What's up Everyone,

It's about 2 hours until tip off for tonights game.  The shootaround this morning went well.  We all got some shots up and I spent some extra time at the free throw line afterwards.  It's no secret that I have a hard time at the line so one of my goals for this summer is to improve on my free throw shooting.  Im at the gym everyday getting up at least a 100 free throws in each day.  Its frustrating for me though because during practice I shoot them fine.  But once I get in the game I put so much pressure on myself I get away from how I shoot during training.  I know it's all mental and the more repetition I get in the easier it will be for me.  I have seen some improvements these past few weeks.  So I hope when I get back to Boras, my shot will be where I want it to be. 

The games here are a little different than games in Sweden.  We play 12 minute quarters here instead of 10 and those extra 2 minutes make a big difference.  It's almost like a whole extra quarter.  The game seems so much longer and you can never be satisfied by a big lead.  Longer quarters mean extra time for a team to get hot and make a comeback.  We've had one close game since I've been here where we won by 1 point.  We were down the whole game by double digits but were somehow able to come back and pull out the win.  We didn't take the lead until there was only 5 seconds left in the game.  If we were playing 10 minute quarters there would be no way we could win that game.    Warm ups are alot different as well.  It usually takes me a long time to warm up but because we play right after the girls, we only get 20 minutes.  So for 20 minutes I was really getting after it trying to get loose.  But by the time the 4th quarter came around I was so tired.  I talked to my coach about this and he told me I was warming up too hard.  I told him it takes me a while to warm up but he just laughed and said "Well that's what the first quarter is for."  So now I just lightly warm up and wait for the first quarter to really loosen up.   But with the quarters being longer means there's more time for me to get foul calls.  I've already fouled out of 2 games out of 5.  I don't know what the deal is.  It wasn't until I got to Sweden that I've ever had a problem being in foul trouble.  I hope that by coming back to Boras, being in the league for my 2nd year, the Refs will know how I play and not be so quick to blow the whistle on me.  I guess that's another thing for me to be working on while Im playing here.  Shooting free throws and staying out of foul trouble. 

I gotta get ready to leave for the game now.  I'll let you know tomorrow how it went, and hopefully, I'll have have some good news. 

Take care and have a good one.