Rookie to Veteran

 Our scudetto dinner -- celebrating our championship!

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  Somewhere along the line I went from rookie on the team, to team vet. The team 'baby', to team 'mom'. The young and spry one, with her whole career ahead of her, to the not-so-spry-one, with her career coming to a close.

  I don't know exactly where the transition point occurred, but I've been fully towards the side of 'experienced' for quite some time now.

  I look back on the things I did, the way I was as a rookie, or a younger player, and laugh a little. I recognize the ways I have changed as my career has progressed, and of course you think you've changed for the better.

  Even so, it's always fun to look back.

  One thing you always wish you could do is ease the growing pains of the the younger version of yourself. To educate her on a few things: the expectations on the court, the ways of the leagues, how to be better prepared, how to take care of her body, and living abroad in general.

  But I suppose that's the whole point of being a rookie. It's your time to learn. Nearly every experience is a new one. And no one can give you the answers. You have to figure it out for yourself, and adjust accordingly. You either figure it out, or you head home.

Mental Adjustments

Warming up for my first game as a pro!

  I was blessed with an amazing team my rookie year in Italy (Como). We had an incredible group of professionals who couldn't have been better role models for me. I was lucky to have them to learn from. And I think it was my two years in Como that really shaped me as a professional, and set the tone for the rest of my playing career.

  I looked up to my older, more-experienced teammates, and admired them a great deal. I remember wondering how they 'did it' on a day-to day basis. Their consistency. They were always there, physically and mentally. No matter what. I strived to match them.

  So between my rookie year in 2003-2004 and now, I've hopefully grown into a player the younger girls on my recent teams look at in a similar manner.

  I've never been the 'team mom' type, and I never will be. I'm not the rah-rah cheerleader. But I will lead by example.

La Comense strolling the streets in Sicily.

   As a rookie, I didn't understand the expectations that were on me as a player. I was happy to be on a successful team. I saw the team's success as my own success. But at some point, the team (president, management, coaches, sponsors) wanted a high individual return on their investment.

  It took me several years to figure out, especially as a foreigner, you have to produce, statistically speaking. If you're on a winning team, all is well. But the second your team loses and you're not meeting individual expectations, there will be hell to pay.

  It wasn't college anymore. We had a team system, but it wasn't nearly as strict as the one I had played in at Colorado. It took some time, and some adjusting, but after several rough patches, I got through it.

  I took everything on a day-to-day basis my first few years. I didn't see much of the big picture. If I wasn't playing well, was home sick, or had just had a spat with my coach, it was the end of the world. Now, I brush it off, and know things will bounce back in the other direction as long as I keep plugging along.

Celebrating our championship!

  I also went from from not understanding at thing, whether it'd be specific things in practice, how leagues/championships function, or just day-to-day life as an American in Europe.

  On the court, this where I relied on my teammates again. If I didn't understand (because of language), I had to pay extra attention to them, to figure out what was going on. Practice wasn't going to stop just for you. I eventually learned Italian, and didn't have to rely on watching to understand.

  But the same can be said for my on-the-court adjusting with every team I've ever been on (eight countries in 10 seasons means a lot of different languages!).

  I learned the importance of the league championship because of how my teammates reacted. We won the Italian Championship my rookie year. And I didn't quite understand the magnitude of it until I realized just how important it was to my teammates. It was rare. And the only championship I've won as a pro.

My team vets -- they showed me the ropes!

  Another mental shift was probably the most important one I made. It was what allowed me to make a career out of basketball. It was realizing it was okay for me to be a basketball player.

  Prior to understanding this, I felt pressure to being doing something more 'grown up', and to know exactly what I wanted to do when I was done playing. While in my head I thought, 'I am doing what I want to do'!

  Now, I understand that a career as basketball player is a short one. And it's not a career that everyone gets the opportunity to experience, so I am making the most of it. And while life after basketball is still a daunting one, I'll tackle it, just as I've tackled every other crossroads in my life. 
 
Anything For a Little Extra Sleep
  I remember timing, to the last possible second, when I'd have to leave the house for practice. Heaven forbid I get there too early. In Como, I'd get caught on a regular basis, at the train tracks on my way to the gym. And each time, I'd freak out that it'd make me late. Thankfully, I never was.

