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.

Boston trip is a bit of an eye opener.

An early start for the lads proved to be a big ask considering the competition that they were facing this morning in Boston University. Today's game saw the lads facing one of the top 5 club teams in the country for their age group, the Boston Amateur Basketball Club. After being warned of this earlier in the trip by Coach Cardarelli it only really dawned on the guys what this actually meant when they saw a 6'10" player warming up with jump shots around the three point line followed by all the opposing team getting brand new matching pairs for Nike basketball boots before the game.

Realistically the Irish team seemed a little shell shocked in the opening minutes despite some really intense play from Meath local Davy O'Leary early on. This was unfortunately countered on the other end by some very athletic play by the BABC team in the form of three consecutive dunks by the 6'10" Nerlens Noel. This was also supported by the strong inside play of Eji Gjikondi who had 11 points in the first half.

It was a tough morning for the Irish players who struggling to find their rhythm given the large squad number of players for today's game and the short rotation that this resulted in. One of the strong points of the team since they came to the states was their outside shooting which seemed to have deserted them for this game. To their credit the lads did a great job of keeping the ball off the floor in transition but the BABC half court defense proved to be deceptively long making it extremely difficult for the Irish players to get into any sort of half court offence. While the final score line was 88-39, eleven of the Irish players managed to get on the score sheet. Leading scorers for BABC: Jaylen Brantley 26 points (8 three pointers), Eji Gjikondi 11 points, Nerlens Noel 10 points (4 dunks). Irish Scorer: Garrett Galvin 7 points, Davy O'Leary 6 points, Ben Horner 5 points, Barry Denieffe 4 points, Adam McDonald 4 points, Neil Lynch 3 points, Luke O'Mahony 3 points, Stephen James 2 points, Colm O'Hagan 2 points, Brendan Kiely 2 points, Adrian 1 point.

After this the team were brought to the Blarney Stone for a nice lunch and then on to the beach for some fresh air. They had the rest of the evening off despite a slight delay in the return journey.

Following a hectic day Coach O'Sullivan had this to say "Realistically this is the reason that the lads came on this trip, to face opposition that they would never get an opportunity to play against in Ireland and to get the chance to improve their skills. Today's game was being watched by some really top coaches from a lot of Division 1 colleges and some Boston Celtics representatives. It was a credit to the players that some of these coaches approached me and complimented the lads on their ability to play as a team and break the press that they were up against."

Player Account of trip so far after week 1

The following report was prepared by the members of room 1:

"Since the selection of the team each player has looked forward to this US trip as an opportunity to develop and basketballs skills by playing tough American teams and training in an intense atmosphere. It has lived up to the expectations.

We have established a really productive routine of doing team training and work outs in the morning, with high intensity games at night time. Despite the heat wave here in Connecticut we are maximizing our time this basketball environment.

The teams we have played have had some very talented players and play with a fast pace. It has been a good experience to adjust to and learn from the different styles which include more individual plays.

There has been a lot of things that we will take from this trip, including a specifically designed strength and conditioning program from 'Future Fitness'. We will be able to use this program when we return to Ireland to develop our games in a more efficient way.

Our practice sessions and style of play focused on making us all better basketball players, having the right skills and making the right decisions. We are becoming better individual and team players as a result and the team as a whole has been impressive at times.

Off the court everyone is getting to know each other very well. With many players having played together on Irish teams and a lot of good leaders, there is a great atmosphere in the team, including our two new team mates. On our day off we enjoyed a 4th of July BBQ with the girl U/18's team and the hosts, the Cardarelli's.

Hopefully the 2nd week will be as enjoyable and beneficial as the first and the entire trip will be a great stepping stone to better things in all our future basketball careers, wherever they may be."

Beginning to click.

One week down and the team are showing signs that the penny has dropped with the team plan being coached by Coach O'Sullivan. Despite missing three very talented players due to minor injuries the team still managed to gain two good wins this evening over Classical Magnet High School and the South Windsor High School squad.

The team is beginning to click as a group and player movements were beginning to look more natural as they out strong against a tenacious Classical Magnet team that looked to scramble on defense and disrupt the Irish offence as much as possible. Strong play from the Blue Demons player Luke O'Mahony, who hit his first four free-throws in a row, helped the first squad to earn a small lead in the first half which they were to build on in the second half.

Galwegian Colm O'Hagan returned the compliment defensively causing awful trouble for the local team and claiming a number of steals and coming up with 10 points from tough drives to the basket. Leading scorer for was Cork native Shane O'Neill who ended up with 15 points, but all players managed to get on the score sheet in what was a great team performance (Scorers: Shane O'Neill 15, Luke O'Mahony 12, Colm O'Hagan 10, Neil Lynch 9, David Connolly 8, Ronan O'Sullivan 8, Jack Murphy 6). Final score, 43-69.

