Chris McDevitt is part of a group of Division III players (and three Division II players) traveling to Europe as an All-Star team this month. His latest blog entry follows:

Days five and six were more relaxing as we did not travel and tour as much as usual. Day five we were still in Dusseldorf and had the chance to sleep in a bit. We walked around the city for a bit during the day to get lunch then got ready for our game at 8 that night. We played a tough opponent this night in Germany but our style of play forced them to do many things they were not comfortable doing.

Like most European teams, this team was very half-court oriented. We forced them to play a more up tempo game by pressing from the start. We won the game by around 20 and we played a very sound game as a team. After the game we grabbed a team meal and headed back to Dusseldorf for the night.

Day six we were on the move again back to Belgium. This time we made a pit stop in Holland on the way. We were able to stop at Philips Stadium which is the home of the Footbal Club PSV. We stopped in their team store and purchased some items to take home. After the stadium we toured through Holland for a few hours and ate lunch in the city.
Holland was similar to Brussels. Both cities were more advanced and much like a United States city.

On the way back to Belgium from our stop in Holland, we played our last game. We played Technico, a team from Belgium. Like the Previous game this team wanted nothing to do with trapping, but they did push the ball back at us while we pressed. The game was close for most of the game until we pulled away at the end. Ricky Hudson was much help as he went off for 30 points including two dunks and several threes. After playing five mostly competitive games we ended the week at 4-1 and started to play very well as a team as the trip went on.

Next time I check in we will be done a great day of tours in London and getting ready for our flight back to the states.

USA