  Or timing my morning routine to a T, so I didn't have to get up a second too early. At some point I started setting my alarm two hours before practice, no matter what.

My German team in the oldest gym ever. At least it seemed like it.

  I used to look at, morning practice especially, as something you just had to 'get through'. Your body was tired. You were sleepy. It wasn't even a full practice. You just had to get through it for an hour or so, and then you could hurry back home, have lunch, and try to have a nap before evening practice later in the day.

  Now I look at any practice as a chance to get better. If I'm going to be there, I might as well either get a good workout in, or sharpen up my skills, and make it worth my time. Also, being ready for practice means getting there in plenty of time, so you no longer find me waiting until the last possible moment to leave my apartment.

  One rookie mistake I never made was being late to practice. Something like that is international, and I had been well-trained in my four years at Colorado.

Physical Adjustments
  Mental and physical adjustments go hand in hand. My first few years, I was very insecure as a player. I was unsure of my game, and how I was going to contribute to my team. Every week was different. I was inconsistent. And I felt the pressure to play better.

  Maybe as I grew to understand the expectations placed on me, I've grown to have 100% confidence in what I do, and how I play. I'm comfortable with what I do on the court, and the things that I bring to my team. I'm not trying to be someone I'm not. I just try to be the best player that I can be. 

Wolfenbüttel, Germany.

  This might go without saying, but like many rookies, I never stretched. Before, during, or after practice. Now, there's really not a time I'm not stretching. Ask my teammates. You have to take care of your body if you want to last in this profession.

  Another huge change has been my attitude about my conditioning. Until my third year as a pro, I never did any extra work during the season. Whatever we did in practice, I though, that was enough for me.

  Over time, I grew to take pride in my conditioning, and my body. I learned that my body was the way I earned a paycheck. And an unhealthy body wasn't going to do me any good.

  The same can be said for my eating habits. Across the board, I've become a much healthier person from the time I was a rookie, until now.

Off the Court
  Adjusting to life in Europe off the court had just as many bumps as my on-the-court adjustment did. In my first years abroad, I complained constantly about the things you couldn't get in Europe. The midday closures. How impossible it was to get anything done (it took a month to get a phone line -- and internet -- installed in my house, for example). I'd get 'America sick' very easily.

Adriatic Sea -- in Croatia.

  To be honest, I have no idea how I survived my first two years in Italy. For one, I had dial up internet (no Skype, etc)! And 10 TV channels (all in Italian). I guess that explains why I can speak some Italian. And again, a testament to my teammates.

  I think my life was much more structured my first few years as a pro. We had two-a-days every day, the entire season. This was my life: practice, eat, rest, eat, practice, eat, sleep. Then do it all over again the next day.

  These days, I try (try, being the operative word) not to sweat what I can't control. I appreciate the pace of life in Europe a whole lot more than I did when I first played in Italy. Things are much simpler. 

  I distinctly remember having countdowns (until the day I got to go home), and eagerly crossing days off the calendar. Sometimes the countdown started as high as 70 days! It wasn't that I disliked my time in Europe, it was that I felt that I was constantly 'missing out' on something since I was always gone.

Hanging with teammates in Poland.

  Now, I'm not really in any hurry. I've found ways to meaningfully make use of my days. And I no longer feel like I'm always missing out because I'm in Europe. I look at my experience here just as as valuable, if not more so, than anything I would be doing in the US.

  I remember the day I got my first pay check as pro. My coach was actually the one who pointed it out to me. Up until that point, it didn't dawn on me, that I was actually a professional basketball player. I loved the game, loved to play, and I was just proceeding with the next step in my career.

  And I've been extremely blessed to do so. I look at my years in Europe as an enormous time for individual growth. You learn to believe in yourself because it's just you out here. Day in, and day out, you're the only one you can really rely on.

  Though my ten seasons in Europe, I've probably experienced every scenario you can as a basketball player, positive and negative, on the court and off. I've learned to make due, adjust, and have had an overall positive experience, no matter what. And it's made me a better-prepared, more well-rounded person because of it.

The Great Intangible -- Being a Teammate

This year's squad.

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  When you're on the sideline, you tend to notice the little nuances about your team. You see the things that make it 'tick'. The good, the bad, the ugly. It amounts to being an outsider, with inside information.

