Bloggin' with Deanna Smith Part 3
Check out what Perry Lakes Hawks & Go for 2&5 Perth Lynx star Deanna Smith is up to in Europe with the third part of her blog. Check out Part one and two.
Ok, I know it is meant to be a blog but I guess we could also call it now a short story or even a novel. It is hard to explain the experiences that I have had in mininmal words, there are so many emotions experiened on the way and I am more than happy if anyone wants to ask me anything about the trip when I get back. But I hope that you are geting to experience some of the things I did through my stories as it has been an amazing part of my life being involved in the Opals.
The next leg of the tour leads us into the Czech Republic, 3 trainings and 2 games in 3 days and then on to France our final stop before Home time!
So after lunch we had a small amount of rest time before we had to head off to practice. I decided to go for a bit of a walk to get the legs moving We were staying right in the centre of BRNO, as I walked I came across the main shopping precinct where there was a large square with many cafe chairs set up ready to enjoy the warming weather. There was also a beautiful water fountain with gold centre pieces. As I walked further there was a beautiful Church up on a hill and I wish I could have gone and explored as it really was quite old and historic looking but it was time to head back and get ready for practice.
It seems there is no rest for the wicked when you are on tour and especially this tour there has not been a lot of down time, we are either training, playing or travelling.
The 25th of May was our first game against the Czech Republic. I believe they are ranked like 7th in the World so again we were facing a tough highly ranked International team. We began the day with a shoot around, where we worked on improving things that we needed to get done in the game to win. Nothing focusing on Czech because we didnt really know anything about them, more focused on what we needed to be doing as a team, the skills we would need to use as well as offensive movements.
We dont have a lot of offensive sets, we have been playing a lot of motion type stuff which has been a lot of fun as it is hard to scout but it also enables us as a team to play to each others strengths and form a greater understanding of each other and the way that we play.
I dont know what it is but game time seems to take forever to come around, I think it is because you are looking forward to playing. Anyways, game time finally came around and we were ready to play. We had a great start and we managed to build on the early lead as the game went on. We ran a great transition game and really did dominate the rebounding which enabled us to get out and run. There was a lot of energy within the team as we had obviously been in training camp and everyone was hanging to get out and play.
It was great to get the first win over the Czech team as we still had another game in BRNO against them, but also we will face them in our 3 game tournament in France. After the game it was not ice baths but hot and cold showers, so they are not near as bad as the ice however I dont know what it is but the tap water over here does seem a lot colder than when I do hot and cold at home.
The next day (26th of May) it was game day again. So there wasnt a lot of turn around time before we were back on the training court working on things that needed some attention based on the game the previous night. It was a really good win the night before however the game tonight was going to be tougher as they bought in 3 of their starting 5 players into their line up that didnt play the night before. This instantly made them taller, stronger and definiently more potent and dangerous than the night before, so it was going to be a challenge for us to match and beat this new look Czech team.
We were right, they came out firing, they were tough and really took it to us. They screened well, they shot well, they rebounded well and although we were doing everything we could to stop them nothing seemed to work. We werent getting the fast breaks that we got against them the night before because they were stronger on the boards than the night before, which made it tougher for us to run. I guess the biggest thing was that we shot at a really low percentage and this hurt us as did our high number of team turn overs. This game was a real learning experience that we took a lot out of and I guess the positive would be that we have another shot at beating this team in a few days in France. So I look forward to that match up because I know we will be ready!
After the game a few of us ventured into the square for a coffee/ hot chocolate. We went to a gelato/ italian place that we had walked past a few times and when a couple of the girls ordered cappuccino's take away, they were given a small gelato cup with some coffee in it and a bit of milk. So as we were walking along the girls were sipping their coffee's out of gelato cups. Needless to say the coffee was not as good as they would have liked and the trusty gelato place didnt have hot chocolate, so we stopped at another cafe where the coffee was really good and the hot chocolate was like a chocolate pudding with a bit of a jaffa taste to it, more like a desert than a drink that was for sure. After that we were tired so we wandered back to the motel to again pack our bags as we had an early start in the morning and another long travel day.