In the second game, not to be out done, all players again scored in the second game including an impressive four players in double figures. It was great to see both Davy O'Leary and Brendan Kiely show what they are capable of as the two players have been solid all week without seeing the reward on the offensive end.

Also impressive was the young guard Garrett Galvin who ended up leading scorer on 17 points. The scoring blitz was rounded out nicely by Adam McDonald who had spent most of the game playing defense on the star player of the South Windsor squad. The game ended 47-69 in favour of the Irish team (Scorers: Garrett Galvin 17, Ben Horner 15, Davy O'Leary 12, Brendan Kiely 10, Ciaran Devitt 6, Adam McDonald 4, Ciaran Roe 2, Barry Denieffe 2).

All in all it was very productive which has the team in good sted before their trip to Boston tomorrow. THe evening was rounded off in a nice little restaurant just in time to watch LeBron James announce that he will be signing for the Miami Heat for the next few seasons.

Wear and tear beginning to show.

After a grueling couple of days of hard training and ridiculously warm weather, and a gym that sometimes feel more like a sauna than a modern sports facility, some of the bodies were beginning to show signs of it getting the better of them. Given that most of the players would not be used to the intensity involved in this trip or the heat wave that Connecticut is currently experiencing this was to be expected and was dealt with by way of a more relaxed skills session in the morning which ended with a couple of shooting competitions.

For lunch we brought the team to Walmart to pick up some essentials before a sit down meal. Then it was back to the hotel to relax and watch the second semi-final of the world cup.

Later in the evening Rick Riley of East Catholic High School took a session with the team before another scrimmage against some strong local players who Coach Riley invited along. The guys seemed tired but a few players seemed to really stand out in the relaxed atmosphere of the scrimmage. One of these players was Ronan O'Sullivan who seemed to be playing with a bit more of a swagger than he has in recent days as he was getting out on the break and finishing in style, grabbing rebounds and knocking down open shots. Unfortunately a number of players had to sit out the scrimmage with knocks and blisters which they had picked up in recent days.

Work beginning to pay off.

Another early morning start got the team in the gym in St. Joe's for 9am again. Today they covered a lot of information including the involvement of post players in the offence which has been a weak point to date in a mainly Guard dominated group. The session was briefly disrupted by an unfortunate injury to Templeogue player Stephen James. Thankfully the damage does not seem as serious as it was initially feared but Stephen will be taking it easy in the coming days and it is unclear as to whether or not he will be available for the upcoming tournament at present.

After a tough training the lads got a trip to the Mall for lunch and a small bit of down time before heading back to the hotel for rest ahead of tonight's two games.

The first of the two games at Bulkeley High was against South Windsor High School and saw the squad split by age group for a change. The '93's faced a relatively inexperienced South Windsor squad who found it tough early on with Ciaran Roe getting going early on what turned out to be a great shooting night for the Eanna Point Guard. Ireland led 31 to 11 on the back of 3 three-pointers from Ciaran in the first half.

All in all it was a very balanced display from the group with 9 players managing to get on the score sheet. The second half was highlighted by some good individual play from Garrett Galvin who 12 of his 14 points in the second half. Final Score was 76-36 in favour of Ireland(leading scorer's: Ciaran Roe 14 pts, Garrett Galvin 14 pts, Shane O'Neill 9 pts).

The second game provided a much tougher challenge for the older players on the squad, especially with the loss of Stephen who would have been playing this game against Windsor High-school if he had not gotten injured earlier on. Again the Irish lads came out with all guns blazing with David Connolly leading the way with 10 points in the first half which ended 36-31 in favour of Ireland.

A tough Windsor squad refused to go away however and managed to keep the pressure on the Irish team up until the final buzzer. In the second half Ben Horner took control of the game, scoring 13 of his game high 21 points in the second half including some pretty spectacular plays that will hopefully make him a success in the coming season when he transfers to the Hotchkiss School here in Connecticut. Final Score was 67-66 in favour of Ireland( Leading scorer's: Ben Horner 21 pts, Peter Herron 13 pts, David Connolly 12 pts.).

After a generally long and successful day the lads earned their choice of dinner and a lie in tomorrow. There was a lot of positives to be taken from the evening games including the use of the post players in the offence which was a credit to the focus displayed by the players during the morning session.

Back to Work!

After a fun filled Independence day the guys were back in the gym early today with a 9am training session which incorporated their first gym session with the fitness trainers from Future Fitness who have prepared a fitness regime for the lads which is tailored to basketball players. The guys got a good work out and gained some valuable advice and exercises which they can take home with them.

After 3 hours training in the morning where the team covered a lot of individual work and managed to finish with a 40 minute scrimmage. With the size of the squad it is important for the guys to start getting to play together in advance of the upcoming Hall of Fame Basketball Classic AAU tournament, especially with the recent arrival of Shane O'Neill and Garrett Galvin who joined up with the squad yesterday evening.

