There are six different former Princeton players currently suiting up professionally overseas. I asked each of them (minus Konrad Wysocki, who I don't have contact info for) to update how things are going both professionally and personally in Europe. Responses have been slowly trickling back the past month.
Read chronological first person dispatches from Pawel Buczak, Mason Rocca, Kareem Maddox, Dan Mavraides and Judson Wallace after the jump.
Pawel Buczak
December 8, 2011
My new career as a professional basketball player has been going well. Adjusting at first was difficult (24 second shot clock, new terminology, completely different style of play from Princeton) but I started to play really well until about a month ago when I twisted my ankle. I only missed one game but only last week did I feel truly 100% since the injury. Our team, having started 0-4, has been on a roll lately going 6-2 with some high quality wins since that tough start. I play about 20 minutes a game off the bench (mostly power forward, although some center) and my role is to play high energy defense and spread the floor on offense. Living in Poland has been pretty cool - I am less than 3 hours away from my grandparents and I have also gotten the chance to see some more distant relatives for the first time since I was a baby. I have also learned to drive a stick shift and met many new friends. Overall the experience has been a wonderful one so far.
Thanks,
Pawel
Mason Rocca
December 10, 2011
I'm writing to you from the bus as we head to Venice for a road game. We are in a critical moment in our season right now. Unfortunately we've lost four out of our last five games and we have a lot of pressure to get things turned around in a hurry. First of all, we have two games left in the first round of the Euroleague competition. If we don't win both of those then we have no chance to qualify for the next round. This result would be a big disappointment for our team, as we were built to go much further in the European competition.
The game we have tomorrow is against Venice, which is in the Italian league. As some of you may know, in Europe there are "domestic" leagues and then European leagues. The top teams from the various European countries play in both, while the middle and lower-tier teams play solely in the domestic leagues. The domestic league games are usually on Sundays, while the European games are mid-week. Venice is a team that just moved up from the second division last year. Nevertheless they are playing excellent basketball. One of their top players is Alvin Young, who is a good friend of mine. Some of you may remember him as leading the nation in scoring at Niagra University back in the 90s. We played together my first year as a professional in Trenton, NJ with the Trenton Shooting Stars. Alvin is now 36 and still a scoring machine. We have our work cut out for us, but we've had a couple of solid practices and hopefully we can put things together to get a big road win.
Go Tigers, and Go Milano!
-Mason
Kareem Maddox
January 3rd, 2012
Hello from Holland!
Everything is going pretty well out here. We have a really talented team, so the battle has really been coming together and playing as a team. In the beginning we were only averaging about two assists per game, and whether we won or lost really depended on how we played individually. So we did win some big games against the top teams, but we also dropped some that we shouldn't have. As of late we've been clicking, and we really came together last week in our holiday tournament against some international competition. We beat a team from Brazil in the finals to win it, but more importantly we were sharing the ball and really got in tune. So hopefully that carries on to league play. We're currently 7-6, but I think we're better than our record shows.
Personally, I've been trying to adapt my game to a new offense and find my opportunities to score. I'm not very consistent right now, which is frustrating, but I've started being more aggressive and looking for my shot more which has helped. I've shot the three pretty well in the past few games, so that's definitely one aspect of my game that I'll continue to work on. Moving forward I have to continue to do that to help the team. Coach Johnson and Coach Earl have also been great about giving me advice, and it usually works so it's been great to have them to reach out to.
Adjusting has been pretty easy, the whole team gets along really well which will help us down the road. I've learned a lot from Damon Huffman, who played under Coach Robinson at Brown, so we have a lot in common. He played in Belgium for the past three years and has really helped me adjust to the landscape over here. There's been a lot of Ivy League banter back and forth, but he's stayed away from placing any bets as of late.
Outside of basketball everything is good. We usually have two practices a day, but there's a lot of free time. We've had some weekends off so I had the chance to visit Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris and London so far. We also had some games in Belgium and Luxembourg in the preseason. So all in all it has been a great experience so far, and I'm looking forward to the second half of the season.
And of course I've been watching/listening to the Tigers play and following the website. When we can, Dan Mavraides and I usually link up on Skype and watch the game on a website or however possible. I can't wait for Ivy League play to start, I'm really excited about the season.
Go Tigers!
Kareem Maddox
Dan Mavraides
January 4th, 2012
Thessaloniki, Greece is an amazing city and although I have already eaten enough gyros and Greek salads to last me a lifetime, I am thoroughly enjoying my time here. It is a very populated city, right on the Mediterranean Sea with a great social scene; but most importantly the city has a tremendous basketball following. The fans have made all the difference in my easy adjustment to living in Greece. They love the game and love Aris! You can see clips of our 'Aris fans' on YouTube if you want to know what I'm talking about.
Our team is currently playing very well as we have advanced to the second round of the EuroCup and are recovering from a slow start in the Greek League as of late. The European style of play is pretty different from American basketball, but my teammates and coaches have been fantastic in helping me to adjust. Without a thesis to write, I have attempted to learn two things: Greek and the guitar. I meet with a Greek tutor several times a week and I am actually making some progress on that front; however I am finding myself to be somewhat musically challenged. I have also been staying up until 4:00 am many nights to watch the Tigers battle and have loved every minute of it. Thanks for all of the support and love. GO TIGERS!
Best,
Dan
Judson Wallace
January 16, 2012
I hope everyone is doing well and had a wonderful holiday season. Our season is in full swing as we have the Coppa Del Rey coming up in three weeks and the Euroleague Top 16 beginning this Thursday at home vs. Italian team Bennet Cantu.
So far this year we are 24-4 with three road losses in the ACB and one tough road loss against Siena in Euroleague. We are tied for first in the Spanish league and while we finished first in our regular season group for the Euroleague, all the slates are wiped clean for our upcoming four team bracket in the Top 16.
I love the city of Barcelona, and while my Spanish could use some further development, I can get around pretty good and am trying to stay out of trouble. Weather has been great, and even though it is a little too cold to venture down to the beach, I am counting the days until I can work a little bit on my tan following a tough morning practice.
As far as the team is concerned, we have a great group of guys, and we have been playing without our best player for the last month, Juan Carlos Navarro, who has been out with a foot problem. The adjustment has been a work in progress for me going from a team like Gran Canaria where I was expected to score 15-20 points a game and play 30 minutes a game to the situation we have in Barcelona where every player has been some degree of a star and all the egos and personal statistics are put aside for the furthering of the team.
I will admit that winning the vast majority of the games we play makes this particularly easy, and while the competitive side of every player wants to be in the game for the maximum amount of time allowable, our depth allows us to play as hard as we can and be fresh with another equally capable player ready to go in at anytime.
It has been exciting to be a part of, and hopefully as the advanced stages of the Euroleague begin and the Coppa Del Rey starts up, we can continue to play well and strive towards achieving our ultimate goals of cup, league, and Euroleague champions. Still a long way and a lot of hard days of practice and improving to go though.
Best of luck to the Princeton squad, all the princetonbasketball.com subscribers, and all the other Princeton bballers over in Europe representing our alma mater!
If anyone is ever in Barcelona and wants to see a game, let me know!
Go Tigers!
CJW