So I want to let you in on a small part of what we have been doing on this tour, that I havent spoken about yet. When we first arrived to China, Sandra our doctor and Rach the Physio informed us we were going to be doing hydration tests every morning. This meant that every morning we would have to wake up before breakfast and pee into a cup (you know like from the doctors) and take our sample to the room for testing. If you were 10 and under you were well hydrated between 10 and 20 low dehydration etc. We would also have to weigh in and fill in a small table of how we were feeling that day. Now the funny thing about this is some drew the short straw, there were urine cups that were like the ones from the doctors (lets say small beaker sizes) but then there were some that I swear were the size of a test tube, you can use your own imagination figuring out how fun that was half asleep. Needless to say it was a skill in itself trying to get a sample for the doctor. Anyway that is all I will say on the finer details of that. I think I have said enough.
It has been a real interesting thing to do as you monitor how much fluid intake you need depending on travel, games etc so different things might effect your hydration at certain times and it is all about getting an understanding of your body. Also before each practice and game we would weigh ourselves and then if we had lost weight that would mean we had not replaced enough fluid so we would need to replace the fluid that we lost over an hour. Unfortunately the scales going down was not a good thing at this stage instead being the same or going up was desired (only after games and trainings), which would be the first time ever for me! All this is about understanding your body and how to get the optimal performances out of it, it is told that if you compete dehydrated it negatively impacts your performance. As you become more intune with your body the more you understand these types of things and how it does impact how you feel and also your performance.
The next morning, the 27th of May we were again up at 6:30 for our morning tests, then breakfast and on the road by 7:30. I have to say there has been no chance of a sleep in any morning, we have been up around 7 or 7:30 everyday, which I shouldnt be saying because now I have no excuses when I get home to sleep in. It was going to be a long day of travel, I think it was 10 hours all up. We had a 3 and a half hour drive back to Prague from BRNO, which I used to write my blog. We then had an hour and half flight to Paris and then an hour and a half bus trip to the motel. That was travel time not counting check in, airport time, bag collection etc. So as you can imagine after 2 trainings and 2 games in 2 days and 10 hours of travel we were all quite tired.
However we had just landed in the city of Paris, so we managed to be a little excited to see the very tip of the Eiffel Tower. Nobody knew where we were staying and obviously when we heard we were in Paris we thought we would be at least within a train ride to the city if we had any spare time. Spare time haha I was dreaming as things were going to be full on given that we had 4 games in 4 days. Plus we were staying an hours drive out of Paris so you couldnt even see the Tower. Can you believe it we were in Paris so close but so far away to the iconic attractions. But like I have said we were in France to do business, that was to play basketball, continue to develop and score some tough wins along the way.
So I guess for all of you who believe that when we are away on tour it is relaxing and that we have it easy going travelling the World, I am sure you can tell by this blog that we really only live and breath basketball. We are more likely to mark the destination of the basketball stadium on our tour maps than the traditional sights. Most of the things that we do see are by bus as we drive past them. Dont get me wrong I am not complaining at all, in fact I think I have one of the best jobs in the World. I would not trade my place in the Opals for anything, this is a dream for me and definiently a step towards my bigger dream to compete at the World Championships and Olympic Games. Getting to travel the World doing it, is definiently a bonus!
There are rumours amongst the camp that we play an earlier game on the last day, so there might be a chance that we could see the sites for some quick photos after that. So fingers crossed because it would be awesome even just to go drive by!
For now I am off, but there will be more dont fear. There is still our time in Paris. Four games in Four days is going to be tough, but we are young, well most of us(or them) are plus we are wearing the Green and Gold, that is motivation in itself to be ready to go and set the tone for the future!
Would be great to go home with a win in this tournament! Stay tuned for the final blog coming from somewhere south of Paris Destination TBA
Doccy
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