SIMON SAYS: Issue #4: "I Love Coaching"

What's going on Wolfpack Nation?

Well we didn't play our best basketball (especially me) this weekend to say the least. So all I'm going to say about that is that we're looking forward to redeeming ourselves on Sunday up in Dublin.

Recently I've been in really close contact with my mother, father, and close friends, because like I said before, losing is the number one thing in the world that I hate with a passion.

Changing speeds (haha), I have been concentrating a lot on the coaching aspect of my trip lately. I am coaching two teams over here. The first is an Under 16 all girls club team. I love coaching them so much, because they are so enthusiastic and receptive, and just love playing the game. I feel as if this age group is the most important to young players, because this is the time in which the game tends to get a little more serious. These girls are very talented and I feel that we're going to win a lot of games this season. I'm excited if you can't tell (haha).

The other team I'm coaching is the Varsity team here at the local University. OBVIOUSLY, I am more than elated to be doing this because one day I hope to possibly become a head coach back home in the states, so this is a big task I am taking on here in preparation for my future. This is the best part about this whole experience, in my opinion, because I love the strategy involved in coaching. The evaluation of what your strengths and weaknesses are, pitted against your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. There's nothing like it...

But I'll tell you about it more in detail when the respective seasons begin later this month. I have to run to training, so I'll be in touch. Hope you all have a great week and I'll be speaking to you soon.

Simon

SIMON SAYS: Issue #3: "Fully Acclimated"

Dear Wolfpack Fans,

I'm not a fan of "moral victories." I just personally feel that a loss is a loss, and nothing else. With that being said, we lost a really close game in OT to one of the undefeated teams in the SuperLeague. I was so proud of our team this week. We played all out for the entire game. We maintained the lead pretty much throughout, but just couldn't pull it together in the extra period, and eventually lost by three.

Now if you know me, I am not a fan of losing at anything (cards, sports, rock paper scissors, etc.). So I've been doing a lot of soul searching lately, to see what it is that I can change in order for us to finally earn our first SuperLeague win. This last game was the first game that I felt fully acclimated to the style of play here. I had much better numbers than I had in the previous two games, but that all accounts for nothing, because we still lost.

That's enough negativity for today (Haha). The trip up to Belfast was AMAZING. We drove up the day before and stayed the night in Dublin out by the airport in a Travellodge, and didn't get to see much of the city (I was pretty upset about that, because I've always wanted to go back to Dublin since I was here in Ireland last). But, I cheered up quickly when I got to Belfast! It is a beautiful city. It has a great mix of modern and classic buildings, and it had a real American feel to it. Only thing that was weird about it was that they use British currency up there, and there is no border into Northern Ireland. The only way I knew I was in a different country was when I received a text from my mobile carrier telling me about the ridiculously high charges that I would receive if I used my phone (which I wasn't happy about because it woke me up from my pregame nap), so I just turned my phone off, because I didn't want to deal with that nonsense (Haha).

Next week we have a two game home stint, which is well deserved. We play two of the league leaders yet again, so hopefully we can carry this positive momentum from the game last night with us into this home stand and get a win. Hope all is well Wolfpack Nation. Talk to you soon.

Simon

SIMON SAYS: Issue #2 : "Off-Week in Ireland"

Dear Wolfpack Fans,

Well, we didn't have a game this week. So you know it goes without saying, we had an extremely tough past week of training (thanks Coach). With that being said, this past week I spent a lot of time icing and doing my best to familiarize myself with the area that I live in now. I live in a small village by the name of Moycullen (hometown of my club team), and we are about ten minutes outside of the town of Galway, which is the major city in this area of the country (To give you a mental picture Moycullen is like Apex and Galway would be Raleigh) and is where everything in the area really takes place.

Since I've had a free weekend I have been in and around town seeing the sights and getting to know the area. This place is beautiful, it has wonderful people and there is always something interesting going on. The culture here is so laid back and accepting of everything, which really is a beautiful thing. It's not like my hometown (Pittsburgh) at all, where it's like everyone you encounter is on a mission to get a certain task accomplished. Everyone here takes the time to speak to everyone and be cordial, and they're really genuine. People here just love other people regardless of their ethnicity, gender, etc. Maybe that's why I love it here so much. To be honest, everyone is literally treated as an equal. It's a great change of pace from the States.

But back to basketball, haha. We travel to Northern Ireland this upcoming Saturday to play another road game. Hopefully we get this first win. Our community really deserves it and I know they're really hungry for it. It's up to us to try to go get it now.

Wish us luck...,

Simon

SIMON SAYS: Issue #1: "Still Looking for the First Victory"

Hey everyone. Today we're unveiling a new addition to our site. A few days ago we caught up with former NC State forward, Simon Harris, and he told us how much fun he's having playing ball over in Ireland. Basketball is really just starting to catch on over there and Simon and his team are holding clinics, camps and showing the country just how fun the game can be. We thought this sounded like a great story and offered Simon the chance to keep the Wolfpack Nation updated on a weekly basis about his team and his life overseas being, not only a player, but an ambassador of the game. He loved the idea and agreed, so without further ado, here's Simon!

Dear Wolfpack Fans,

Week two started off great. We had a bunch of really good practices, guys are starting to mesh together a lot more, and the confidence is beginning to rise. We went on the road for the first time to play a team down in Cork, the UCC Demons, who were the defending champions of the league we just moved into.

We started off really slow, I mean really really slow. Actually, at the beginning of the first quarter, but literally about midway through we all just started to pick it up and play much much better. Guys were hustling, pressing, diving on the floor, we really were poised to get our first win in team history in the Irish Superleague. We went into the half down one. We came out somewhat flat again at the beginning of the third, but yet again turned it around. We kept the game very competitive throughout the final quarter but (and I never complain about stuff like this) due to horrendous officiating we ended up losing the game by ten.

At one point in the final period, after I had been brutally mugged for three consecutive quarters, I asked the other teams American why we, as a team, weren't getting any calls. All he said was "Well first, you're an American, and second, officials here don't care for the road teams at all." HAHA, it's going to be interesting to see how the rest of our road games go... Hopefully I don't have to break too many noses.

But, we have a bye this week which I think is good for us right now. It'll give us ample time to correct our mistakes and get focused for our next game. I really think we made great strides this past game all of my teammates really busted their butts and had that look in their eyes that they were hungry for a win, and I'm excited to see how we respond in two weeks when we travel to Belfast.

Wish us luck...
Simon