  You see interactions and chemistry in a new way. Not being on the court during games and practices gives you a different perspective. The emotion of the game is taken out of it, so you can see things for what they are.

  It also makes you see and remember all the things it requires to be on a great team. And miss all the things you don't have.

  I guess it's true: "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."

It's Not a Right
  I look at being on a team as a privilege. It's not a right. Especially as you grow older.

  As a kid, everyone is on a team. You sign up, you get a jersey. Easy as that. As you get older, maybe you have to try out. Teams get a more selective as the talent gets better and better. But as a pro, and even as a collegiate athlete, they ask you to be on their team.

The Intangibles
  I think there are two qualities that make or break your chances of being a member of a team as you get deeper and deeper into your playing career: 1) talent, of course, and 2) being a great teammate, having the intangibles.

  If you have both of those qualities, it's very likely you'll be asked to be a part of quite a few teams in your day. Your career will be a long one. There won't be a team out there that doesn't want you on their squad.

  If you're a talented athlete only, and not a stellar teammate, chances are you'll still be sought out quite often to be a part of a team. Pure talent overrides attitude and intangibles in many cases. But after time, your reputation will catch up with you, and the well will run dry. People, coaches, managers, etc will catch wind of your unwillingness to be a teammate first.

  On the contrary, if you're just an okay athlete, but a great teammate, your career will be just as long, if not longer. By being a great teammate, you can make up for any downfalls you have as a player. 

  What makes a great teammate?

Probably the best 'team' I've been a part of.

Positivity
  Having a positive attitude is A, number one. I think it goes without saying, but you'd be surprised how often athletes are mired in negativity. Through thick and thin, a great teammate remains upbeat, and encouraging.

  Seasons are long, and there are a lot of ups and downs. Whether you're playing well, or not (or maybe not playing as much as you'd like). A great attitude can push you towards playing even better (or more).

  Looking from the outside, a negative attitude (pouting, disinterest, lack of effort, etc) is the fastest way to get yourself a selfish player label. 

Tireless Worker
  Great work ethic and positivity go hand in hand. And often times, they're both contagious. You talk, your teammates talk. You go out of your way to help a fallen teammate up, they're going to be more apt to do the same. You see your teammate working their tail off, you turn it up a few notches, to either match their effort, or surpass it.

  And a hard working team can't help but be successful. 

Make Your Teammates Look Good
  You make your teammates better players. I think it's a teammate's responsibility to do everything they can to help their other teammates succeed. Rotating over to help out on defense (there's nothing worse than seeing an opponent stroll in for an uncontested layin because no one rotated to help). Setting a solid screen (even if it hurts). Making a perfect pass, so all they have to do is put the ball in the bucket.

  Being a great teammate is also the willingness to go the extra mile (or kilometer, since I'm in Europe) for your teammates every time you step onto the court.

  Each member of a team has a role. No matter how big, or how small , for a team to be successful, those roles have to be fulfilled each and every time the ball goes up. You want to pull your own weight, do your job and not let your teammates down.

  Look at your role as your job. In order to do your job, first, you need to know your role. What is expected of you? What are your team's strategies, both offensively and defensively? To me, letting down a trusting teammate is the worst feeling on the basketball court.

Intangibles lead to celebrations -- Como.

Team First
  Putting the success of your team before your individual success. Are you trying to win the game, or are you trying to score 20 points?

  Sometimes you have to sacrifice a little personal success for the betterment of the team. Whether it'd be playing fewer minutes, making the extra pass, taking a tough defensive assignment, or maybe playing a different role than the one you initially had in mind (all the while keeping a good attitude), there are numerous ways to sacrifice for the good of your team.

  You cannot play with yourself, and only yourself, in mind. If you do, you might as well go play tennis, or golf.

Trust
  Through all these elements, you and your teammates develop a trust. A trust that you'll be there when the chips are down. Whether you're tired, hurting, or on the contrary, completely healthy, you'll be there. They can count on you, and you can count on them. It has to go both ways.

  And trust, to me, is the crucial key to playing on a successful team. But it all starts from you striving to be a great teammate first.

  It's not always easy, but it'll be well-worth it!

  Playing on a team, and having great teammates, is a special situation. I think I've taken it for granted when my teams have had 'it'. But not every team has it -- where each member is striving to be a better teammate. It's what separates good teams from bad. And great teams from good.

