On Friday night AIA had a lethargic first half where our defense was porous. The floor looked like the Grand Canyon where the Silesian team time after time knocked down 3's and uncontested layups. we trailed 47-39. our defense stiffened in the second half and with encouragement from the bench AIA came back and won in overtime 83-81. Alex Legion(Illinois) razor sharp shooting and Dane Watts toughness on the boards was a contributiong factor.
Following the game Dane Watts(Creighton) shared his testimony with the opposing Silesian team. The coach's clinic got off with a bang! Dean Lockwood(assistant coach U of Tennessee women) spoke on defense. His passion in his presentation got the attention of the Polish coaches! In his introduction he gave a little history on how Polish military leaders were influential in the establishment of the American military...like at West Point. Dean is a military history fanatic!
Papi Paprocki was translator for the clinic. It is amazing the influence AIA has in Poland! Kazimierz Mikolajec, our AIA friend and on the board of the federation of Polish basketball, has worked behind the scenes to make this a very successful clinic. I visited his home two nights ago and met his wife, Gosha, and 2 sons, Patrick and Kuba.
There are 300 coachess here from Poland and I just met a coach from Sweden a few minutes ago in Kaz's office where I am typing this blog.
In the Bible study yesterday we discussed I Kings 18 and "spiritual Jihad"....our spiritual struggle. We talked about making choices in life to either love and follow God or follow the world's culture.
Today, henrik Rodl arrives from Berlin, Germany to do a presentation tonight. Henrik played at UNC and won a national championsihp back in 1994. He is a believer.
Until tomorrow....
Mike S. Athletes In Action