Fourth and Final Game

For our last game we headed to Šibenik. Like the last few cities we did a little walk around the city's Centar and got some food before our game. This town wasn't near as touristy as the our places we have gone which was kind of nice! The gym we played at today was within walking distance from the Centar and a nice place to play. This team was about the same level as KK Spilt that we played second. It was a really tough game physically. Our team kept battling though like we have been and we won 71-70. It was a great win to end the tour! Now we leave Spilt tomorrow and head back to the states! I had a blast on this tour and so happy that I was able to do it! The guys on this team are amazing and great to be around! It's kind of crazy that we are already done! 

Here the pictures and the city, the gym and the great views. 

Third Game

Today we headed off to Zadar, Croatia for our third game. We arrived a few hours before hours before our game. With the extra time we went to the Centre of Zadar. There were some awesome looking buildings and ruins from old buildings and statues. The best part about the Centre was these steps by the sea. The steps had different holes in them so that when waves hit them it made a beautiful sound. After that we went to get some food and rest our legs for our game.  I got some gelato with my food and WOW it was so tasty!! I might just have to get it a few more times before I leave.

This team we are playing today is the best team we will play all trip. They are one of the top three teams in Croatia and play in the euro league. Their arena was huge! It held 20,000 people. Even though we all thought it was great we talked to the players after the game and they said they didn't like it so much because it's too new. I guess in Croatia people like the older things! At the start of the game we didn't realize just how much better this team was than the last one we played. It was obvious that they were an elite basketball club. The first half was rough for us as a team. Zadar was making a lot shots like a good team does and we couldn't get things flowing on offense. The second half was better and we kept fighting to keep the game close. Before the fourth quarter out coach gave us the challenge to win the quarter and we did just that! We actually won the quarter by 8 points. The final score was 114-89. Even though we did lose it was good to see that our team kept playing hard and didn't give up. Our coach even said after the game he was happy that we didn't throw in the towel because we easily could've at multiple times throughout the game. After the game we went to a restaurant in Zadar where we had some amazing food! It was by far the best meal I have had here! During dinner we were able to watch part of the USA gold medal game which was cool. Now we have one game left before we make our way back to the states! It's crazy how fast this trip has gone by. 

These are some pictures from Zadar and the gym we played in today!

This is our tour guide named Marco and he said that this rock was made for him! 

Second Game

We didn't have anything planned to as far as sight seeing or anything. Our coach decided that after a long day of travel all the guys could use a day of relaxation. Most the guys got breakfast at the hotel and hung around the hotel to rest their legs. A few of us just walked around for a little to buy some souvenirs from all the little shops around the hotel. 

Our game today was against the club that Toni Kukoć played at while he was in Croatia. It was an awesome place to play in! They had the banners up from the three Europski Kup Prvaka that they won while he was there. There were also a lot of posters in the gym of him and his team from when they won their championships. The place was called Kosarkaski klub (Basketball Club) Spilt. As you can tell they were very creative with the name. This team was a lot better than the first team we played. The first quarter did not go well for us and we gave up 27 points in the 10 minute quarter. By halftime we got the game within one point. We were playing with a lot more energy in the second quarter and the rest of the game than we were the first quarter. With about 3 minutes left in the game we were up 5 points. Sadly we couldn't hang on to the lead and they hit some threes down the stretch. We ended up losing 84-77. It was a good game for us though because we figured out how hard we have to play in order to win. The games keep getting harder from here but I think we are ready for the challenge. 

Off Day

Today we didn't have a game so it was all sight seeing for us. We left early from the hotel to drive to Dubrovnik where Game of Thrones and the last Star Wars movie were filmed. It is an amazing city. Parts of the towns even made me think I was in Italy. While we were in Dubrovnik we just stayed in what is called old town. To get there we had walk down so many stairs! Trust me it wasn't fun walking back up them to the van. In old town we found a few cliffs that people jump off of and a bar where people cheer them to get them to jump. A few of my teammates jumped. It was about 30 feet but they all it felt like they were falling forever and had a lot of time to think about how it could end badly. We also got to play with some birds! I have a few pictures of it.  After that we went on a boat tour around the sea and islands surrounding Croatia. Our boat had a glass bottom so when we got close enough to shore we were able to see fish and the different types of rock formations in the water. The water is so blue and clear like the beach that it was easy to see about 5 meters down. Once the tour was done it was time to get in the van and make the four hour ride back. Tomorrow we will start the heart of our tour by playing 3 games in 3 days in 3 different cities. 

Here are some of the pictures from today.