  But it's those the teams, those seasons, you remember with a smile.

No Playoffs, No Climax Point

Playoffs in Germany.

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  The last month of any basketball season usually marks its climax point.

  In high school, you were vying for a league championship, and a state playoff berth. Once you hit college, your conference tournament and a prestigious invitation to the NCAA Tournament caught your focus. Finally as a professional, whether in Europe or the NBA, your motivation is to make the playoffs, and for your team to advance as far as possible.

  The climax is what you play for. All the excitement, all the pressure, all the hard work comes to a head come playoff time. That's when you want to be playing your best basketball. Because that's when the games count the most.

  For me this season, there are no playoffs. There is no climax. And I've decided it stinks! It's like reading a book, or watching a movie that has no climax. It just sputters out, and limps to the finish line.

In college, your focus was the NCAA Tournament!

  The league I'm playing in has no playoffs. There is a Final Four 'tournament' for the top four finishers in the league. But unfortunately my team is not quite at that level this season.

  Some teams are still fighting to avoid relegation for the following season (the bottom two finishers in our league drop down to the lower league). Thankfully, as of a few weeks ago, my team has successfully secured its place in LF2 for the 2012-2013 season.

  So essentially, we have nothing to play for. Nothing, that is, except pride, and satisfaction in your own performance.

Playoffs: Bigger crowds to play in front of, bigger games! (Sweden)

  But let's be real, everyone's level of pride can vary a great deal. Just like our ability to self-motivate can differ enormously from one person to the next. Practices can get lackluster (to say the least), and games can feel like glorified scrimmages. My goal is to not allow that to happen in my final two weeks in Dunkerque.

  At the onset of each season, teams usually sit down together and set goals of how they want the season to go. Some might want to finish with a playoff berth and that's it (in most leagues, that means finishing in the Top 8 in the standings). Others might be more specific, and say they want to finish in the top two, or win the championship.

Have to keep focused as season ends!

  The professional season can be very long. You get tired physically, and you can lose your focus mentally. Once you hit that seventh or eighth month, you might find yourself going through the motions. That's where having goals can help keep you and your teammates motivated. Goals give you a way to measure your success, and will keep your eyes on the prize.

  In situations where the season is seven or eight months, I think it's helpful to break your goals down. 'Shorter-sighted' goals are easier to keep focused on, and easier to measure after all.

  While I'd love to be preparing for a a playoff series, or the Final Four, that's not my reality this season. So my motivation remains on my own personal pride in how I play, and how I can improve as a leader. I cannot control those around me, but I can control my effort and my focus on each and every practice, and our final two remaining games.

Team Chemistry: Still Learning After All These Years

Singing the CU fight song after a W.

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  As the team bus was pulling up to the gym Saturday night for our game against La Roche, I had an interesting thought: every Winter, since I was nine years old, I've been a member of a basketball team (that dates back to 1990 for those of you doing the math).

  And I thought, each and every one of those years has been like riding a roller-coaster.

  No matter how much experience you have, you never know what to expect because no two teams are ever the same.

  Even after 22 years (?!?!), I've yet to tire of being on a team. The basketball is roughly the same year in and year out, but the dynamics of a team are always changing, and always keeping you on your toes.

Learning Experiences 
  Basketball aside, you're constantly learning about yourself, and learning about your teammates. So that's why, to me, being a part of a team (any team), can be one of the greatest learning experiences you can have. You don't learn just about basketball, you learn about people, and through that, you learn about life.

Easter 2001 with my Buffs!

  I can still remember my first uniform ever--purple t-shirts from the YMCA. I'm sure everyone remembers their Y-ball days. My dad was our coach, and he taught us the basics about the game. You know: the fundamentals (how to dribble, shoot, etc.), spacing, the pick and roll, give and go.

  But we also learned the basics about teamwork, and how to be a good teammate: sharing, communication, encouragement, working together.

  Of course, as we get older, the game gets more intricate, and the personality of a team grows more complicated. But the most-important aspects of playing on a team never change.

  If you don't have the basic fundamentals of basketball honed and sharpened, you can't play the game at a high level. The same goes for being on a team. If you forget the basics of what goes into being a good teammate, chances are, your team won't be as successful as it could be.

