Spain/ France 2013/14: Day 6

Today is the opening day of the tournament at Club Diagonal Del Mar. However, an opportunity to watch a professional European basketball team Juventut, has been offered to us. We traveled to Badelona (east of Barcelona) where the club is located. Badelona is the hotbed of basketball in Spain. We went by the metro which took nearly 45 minutes. There are 2 Canadians playing for Junventut; Devoe Joseph who played on the national team this summer and Vancouver native Niko Cochrane, who is a former high school rival of coach DJ Bhate. The practice was very educational as most of the concepts they emphasized are the same concepts that I have been trying to teach our team to do and seeing it emphasized at the pro level reinforces my message. After the practice session we began getting ready for the opening game of the tournament against C.P. Roser. The two teams appeared to be evenly matched as the half time score was 33-33. Throughout the second half of the game it was a back and forth affair with no team having a lead larger than 4 points until the final 4 minutes when C.P. Roser ended the game on a 10-0 run to hand us our first loss of the tour 72-62. Leading the way for the Cavaliers was Hunter Welsh with his second double - double of the season with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Other notables were Jovin Narwal with 12 points and Mo Aghelnejad with 11 points. We improved in certain aspects of the game but just could not hold onto the lead. Tomorrow we play Hula, a top private school here in Spain. I will keep you posted. Pictures to follow tomorrow.