ENGLAND THROUGH TO COMMONWEALTH SEMIS
Tuesday 21 March, 2006
Well, we're in the semi finals...and in still in contention for a gold medal [after Andrew top scored with 23 against South Africa]
Ideally, I was looking for us to come over here and get a clean sweep...but those plans were messed up by New Zealand the other day. Being realistic, they were always going to be tough as they're a very good team. In fact, they are many people's favourites to win.
For two and a half quarters I thought we played very well. However, our lack of experience of playing together definitely became clear to see during that game.
But the loss was a learning experience and every game we go through together makes us stronger as a group.
Next up we've got the home team, Australia. They are also considered the favourites by many people. Again, it'll be an extremely tough game, but this is what I wanted - to play against the best competition.
There's a lot of talk back home about how it's important for us to win a medal here at the Commonwealth as it could help boost funding for basketball. Some people have been asking whether that puts extra pressure on us to perform...and my answer is "no". As a professional sportsman, the most pressure you'll ever feel is from yourself. You set your own expectations very high and try to live up to them. All twelve of us came out here with the intention of taking gold, regardless....
Outside of the basketball, being here at the Games is an awesome experience and is certainly unlike any other basketball thing I've ever done! People just come up to you on the streets of Melbourne and ask where you're from and which sport you're competing in, it's cool.
Unfortunately we didn't get to be a part of that crazy opening ceremony. We had a game the next morning and needed to get a decent amount of rest. Plus, as the English athletes were the first to come out, we'd have been standing around for hours...which isn't really a good look when you're playing the next day!
ENGLAND THROUGH TO COMMONWEALTH SEMIS
