haven't played at home in over two weeks so I know our fans are looking forward to the game Sunday.
Off the court last week I went on a Czech TV show called, "Time Out". It's a sport show that has a special guest each week. This was the first time I ever been on the show. It's not usual to have a foreigner on the show. I can speak Czech and I understand mostly everything but it's different to be on TV. So they had a translator come in and when I spoke they lowered my voice and the audience heard him. Here is the link if you want to watch it online -- the interview starts at the 30 minute mark.
A couple games back I just scored my 3000th point for my current team (Bk Decin). I just started my sixth season for Bk Decin. I have another year on my contract and then we will see what happens after that.
Well, Thanksgiving is upon us. They don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in Czech but there are two other Americans on the team and we are going to celebrate and eat some turkey with a friend here in Decin. Beth is an American living here in Decin with her Czech husband and two children. She and her husband invited us over after the game Sunday for some turkey and pumpkin pie...
Until next time HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone reading this at home!
Ell Sanders is a professional basketball player with Bk Decin in the Czech Republic and has spent the last 13-season playing overseas after graduating from Seton Hall in 1998. The Pirates 19th all-time leading scorer, Sanders has also played in Belgium and Poland. For more information about his upcoming book, "A Guide to Playing Professional Basketball Overseas", visit his website or follow him on Twitter at @levellsanders. His "Inside The Overseas Game" column for Beyond the Beat will be updated regularly.
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