Last Saturday we had our first game of the
best of five series for the Croatian Championships. Mladost, the
team in the finals with us from Zagreb (the capital of Croatia)
is a very good team and also happen to be the defending champions…
They started off the game with a 3-2 lead and kept it for most of
the first half.
But once we entered the second half it was a much different story.
Both our center (Niksa Dobut) and I each had three goals and we
ended up winning the game 11- 9.
It’s interesting to note that in the history of the Croatian Championship
Finals no team has ever swept the series (by winning three of the
five games in a row). Maybe we can hope to change that.
So now we are on our way to Zagreb tomorrow where we will play the
second game against Mladost. It will be tough since they are the
only team to not have lost even a single game at their home pool
all year. Kind of like the Cleveland Cavs of the NBA, except no
Lebron.
The week following this next game we will be preparing for the Final
Four (which is the European Championship). This final consists of
two games starting on Friday (one on Friday and one on Saturday).
It will take place in Rijeka, which is a city in northern Croatia
and about eight hours from us here in Dubrovnik. We have already
begun preparation, but having one more win before entering the finals
would definitely be positive for us.
On a lifestyle note, the weather has started heating up, so after
our last game, I took a boat to one of the thousand plus Croatian
Islands and spent the day swimming and chasing fish. As much as
I miss the California waves there is something to say about the
Adriatic Sea and the ability to cliff jump and always see the bottom
from above no matter how high up you are. Also, NO SHARKS!
Well, stay tuned for news from our next game and I will be writing
another blog post before the Final Four.
Tony