Long awaited trip home!

Ok, maybe this was more eagerly awaited by me than the lads but after a long trip I have to admit I was looking forward to the flight back to Dublin. Despite only having two coaches, no real support staff outside of persons within each of the facilities we went(all of whom were great to us), the trip went remarkably smoothly. Even the few injuries picked up along the way were thankfully not very serious and allowed for the players to get the most out of their basketball.

Some of us got up early for a last minute trip to the Mall to pick up some presents before going home. This did however involve a detour to the local Police Department for Ciaran Roe to collect a report, and for Peter Herron to get a photo op.

Around 2pm we made our way back to St. Joe's for the last time to drop off the van's and meet up with the U/18 girls before hopping on the bus and heading for JFK where we had the added problem of having to try and get David's Teddy through baggage check, which we somehow managed!

It was an great experience for all involved, myself included. I seldom give true credit where it's due on the basis that players should know when they are doing well or not without me having to tell them, but in fairness to the guys, they worked hard and represented Ireland extremely well at every opportunity. Best of luck in the future and hope to see ye around. It was a pleasure working with ye... well some of ye at least. :)

Hall of Fame AAU Tournament Day 2

On the final day of games the Ireland 1 squad who had lost all their games in the tournament to this point woke up early and were ready to play against their 8am opponents, Boston Warriors. Behind an offensive outbreak from Garrett Galvin and some solid defensive play across the board the lads closed out a comfortable win, 62-38, in what was to be their final game of the trip. Leading scorers: Garrett Galvin 34, Ben Horner 8, Colm O'Hagan 6.

In the later game, a physically tired Ireland 2 team faced a much tougher opponent in the first round of the Silver competition against the New Yorkers Positive Direction. Despite starting very well the squad seemed to run out of steam coming up to half time as they began to fall behind by 3 points at the break despite leading comfortably early on.

The second half was a much more one sided affair and anything that could go wrong for the lads seemed to happen, with the Cork Guard Adrian O'Sullivan going down hard on a pick and suffering concussion. Despite a really gutsy display by the lads they seemed shell shocked after the incident which left their team mate on the court for a few minutes getting medical attention and then struggled to find their rhythm afterwards. The game ended 45-24 in favour of Positive Direction and also knocked Ireland 2 out of the tournament. Leading scorers: Shane O'Neill 7, Stephen James 4, Davy O'Leary 4.

After a long 2 weeks of Basketball the lads were dragged kicking and screaming to the Basketball Hall of Fame for what seems to have been equated to an educational tour before they eventually got their way and got a chance to go to Six flags Amusement park, where David Connolly managed to win a teddy that was almost the same height as him.

Player Diary from Room 2

The following account is from the players from Room 2 who divided the paragraphs into individual perspectives and experiences.

"We played the BABC team, one of the top teams for their age group in the country. It was a great experience to play against such an Elite team. We put up a solid performance but we were still beaten by the extraordinary Americans. We were entered into an AAU tourney which was held in Springfield, MA. The two Irish teams competed well in the tourney even though we only won one game a piece.

The teams in the tourney were very talented as a of NCAA college scouts watching and keeping notes from some players who will be recruited by high Division 1 Colleges. Altogether it was a great experience playing in the tourney as it was another raised level of Basketball.

On Sunday we went to the Irish American home in Connecticut. There was a party and we were welcomed by all the locals of Irish descent. I was very surprised when I was approached by an elderly couple that were from the same county as me, Clare. We were introduced to John Larson, one of the four most powerful Democrats in the country. It was a very enjoyable evening and everyone had great crack."

Room 4 Experiences!

"Stephen, Ben, Colm and David shared a room called 327. It was really fun! We had a great bondingtime in more ways than one but especially "storytime". What was told in 327 stayed in 327. Our room was the heart of the team featuring the vets - "Sexy" Ben, "Sharp Shooter" Colm O'Hagan, David "Just for Men" Connolly and Stephen "Takes off his top at any possible moment" James. As the leaders/veterans/best players we had the tough challenge of guiding our younger inexperienced team mates. The roster consisted of four senior shnnakes followed by the shnakes in training.
- Adrian "Whipped" Sully
- Barry "Butter Fingers" Denieffe
- Brendan "Right Guard Kiely
- Ronan "Dunkin' Donuts" O'Sullivan
- Jack "The Chicken" Murphy
- Adam "Creo Muncher" MacDonald
- Ciaran "One-Liner" Devitt
- Peter "Urgency" Herron
- Luke Scannell...
- Shane "**** you up" O'Neill
- Garret "Pack your bags early" Galvin
- Davy "Touchy Feely" O'Leary
- Neil "Steph" Cunningham
- Last but by no means least Ciaran "Where's my wallet" Roe

We feel one of the highlights of the two weeks was the first night we got Pizza. This was when the Shnakes was born! We shnaked a pizza up to our room on the sly. We told Pete we had a surprise for him. We presented him with an empty box. Peter threw a temper by ripping the pizza box and turning over our suitcases ending in a hissy fit and tears down the phone to his parents (actual event may not have happened as told).

Some of the days were early starts, starting with breakfast at 6am followed by a money count from our favourite Galwegian Colm "Sharp Shooter" O'Hagan. One morning Colm misplaced his wallet but due to his bargaining skills he bought a pair of magical thinking shorts in Penneys. 13 euro was well spent as he put them on and found his wallet in no time.

Brendan and Ronan were enchanted by our African American opponents and spent half their money on Gangster hats copying their new found idols.