Team Chemistry 
  You can never predict what a team's chemistry will be like. Just like you can never take it for granted. Team chemistry to me, is basically how well people get along on AND off the court. It's unrealistic to expect every person on a team to be best of friends. Personalities will clash; that's only normal. When that happens, it's important that differences are put aside for the betterment of the team.

  Many times, a team's chemistry is what allows it to overcome its opponent. Chemistry is immeasurable, but it might be the most-important intangible a team can have.

Having fun with my teammates in Sweden!

  Each team I have been on has been drastically different in that regard. But I've always found, the closer a team is off the court, the better they play together on.

  You'll go that extra mile, and work that much harder next to someone you like and have a mutual respect for, versus a teammate you don't necessarily get along with.

  The same way you can bring friendships and chemistry onto the court, you can also take what happens in games and practices, off the court. You can grow your friendships with teammates through the difficult, funny, or memorable situations that you face together on the court.

  Some of my favorite memories with teammates and friends have come after re-hashing particularly difficult practices, and being able turn those moments into things we can laugh about.

  By comparison, bad team chemistry, would be when you take a negative experience off the court and bring it onto the court, and vice versa. It's not rocket-science, but it's important nonetheless.

  Two of the most successful teams I've ever played on were extremely close off the court, and I believe it led to us working that much harder together, and that much better together on the court.

Close Team = Successful Team

Team dinner in Como.

  My Colorado teams from 1999-2003 grew from being a tight group of friends that lost more often than not (my freshman year), to a team that could get through almost anything together.

  We advanced as far as the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament, my junior year, and the Sweet 16 my senior year.

  The same can be said for the first professional team I played on in Como. Even though we came from all corners of the world, we enjoyed spending time with each other off the court, and we enjoyed working together on the court.

  What started out as a difficult season, losing games we necessarily shouldn't have lost, resulted in a team (that wasn't the most-talented in the league) that won the Italian Championship at season's end.

  Here are some other valuable lessons I've learned through participating on basketball teams throughout the years. Things I will always take with me, in every aspect of my life:

• I've gotten better at learning how to lose (that doesn't sound right). Maybe learning from failures sounds a little bit better. Losing is never easy, but it used to consume me. Now I try to learn from it.
• Win graciously. Act like you've been there before, act like you've done it before.
• While you learn from failures (losing), success (winning) is what keeps you going. You need to experience the positives along with the negatives to keep pushing yourself.
• I've learned what you CAN, and CANNOT control. Usually all you can control is yourself! You can try to lead your team to change, but a leader needs people to lead! Kind of sounds like the old adage: 'you can lead a horse to water...'

NCAA win -- nothing better!

  I've said over and over again, that being part of a team is one of the greatest, most-special experiences you can have.

  The friendships and camaraderie are the obvious benefits. But what you will learn from your teammates, and will experience is probably the most-rewarding benefit of them all.

  Do you think team chemistry can be 'fixed'? Or is just a natural thing, where, whatever will happen, will happen?

Your Experiences With Team Chemistry
  Is there an aspect about teamwork, or being on a team that I missed? And I mean any kind of team. Your team at work; that's a team! What things do you learn from your teammates or co-workers? And how important is chemistry in the workplace?

  I'm also wondering about the differences in the importance of team chemistry within men's teams, versus women's teams. I can obviously only speak from one perspective, but would love to hear the contrary!

CU Alumni game -- still all the best of friends.

  Please, let me know your thoughts and experiences about being on a team, and how it has benefited your life, and how you have grown from it.
 

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My Rookie Year in Italy: A Year for the Scrap Book

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Yes, I look  tiny here. You all know I am not.

  I don't remember being nervous about going overseas for the first time.

  Yes, there were a lot of unknowns. I had heard a few horror stories of people having bad experiences: not getting paid, being isolated, not receiving good medical treatment when injured, not being treated well if your performance on the court wasn't up to par, and so on.

  Those things were in the back of my mind, but life was moving so fast, I had no time to think.

  I was more excited than anything. The experience of a lifetime was about get underway!

Meeting the Team
  I remember my first night in Italy like it was yesterday. It was Halloween (no, they don't celebrate Halloween in Italy) and it couldn't have been raining any harder that night. I was picked up at the airport by a member of the club's staff. Charli, as I grew to call him, didn't speak much English, so it was a pretty quiet ride from Milano to Como.

