BasketBall Connect

So I decided to stay in ATL and work it out, see what happens. Bad Idea... The person who was initially in charge of everything got fired because a lot of the players complianed. They had a right to complain because what we were promise was definately not what we got. We talked to the head of the overall WBCBL...he was in Texas. He seemed concerned but he was in Texas what could he do. Anyhow, we got a new coach and finally we began thinking basketball and not drama. But for most of us drama was still there because were we in ATL with no money and no place to stay.

I ended up staying with some lady who was treasurer of the ATL division and was "involved" with the league director that got fired. Crazy situation I know... but I was extremely grateful and rent was cheap. Two other players were staying there with me. As for the other players, eventually they rented out a house and our new coach got them any furniture he could find to accomodate them.

So I got a place to stay...that is a step in the right direction. Well I can honestly say that was as good as it got. Two weeks into it and we just now steppin on the court. The league was setup as 5 teams all around ATL, semi-pro ball no pay, it was to be an exposure summer league only. We were to find our own job for daily living expenses. Practice was held about 2 to 4 times per week. Games were played on Saturdays only at a local college. Depending on where your team was located in the ATL determined where you practiced. We practiced at a YMCA and a local military base.

Our team was stacked athletically. We were quick but small. Practice were easy but it was basketball so I loved simply playing. One the first game day I was all excited ready to play and to add to the already crazy situation...the league was mad ghetto. It seemed like a rec. league. There were no signs that ATL knew about the league let alone international scouts. Plus, I only played like 2 minutes. I missed a couple days of practice because I had to return home to take finals and graduate from college. But during that time all the drama was going down anyway. The games were set up as two 20 minute halfs running clock which sux. I was definately not use to not playing. I just came from a very successful college career where I started almost every game and was on the court 80% of the game. Averaged 11 ppg and scored almost 1200 career points.

Man was I mad. I can't remember if we won or lost. But my first question was isn't this an exposure league isn't everyone suppose to play a sufficient amount of minutes to get exposure? What seperates me from the other players on the team? I wasn't the only one that didn't play much. We were all thinking the same thing. And the score of the game was like 30 something to 40 something. For the past two years I had been playing a very unorthodox style of basketball where my team average 102 point per game (most in the NAIA, NCAA, WNBA...etc women's bball). So I went from very fast to very boring and slow...

After I spent the rest of the weekend mad. I decided to talk to the coach and get an explaination. What is he going to say? I was the youngest person on my team is that why? Some of the player had been chasing basketball dreams for years and I was just starting. As far as adjusting to ATL...When will I get a job? Will this league be worth the graduation money I was spending? Maybe I just should have went to the exposure camp everyone was talking about. Stay tuned for part 3.