Sorry it has been awhile since my last blog.  I’ve just been super busy getting ready for the season and recuperating from our on the road, all over the country and world pre-season tour. To be honest with you the pre-season seemed like a season. We were on the road so long that my wife and daughter forgot who I was when I returned home. It has been great getting home and seeing the both of them.

   Last week was a tough week for me as I lost two of my dear friends. George Mitchell from Union Beach, NJ was 42 years old and leaves behind his wife and two kids. We played alot of ball together and shared many laughs and memorable times. I’ve been praying for George’s family. He is going to be missed by many. Then I lost another friend of mine from Baltimore, Craig Noppinger. It has been a few years since I last saw him. We spoke a few times about him coming to a Wizards game, it never happened and now it never will. I pray for the Noppinger family as they were like my family when I was living in Baltimore. I will never forget the times we shared together, Nick (Craig’s father) and I would play Craig and Dave (Craig’s brother) two on two. The result was always the same Dave and Craig would be fighting with one another and Nick and I would be laughing. Afterwards we would go back to their house and Peg would have cool drinks for us and food as well. I always told the guys to enjoy their time with their dad, because my dad left when I was a young boy.

     Unfortunately I could not make both funerals. We were on the road, like we could be anywhere else during the pre-season. In San Antonio and then Columbus, Ohio. I got back to DC early Saturday morning around 2:30 am. Slept for awhile and then Carole, McKenna and I  went up to Baltimore for Craig’s prayer and memeorial service. It was not the best of times to see the Noppinger’s. I pray that they find comfort in our Lord as does the Mitchell family.

   Everyone enjoy your family and friends because life doesn’t last forever. Enjoy everyday and thank the Lord for it. Make the most of it and most of all help someone and make someone smile. It’s not all about me. Don’t forget to let everyone know that you love them. Take care and God Bless.

    Left for Berlin on Saturday late afternoon. Carole and McKenna took me to the airport, as always it is tough leaving them. It does not get any easier leaving your loved ones. Once settled in on the plane I watched tape of our last couple of pre season games. Watched tape with Pech for awhile. Did some reading as well. Unfortunately I did not sleep at all on the flight.

    We arrived in Berlin safe and sound. Stayed at the Ritz Carlton which is right around the corner from the hotel that I stayed in on my last trip to Berlin two years ago before joining the Raptors. Berlin is a beautiful city and the weather was perfect, not too cold. Great for walking around the city and seeing the sites and sitting at the sidewalk cafes. Mostly everyone speaks English which makes it easier for everyone of us that cannot speak other languages. Had a bite to eat once we arrived at the hotel and afterwards we checked in and went to our rooms. Luggage was already in our rooms, the Germans are very organized and take pride in their work. Later that day we had practice.  The guys were a little sloppy which was to be expected. Everyone was tired as well as jet lagged.

    After practice we ate at the hotel and then Mike O’Koren and I went and did a little site seeing. I fought hard not to sleep at all throughout the day. Then I hit the bed and was asleep immediately. Had a wake up call and went to the coaches meeting.  Practice at the O2 Arena. The arena is brand new and is a thing of beauty, it has all of the modern technology and then some. Once practice was over with there was a clinic for the Special Olympics. Andray, Dom, Dee, Etan, Dermarr, Juan, Javale and Pech coached the kids. I am not sure who had more fun the players or the kids. I know that I had a blast coaching them and it was an experience that I will never forget. Once that clinic was over Darius asked me to help him out with a clinic for four Lithuanian kids. I stayed with him for his clinic and then went back to the hotel for dinner and some sleep.

     Game day. Coaches meeting, shootaround. Relaxed at the hotel, went for a walk and packed up for our flight out after the game to Barcelona. Took the first bus over to the arena. It felt odd taking the bus as I always cab it to the games during the regular season with some of the players to get some work done before everyone else arrives. The Hornets stung us good, they stung us early and often. We were horrible. We are going to miss BWood in the middle, he had a great year for us last season and he was really looking forward to building on it. Antawn did not play due to his knee contusion from the Dallas game. Antonio did not suit up because of swelling in his knee. Juan is out with a slight muscle tear in his calf and Nick Young is back in DC working on getting his knee right. Nick has a “floating particle” in it. That does not sound good to me. I am not a doctor but it seems as if it would need to get scoped to remove the particle. Gil did not make the trip either as he is re-habbing his knee still. If we could get everyone healthy at the same time we could be very good.

    It seems as if the injury bug has bitten us again. Linton Johnson has a broken toe (tripped on some luggage). How crazy is that.

    We left for Barcelona after the game. Had to go to the airport and through security. Got on the plane with a bunch of the NBA people as well as the referees. The flight to Barcelona was a little over two hours. Once we landed we hopped on buses to the terminal and then went through the terminal and got on some other bus to the hotel. We got into Barcelona after three. To the hotel around four thirty and the bags did not get to our rooms until after six. Needless to say everyone is very zombie like. The funny thing is that we had a police escort from the airport to the hotel and the police didn’t go over 30 kilometers an hour. I mean at four in the morning there is nobody on the road. Our police escorts to the arena and back are no quicker either.