Another view of Lake Como.

  Anyone who's traveled to Europe from the West Coast, knows it's a long day. It usually takes about 20 hours to get to your destination (at least that's what I've always experienced traveling from Portland). So I was content to lean my head against the window and drift in and out during the 45-minute drive from the airport.

  Once we arrived in Como, Charli took me to the gym where my new teammates were practicing. There I met the 10 or 11 girls who would be my teammates. The girls that I would grow quite close to over the span of the next two seasons (I played in Como the following year, as well).

  All of them, but one, were Italian (each league has a limit, usually 2-3, on how many foreigners are allowed per team).  The other foreigner was Hungarian. Each girl introduced themselves, but I don't think I remembered any of their names that night. Partly because I was so exhausted I could hardly see straight, but mostly because I was too busy listening to their awesome Italian accents.

My team out for a pre-game walk in Sicily.

The Moment of Truth
  The second thing I remember about that night, is going to my apartment for the first time. Part of your contract includes a furnished apartment to live in for the season.

  I like to think of seeing your apartment for the first time as the moment of truth. Every year I get very anxious when we're about to go to my new home for the first time. This was where I was going to be living for the next seven months.

  What was my apartment going to be like?

  We drove to the center of Como, the shopping area with the old, cobble-stone streets, where you're not allowed to drive cars. Charli parked the car, and we took my bags to a huge metal door nestled in between little shops and cafes. The buildings had a ton of character, all had graffiti scribbled on them, and were definitely older than anything I had been around out West.

  I can't lie, I was a little worried. I was convinced my apartment was going to be an ancient building, that didn't have heat, had paper thin walls, and the whole year was going to be a miserable experience. So I held my breath as he opened the door.

Via Indipendenza (my street!) at Xmas time.

  Those negative thoughts immediately left me when I saw the long beautiful hallway, newly renovated with Italian ceramic tile. We dragged my two bags up to the fourth floor (no elevator).

  I was finally home!

  My apartment was small but had everything I needed. It was newly remodeled, and was going to be perfect for me for my first season in Europe.

A Quick Adjustment to Italy
  After getting settled, it was time to adjust on the fly. As I mentioned before, the season in Italy had already started so I had some ground to make up. My teammates had been practicing together since late August, so they were almost in mid-season form.

  I really had no idea what to expect as far as the basketball was concerned. How good my team would be, how good the players would be, how hard practice would be, what the expectations were on me -- I was completely clueless.

  I did know my team had been a traditional Italian powerhouse, and was accustomed to winning. So it seemed like we should be pretty good.

  Practice was all in Italian. The only time our coach, Gianni, would speak English was when he specifically wanted me to know something. I quickly learned to pay close attention to my teammates in drills. So when it was my turn, I could at least pretend I knew what was going on.

Our glorious locker room. And how do you like that pink?!?

  It didn't take me long to realize that Italian was extremely similar to Spanish (which I took four years of in high school). So if I listened hard enough I could pick out a word here and there.

  In the locker room and at team meals, all I heard was Italian.

  At first I was overwhelmed, and would zone out. But then I figured I should start listening because that would be the only way I was going to learn!

  My teammates would translate for me quite often, so it wasn't constant confusion for me all the time. But I didn't like relying on them to tell me what was going on.

  It took me until December or January until I was finally able to pick out words on a regular basis, and actually understand a little of the conversation going on around me. Once my teammates and coaches realized I was understanding, I think they were just as excited as I was. They would talk to me in Italian, and I would answer back in English. I would only try to speak when I absolutely had to!

  There's one story from my first week in Como that always makes me laugh. It was the first time I ventured into the city alone to find something to eat for lunch. After walking a few blocks, I decided to stop in at this particular cafe just outside the Duomo (the cathedral).

Sunset in La Spezia.

  I stepped in the door, and took a look around. I was quickly trying to figure out the standard operating procedure. I was barely three feet inside the door, and the man behind the bar says to me (in English): 'How can I help you?'

  I smiled, and thought to myself, I must have a giant sign on my forehead that says 'I'm not from around here', or 'I don't speak Italian'.