A long and productive day of basketball was brought to a close with a scrimmage against a group of local players. This helped show up some good squad match ups and some stuff that we need some work on. The scrimmage started with some good aggressive play from Ronan O'Sullivan and Shane O'Neill. The team showed some great team work in parts with some good outside shooting from a number of players and a very good offensive patch from Ben Horner who showed just what he's capable of.

Independence Day

The lads officially had the day off today with the only scheduled activity being a July 4th Cook out at Casa Carderelli in Manchester, CT. After getting up early the group used the spare time before they went to the party to get a circuit session in at the Hotel gym. This was a pretty intense work-out and the players all seemed focused on making the most of their free time. Personally I think the team deserved their bit of craic this evening as they all pushed themselves very hard despite it being their day off.

Game Day 2 in St. Joe's College

After a good rest and a relaxing morning the Under 18's were up and ready for action this afternoon in St Joseph's College. This has quickly become the new home gym for the squad since coming Connecticut.

The first game of two against Northstars AAU teams 1 and 2 saw some great performances from the Irish boys who had clearly came to play and stamped their authority on the game quickly. Leading the pack was Tramore native, Jack Murphy, who managed to score 10 points in the first 5 minutes of the game. On a number of occasions he linked up well with his club team mate, David Connolly who helped coordinate a fast paced Irish attack which lead to a strong lead early in the first half which they were not to relinquish for the rest of the game.

The second half became a lot more structured for the lads when Adam McDonald, Peter Herron and Barry Denieffe all contributed which strong moves close to the basket. All of Adam's points in the second half came from the free-throw line as he continuously took his game to the American team and made the most of the free-throws that were awarded to him. The game ended 62-42 in favour of the Irish Squad (Leading Scorers: Jack Murphy 16pts, Peter Herron 12pts, Barry Denieffe 8pts).

In the second game the second half of the Irish Squad had a much tougher test against the slightly older Northstars AAU 2 squad which included two players who are headed for Division 2 college basketball next season. The local team came out of the blocks running with a quick score right off the tip. As the lads struggled to come to terms with the balanced attack of the Connecticut based team strong play from Ben Horner and Neil Lynch managed to keep the team in the game through the first half.

Despite being down as much as 19 points at one stage in the second half the lads continued to work and play hard. Once the Cork guard Adrian O'Sullivan began to come alive in the second half the lads managed to but a run together which brought them back to within 6 in the last minute. Unfortunately this push was just a bit to little a bit too late as the game finished 60-54 in favour of a very strong Northstars AAU team(Leading Scorers: Ben Horner 18pts,Neil Lynch 15pts, Adrian O'Sullivan 11pts.)

Coach Francis O'Sullivan had this to say "After the second day of competitive matches we are continuing to learn more about the players as we try to find the right balance within the teams."

Up and running in America

After a long two days of travelling and training the Irish Under 18's Men's squad got off to a strong start in their first two games at St. Joseph's College tonight.

The team split into two for two back to back games against CC Hoops AAU and CT Premier AAU respectively. The first team played a very athletic and competitive CC Hoops team that piled on the pressure early with strong outside shooting and full-court pressure defense. The American team ended up taking a 12 point lead mid way through the first half. Once the Irish lads began to get their feet they began to work well together and look like a great team. Some good shooting from Neil Lynch and tough defensive help and transition offence from Colm O'Hagan kept the team close in the first half before they began fighting back in the second half.

Despite some queasy stomachs in the first half both Adrian O'Sullivan and Ben Horner came alive with around 8 minutes to go and led a 10 point comeback. With just under 3 minutes to go the squad managed to take the lead. In the end CC Hoops poor free-throw shooting cost them as the Irish squad showed great composure to close out the game and win the game 64-60.

Unfortunately the combination of jet-lag and a late start to the second game seemed to contribute to a less successful performance by the second squad who faced a well-organised and talented CT Premier team. At the half the American team had managed to build 17 point lead against the lads who struggled offensively despite only giving up 29 points.

As with the first game the lads played much better as a group in the second half with an offensive run in the first 5 minutes which managed to outscore their entire first half. Some solid play from Ciaran Roe and Peter Herron began to edge the team back to just 9 points with just a few minutes to go. The Premier then managed to start knocking down some big outside shots stretching the Irish squad and re-opening another big lead which they held until the end. The Irish team continued to work hard until the very end despite apparently running on empty in a game that was being played at around 3am Irish time. The game ended with a 57-38 scoreline which showed reflected a strong defensive performance for the Irish team that is still getting into it's rhythm.

All in all this was a very productive beginning to what promises to be a great experience for the players. Possibly most impressive today was the declaration of intent by Corkonian Ronan O'Sullivan who is intent on making the most of the opportunity that this trip is giving him and his team-mates. If the team continues the in manner which they have began this will be a great trip for Irish Basketball's future.

Coach Francis O Sullivan said "I was very pleased with the enthusiastic attitude of the players and the commitment they have shown to improving their basketball skill level and also their work rate during the games since they arrived in the US."