     Had a breakfast meeting and practice. Went across the street to a shopping mall and bought a couple of items. I bought four items by credit card and they had to ring up each item on a seperate receipt. Imagine that. I tried to explain to them that there must be an easier way ( like one receipt) with my broken Spainish. No luck. I have not found too many English speaking people here, especially at the hotel. Met for dinner and then I went up to my room to get online and watch TV. Needless to say I had to have a technician come up and take care of my problems. The cable for the internet was broken off at the end and the TV got one station. To my surprise these problems were rectified in a matter of minutes.

   Woke up this morning more tired than I have been in some time. This schedule is something else and the season hasn’t even started yet. It is going to take some time to get back on track. Had a good practice, the guys were very competitive and worked hard. Came back for lunch and some rest. I have not napped at all on this trip but today I took a two hour nap, couldn’t go any longer without some rest. Tonight we have our team dinner, tomorrow night is the game with a nine o’clock pm tip. After the game we will fly back to DC. Should get in around nine on Saturday morning. We will have the rest of the day off and report ready to go on Sunday. Practice again on Monday and Tuesday before going on the road again to San Antonio. After San Antonio we will go to Columbus, Ohio to play our last pre season game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. That is a trip that Randy Ayers should be looking forward to, as he coached at Ohio State and more importantly he will get to see his mom. It is always a GREAT day when you can be with loved ones.

    Take care have a blessed day and don’t forget to let your loved ones how much you love them and how much they mean to you.

     Camp has just broken and we are on the bus heading back to Washington, DC. I have  my head phones listening to “THE BOSS” can hardly wait to see Carole and McKenna. The coaches have been in Richmond since last Wednesday. That was ten days ago but it seems much longer. Every one is anxious to get the season under way.

   The players all worked hard throughout the week that they were there. Tonight it was capped off with a scrimmage. The gaame was open to the public. The fans were great as was everyone at VCU. Everyone at VCU went above and beyond their duties in making us feel at home. We had both of our floors down there. The facility is top notch with plenty of room for training camp.

    BWood was our lone casualty as he hurt his wrist yesterday in practice. At this time we don’t know the extent of his injury. Let’s hope that Wood is back quickly and better than ever. It is amazing to see Etan out there after all that he has been through. Dee Brown has great speed and quickness, he can pressure the ball fullcourt and push it on offense. It is good to see Pech out there. The poor kid loves the game and wants to play but unfortunately he has had problems with both ankles. Nick and Dom should be much better with a year of experience under their belts. Andray had a great camp and he needs to continue to improve and sustain it. Antawn, Caron and Antonio are our captains and you couldn’t ask for better pro’s or people to be your team leaders. The young guys don’t know how lucky they are to have them in the locker room. Javale is our first round pick and he really is something, he just needs to get bigger and stronger. JaVale does some amazing things however with his speed, quickness, agility and reach. Darius is Darius solid and steady doing whatever it takes for us to win. His back is getting better. D Steve is rounding into game shape and is ready to be our stopper once again this season.

   Also in camp are Juan Dixon, DerMArr Johnson, Linton Johnson, and Taj McCullough. They all are working hard and have brought alot of energy to camp. Looking forward to seeing them in pre season.

   While at camp Gilbert had the guys coming over and starting the day off with 300 makes. Gil was also getting the young guys to go thru the offense. Can’t wait to get him back healthy.

   Could everyone out there please pray for our equipment manager and his family. Jerry Walters is a great guy but his mom isn’t doing well. JW as he is affectionately known had to leave camp to be with her. He is in my thoughts and prayers. Hurry back.

  Keep reading and I’ll keep blogging.

 Peace.

    Camp starts tomorrow here in Richmond, VA at Virginia Commonwealth University. It is hard to believe that we were here a year ago, time goes by so quickly. The coaches came down on Wednesday. I am truly blessed to be part of this staff. We are all looking forward to another year together. The coaches all get along well and work together, we also have our share of laughs. You better not have thin skin around this crew.

   The players get in later today and we will have dinner with them. At the dinner we will talk about our goals for the season. We will also remind them of the things that we did well last year and what we need to improve on. Also at the dinner Coach Jordan will introduce Hall of Famer KC Jones and Flip Saunders. Coach always brings in guest coaches for the guys. Last year Pete Carrill came in as well as Brian Winters. Coach Carrill was very impressive with his vast knowledge and understanding of the game. We all learned so much from him during camp. We all look forward to this wonderfull opportunity. What a career KC has had. In college he won two championships as a player, then goes pro and wins eight out of nine. We all enjoy listening to KC talk about the old Celtics and what they did. It is an honor to be around someone like KC.

    Flip arrived today and I am looking forward to hearing his philosophies on the game of basketball. He has a brilliant basketball mind and we are all looking forward to picking his brain.

     The coaches are eager to get going. We took a ride over to VCU to look at the gym and to see how the floors looked. Both of our floors were shipped down the other day. Unfortunately when we got to the gym the floors were not down. The VCU crew will have them in place later today.

    It is a great ime of the year. Baseball is winding down and the playoffs are around the corner. Pro and College Football have started up. Hockey is being played and we are getting ready to tip off.