  I guess I stood out like a sore thumb. But since I knew it was a safe haven, I would stop there on occasion for a sandwich or an ice cream, and chat with the barman,

Everyday Life
  In today's world, we are in constant communication with our friends and family no matter where we are in the world. With fast internet, cell phones and WiFi it is very easy to stay in contact with people back home. I can even watch live American TV and sporting events on my computer now. So even with an eight-or nine-hour time change, staying in contact is pretty easy these days.

  My first two years in Italy however, it was a different story (2003-2005). There was no fast internet. I had dial-up through the phone line (c'mon, you remember those days).

1 of our many team dinners!

  There was no Skype. There was no WiFi. So I relied on e-mail, AIM and the good ole telephone. That made for an interesting two years. My mom usually called me everyday before she went to work (which was typically right before I had to leave for my evening practice).

  So that was a nice routine to have, catching up on the day's events back home before I went to work.

  But I think not having the best internet accommodation made me go into town, and interact with my teammates and the people I met in Como more that I would have otherwise.

  It's very easy, when you're overseas, to get into the routine of staying home and chatting with people back home on the internet, so it was probably better for me, as a person, not to have that access.

  The TV in my apartment had 11 channels. And they were all in Italian. I remember watching movies or TV shows that I had already seen, and trying to pick out any Italian word or phrase I could. It was best when there were sub-titles too because then I could actually see the words, and learn how they were spelled (I must be a visual learner).

  I remember driving my car home from practice for first time.

  Anyone who's been to Italy knows that getting into a car there means taking a chance with your life. Between wannabe race car drivers, horns honking, lights flashing, Vespas popping in and out of lanes, Italy is a pretty wild place to drive a car. Couple that with driving a stick for the first time and trying to navigate my way home, and I was a nervous wreck.

  Every time I had to stop, I thought to myself 'don't stall, don't stall'. I didn't want to feel the wrath of the crazy person behind me. Thankfully I survived my first drive home, and every drive home after that. Though I'm sure, that's no small miracle.

Kim & I above Como.

Sundays in Milano
  After the New Year, another American arrived to practice with us for the rest of the season. Kim was from the Bronx, and had previously spent some time in Italy and more specifically, Milano. This opened up a whole new world for me.

  Before, I hadn't really ventured outside of Como too much, and certainly hadn't done anything 'social' since I had arrived in October. But Kim knew the hot spots to hit in Milano and had a group of friends that she was willing to share with me. We ended up having some fun/crazy/memorable post-game Sunday nights together at Club Hollywood.

On the Court 
  So how did the basketball turn out? That was, after all, the reason I was in Como right? My team endured a lot of bumps and bruises that season.

  We lost the first game I played in. After the game, our coach was irate, so the locker room wasn't a pretty place to be. There was a lot of yelling, and more memorably, chair kicking. I knew this team meant business.

Celebrating a playoff road win.

  There were times of screaming matches in practice, late payments, near fights in practice, and other not-so-glamorous things to talk about.

  Personally, I struggled to find my role on the court, so there were definite ups and downs as I adjusted to being a professional.

  But above all that, my teammates were the best. We had a such a tight knit group of girls, that we had an amazing time together. We all did our part, and we played hard.

  Somehow, we put it all together at the right time (playoff time), and played our best basketball when it counted most.

Italian Champions 
  Our team ended up winning the Italian championship that season. At the time I didn't realize the importance of winning the scudetto. But now after completing seven more seasons abroad, I see how hard it is to win a championship no matter where you are playing.

Celebrating!

  And I saw how my teammates celebrated. They were so happy! It was so satisfying after the up and down year we had just had.

  One of the fans gave me an Italian flag immediately following the game. I still have that flag, along with many other mementos from that special season.

   My rookie year in Italy laid the ground work for the rest of my basketball career. Had I not had such an amazing experience with la Comense, maybe I would have stopped playing after one season.

Time to celebrate! Our scudetto dinner.

  Statistically speaking, I didn't have a great season. Probably my worst as a professional. But I was just a rookie.

  There were lots of things about being a pro I had yet to learn. The mindset it takes to be a pro, the expectations, how to take care of yourself, the work ethic.

  But for me, my first season in Como will always have a special place in my heart. Even though it was the most-difficult season for me mentally, it was a fun year and I learned a lot.

  Because of that, my rookie season has always been my favorite.

A domani