As the job of fashion went to Peter "Urgency" Herron, this turned out to not have been carried out efficiently. Resulting in repeated phone calls with the obvious "What are we wearing?", "What time are we meeting?", "Where are we meeting?". Peter misinterpreted our questions leading to further phone calls.

Subway was an integral part of our daily routine. Also known as Plan A. By the end of the two weeks we knew the subway workers on a first name basis, ending up with Stephen getting rejected by one of the workers. This was maybe because he had to wear a t-shirt inside.

Unlike Stephen, Peter was on a hot streak with the ladies. I wish I could say the same thing for his basketball performances. He started by pulling a very attractive young lady on the plane, lol jk, he got rejected as she was flying with her boyfriend.

LeBron signing for the Heat was an experience we will never forget as it is a significant moment in NBA history. We can say we were in CT when LeBron was a sly man and shnaked his Cavalier teammates. What a bottler!

This was an experience we will never forget. Oh yeah, the basketball was good too. We even managed to win a couple of games. I love you guys......LUUUKE."

Any complaints should be forwarded to Hotchkiss Prep. Great report all the same.

Player Account update

The following brief account is a recent update from the players in Room 2.

"On our second last day of America each team had a game left. One team prevailed in a comfortable victory to end their trip, while the other team lost, knocking them out of the tournament.

Once the team ate from their "Plan A decision" destination (Subway), we travelled around the Basketball Hall of Fame. We found it interesting...

After that we had time to relax so went to Six Flags Water Park. Fun was had by all after a tiring two weeks of Basketball!"

Hall of Fame AAU Tournament Day 1

This morning started a little too early for the guys as the two Irish teams got off to a very slow start this morning in the tournament which was punished by their very competitive American opponents.

In the first game Ireland 2 who comprised of Ronan O'Sullivan, Jack Murphy, Shane O'Neill, Peter Herron, Stephen James, Davy O'Leary, Brendan Kiely, Neil Lynch and Adrian O'Sullivan, all really struggled to get into gear against CMAC. While the teams seemed pretty evenly matched the CMAC team just seemed to be a little bit better able to finish and developed an early lead in the first half which ended 27 - 19 in the Americans favour.

While the lads tried hard to get back in the game they were unable to eat into the lead. The game ended 55 - 44 in favour of CMAC. Leading Scorers: Adrian O'Sullivan 13 points, Jack Murphy 7 points, Ronan O'Sullivan 6 points.

Game 2 was less of contest despite some very promising play early on from Ireland 1(Adam McDonald, Barry Denieffe, Luke O'Mahony, Garrett Galvin, Ciaran Roe, David Connolly, Ciaran Devitt, Colm O'Hagan, Ben Horner) after falling behind 19-4 in the early going. This was followed by a 13-0 run which brought the team back to within striking distance before the wheels apparently came off and the CT Hoopstars closed out the half with a 36-21 lead.

The second half was no better despite the best efforts of the teams guards, Ben Horner, Dave Connolly and Garrett Galvin who scored 18 of the teams 20 points in the second half. The game ended 67-41 in favour of the CT Hoopstars. Leading Scorers: Garrett Galvin 13 points, Ben Horner 10 points, Ciaran Devitt 6 points.

In Game 3, Ireland 2 seemed to have gotten the boost that was missing in the early game and came out ready to play racing out to an early lead in the first half which ended 38-23 behind very strong play by Peter Herron and Shane O'Neill who scored 8 and 13 points respectively in the first half.

Despite a slightly less impressive second half the lads still held a comfortable lead all the way through the second half and closed the game out 60-42. Leading Scorers: Shane O'Neill 13 points, Adrian O'Sullivan 11 points, Peter Herron 8 points.

In what was probably the best game of basketball for the Irish guys today Game 4 matched Ireland 1 against City Rocks who are a highly rated AAU team from New York. The lads raced out to an early lead of 19 - 7 before being slowly pegged by the tough team from the Big Apple. The run by the American team continued up to half time when they led by 26-19 at the break.

In the second half it began to look like the City Rocks were beginning to get more comfortable and that there was a risk of them extending their lead further before some strong defence after switching to a 1-3-1 zone which disrupted the American offence and set up some good scores from Ben Horner, Garrett Galvin and Dave Connolly. With less that a minute to go Ireland 1 had it back to 3 points. Unfortunately, despite a great run they were unable to get over the end line and came up just short of a successful comeback. Final score was 47-42 in favour of the City Rocks. Leading Scorers: Garrett Galvin 20 points, Ben Horner 13 points, Barry Denieffe 4 points.

After the games the team were brought to an Irish American Club where they were graciously hosted and got the opportunity to hang out with their counterparts on the Under 18's Girls team. After a long day the group were back in the hotel relatively early so that they could get the opportunity to rest ahead of another couple of early games tomorrow.

Full day off!

After a long day yesterday and a long week and a half to this point it was decided to give the guys a well deserved day off to rest them up before the tournament tomorrow and allow them to relax ahead of what promises to be a hectic two days of intense competition.

Tomorrow's schedule starts with Irish Team II playing CMAC Hawks (Ma.) at 8am on Court 3 at the Mass Mutual Center. This is followed by Irish Team I playing on Court 1 in the same gym against CT Hoopstars at 9:10am.

Irish Team II's second game is at Dunbar CC at 10:20am against Deering Rams (Me.). Irish Team I's second game is in the same gym at 13:50 against City Rocks - Orange.

The teams two games on Monday depend on their results in tomorrow's games.

This evening they were given a chance to unwind with a trip to the cinema. All are safely tucked up bed already ahead of a 6am start tomorrow.