| Kasib's Blog |
| 12/17/07 Hello to all my fans! Right now I am on my way back from Bismark, North Dakota. I have been on my new team, Sioux Falls, Skyforce for almost a week now. Last week I had my first game on the same day I arrived. My plane landed at 1:30pm and I had a game at 5pm. We lost the game to my old team the Dakota Wizards. I had a solid game with 20 pts and 12 rebounds. The next 3 days after my arrival we participated in Read to Achieve. In over 3 days our team managed to read to over 6,000 students from grade 1st to 5th. I had a lot of fun doing that. I tried to express the importantance of reading in everyday life. In my first week we also had a road trip that included playing the Iowa Energy and The Dakota Wizards again. We lost to Iowa in Overtime in a game where we were 26 pts down and came back and forced the game to overtime. I had a good performance with 22pts and 8 rebounds. The game with Iowa showed that if we play together we can play with anyone. We took that momentum over to Dakota and we beat the Wizards. I was so excited to play back where I once played. The crowd really showed me a lot of love! It felt good to see familiar faces from staff members , ball boys, to fans. I probably had one of my better games with 29 pts and 11 rebounds. I think that we have a good team, and the guys on the team are also cool. We are now 2-5 but we will win plenty of games this year as we prepare everyday to win the title. 12/26/07 Hello everyone and Happy Holidays! Since last week we had two games and we split. We beat Rio Grande in a close game. I played well with 26 pts, 5 rebs, and 5 asst. The highlight of the game was the big free throws I hit with 21 seconds left on the clock. We were down 1 pt and had the basketball. Coach called timeout and drew up a play that had me going to the basket to win the game. I was confident that I would make the right play to get us the bucket we needed. On my way to the basket I was fouled. ( I knew we were in the penalty). After I knocked those free throws down to give us the lead we got a stop and won the game. The next night we played the LA Defenders. They have an interesting team because they run the triangle offense. Other teams run NBA offenses but the triangle takes a good team with versatile players. That's what LA had. We lost by 10 but I think we could have beat them. I had one of my worse games scoring 17pts and 4 rebs. I have been battling the flu so I'm going to try and get better because we have a game tomorrow on Xmas against the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Happy Holidays 1/1/08 Hello to everyone, and Happy New Year! We started the New Year off with a game against the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. We lost but we couldn't feel sorry for ourselves because the next morning we had to be up and out of the Hotel by 4:15 am to get a flight at 6 am. When we finally arrived at Sioux Falls at noon we had a couple hours before we played against the Iowa Energy. We were not looking forward to traveling and playing the same day but we were looking for revenge. Last week Iowa beat us twice at there place and it was on us to get even with them. Since I have been here, I have noticed we are a different team on the road. I think it has something to do with our inexperience. We will be put to the test in 2 weeks as we prepare for a 5 game road trip. The road trip starts in North Dakota and finishes up in Idaho with stops in Bakersfield and LA, Next week is one of the biggest weeks because we play in the NBA showcase. This is a great opportunity to play in front of many NBA GM and scouts. Over the last 3 games I have been playing solid averaging 20 pts. and 7 rebs. Jersey 1/28/08 I told everyone that this was one of the biggest events in the D-League and was one of the deciding factors in choosing to play in this league. So for me it was important to have good games. Before the showcase we played 2 games in California on a road trip. The first game was against the Bakersfield Jam. This team featured Andre Barrett and a junior college teammate James Peters. We started off the California trip with a Win against the Jam. The next game was against the LA Defenders. They are one of the better teams. They feature Sean Banks and Devin Green. This was an interesting game because it was my first time playing in the Staple Center. I was really excited about playing there except one thing. The defenders do not have any fans. There was 20 people there at the most. This was a game that we were winning by 22 pts at halftime and loss the game at the end. I had a horrible game shooting 5 for 18 from the floor. I ended with 12 pts. However Sean Banks was the biggest contributor in leading hos team back into the game. We played LA on a Sunday and had to catch a flight to Boise, Idaho on Monday for a game against the Anahaiem Arsenal. This was a heartbreaker game because we were winning by 15 and blew a 4th qtr lead. They won by 5pts. This game my assignment was to lock down ex NBA first rounder Kendrick Brown. Let's just say, he had 10pts and 6 rebs. I ended the game with with a solid 19pts and 10 rebs. I was very dissapointed about the lost. The next game to this long road trip was against another power house in our league. They have many NBA players on there roster so I knew that it would be a good test for me and our team. I started this game almost like I had something to prove. When I picked up my 3 foul in the first qtr. I was really upset as I sat out most of the fist half with 3 fouls. Going into the locker room we were only down 8pts. Going into the 2nd half I knew that I had to have a big half for us to have a chance. We ended up losing by six but I had a great second half shooting 9 of 13 and had 21pts in the second half. I ended up with a good performance eventhough the first half was a nightmare. A couple of days after the showcase my coach told me that I made first team all showcase. After loosing two games and still making the first team it made me feel like people are starting to really appreciate my game. Since then we are on a 2 game winning streak and we look to continue our winning streak. Next week is the All Star Game. Will I be nominated as a Starter???? Jersey Click Here to read the AllStar Blog!! |