I can not tell you how excited I am to play my first Euroleague season! It is where I have wanted to be since I started playing in Europe 6 years ago. I started at the bottom and worked my way up, with nothing being handed to me- a great feeling. Of course, however, now that I will be given this opportunity, there is still a lot left to get done!

A few days ago, FIBA Europe had its draw for the Euroleague teams, including my new team Lotos Gdynia. We will play in Group C with 5 other teams, including Ros Casares (Spain), USK Prague (Czech Republic), Union Halnaut Basket (France), UMMC Ekterinburg (Russia) and JBS Sibenik (Croatia).

I checked out the rosters from various teams and it looks like the whole WNBA is coming to play in Europe again. Of course, my team Lotos Gdynia signed some big names such as Alana Beard, who is among the top scorers in this year’s WNBA season with 18.3 points/game for the Washington Mystics. Also, there is a rumor that our team is after Tamika Catchings as well.

Lotos Gdynia also announced the hiring of its new head coach- Jacek Winnicki. Sounds like it will be an exciting season!  You can check out our teams website for up to date information at:  http://lotospkobp.pl/

Michelle signed a 2-year contract with a Euroleague team from Poland, Lotos Gdynia. Last season, in the Euroleague, Lotos made it to the Eighth-Final Play-offs. In the Polish league, the team finished the regular season a perfect 24-0 and lost in the final against Wisla for a 2nd place finish.

You can visit the team’s website and also see the team here.

Michelle said, “For such a long time, I have worked extremely hard in order to get to this level. I feel good about this commitment with Lotos Gdynia. I am very excited to not only play in the Euroleague, but also to have the chance to live in Poland and explore my roots.”

The new season starts on September 1st. Over the next few weeks we will keep you updated on Michelle’s new team as well as other things going on.

Talk about an unbelievable atmosphere for basketball.. the Euroleague Men’s Final 4 provided just that. Great basketball, intense fans, and an amazing city to find whatever your heart desires. Even though the beginning of my trip started off as a disaster, I had an awesome weekend.

So, I get off the plane and go for my luggage. A few bags start coming out and then the machine stops. 15 minutes, 30 minutes and almost 1 hour goes by and I realize that, “Hey, there’s a problem here!! Where is my bag??” The woman at the counter investigates the problem and says, “Oh, the system says that rest of the bags came out on another machine.” ..hmmm, interesting. Why would that be? So, I go to the other machine and of course, it was not there. Well, at this point, there was absolutely no more time to waste because we didn’t want to be late for the game. What did I do? I left with no bag. So, the remaining question was, where’s that bag??

At the arena, there is mass hysteria. The fans- whoa, intense. I must say that I have never seen such die-hard fans in my life. The ones from Spain, Italy and Russia were certainly entertaining, however, the craziest fans were from Isreal. They took the real meaning of the die-hard fan to another level. Dressed in yellow and blue, and some with painted faces, they packed half the arena and were heard from the minute they walked in until the games were finished. Dedication. Also, I met a fan and he said that he paid 500 euros for his ticket on top of his expensive flight and hotel. Ridiculous. I would watch it from home.

However, the basketball was really great basketball and perhaps in a sense that is priceless. The final was a classic, especially the first half. CSKA Moscow and Macabbi Tel Aviv were neck in neck and Langdon was putting in an unbelievable performance. He went on the be MVP of the final. In the second half, CSKA pulled away, won by 20 or so, and showed that they were the best team in Europe this past year.

I also had the chance to do a lot of sight-seeing. I like Madrid. It has a unique feel to it. Two things that surprised me were the many beautiful parks, which is not common for such a big city, and the overwhelming amount of American tourists. Aren’t we in a recession? How can we afford this with the strong euro?! But, seriously, I have been to a lot of European cities, but I found the most American travelers here. Also, let me point out that it is also a very “open-minded” city, if you know what I mean! If that is what you are looking for, then this is the place for you, LOL.

So, I have decided, I will go to the Men’s Euroleague Final 4 each year, wherever it may be. (And of course, if I get my press pass.) Great basketball, fun people and a new city to explore- can’t beat that! Count me in! Maybe even next year, I will be joining the CSKA Moscow crew- I love Siskaukus and Langdon. (as basketball players of course!) Well, that’s enough about that.. so, as Heidi Klum would say.. Auf Wiedersehen!

After three interesting days of basketball, CSKA finally won the title of the Euroleague 2008. Here are some of the pictures including one with Ekaterina Dimitrova, who also played in Italy last season for Montigarda.

This upcoming weekend is probably the biggest weekend for European basketball - well men’s basketball at least. The best European league - Euroleague is having a tournament called Final Four which will be held in Madrid, Spain. Guess what - I am going!

I am really excited to have the chance to see the best teams in Europe, which as Tau Vitoria from Spain, CSKA Moscow from Russia, Maccabi Tel Aviv from Israel and Montepaschi Siena from Italy. Last team I even saw already live in Rome, when they played Lottomatica Roma.

I must say I don’t know that much about European men’s basketball but there are other people that cover that … like BallinEurope. So if you need any information head over there.

I will leave for Madrid on Friday and come back on Tuesday, while the tournament’s final will take place on Sunday. Of course I will take some pictures and post them here on my blog.