Tag Archives: Kyle Nelson

Augie in China: Home again

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Augustana senior Kyle Nelson and his teammates took a summer trip to China. He blogged regularly on D3hoops.com about the team’s journey.

Augustana players and coaches in Japan

Whoa, what a trip! From Aug. 3-18, our Augie basketball team has traveled over 17,200 miles, visited eight cities, taken seven flights, rode one train, played five games, went through three of the world’s five largest airports (Chicago O’Hare, Beijing Capitol Airport and Tokyo Narita Airport), and toured many sites across East Asia. It was the kind of trip that I will remember for the rest of my life, and I’m certain that everyone else feels the same. From bartering in the markets of Hong Kong to climbing the Great Wall, we experienced so many things and saw plenty of differences between our home in America and East Asia that made us both miss home as well as view Asia in a completely new light.

From a basketball standpoint, this trip showed us how much Chinese people really embrace basketball. We know that basketball is still a growing sport in East Asia, but every person we came across was excited to see that we were a basketball team from the United States. Also, the fans at every game were incredibly great to us and cheered for our play just as much as they did for the home team. We were treated as special guests and the people made us feel very welcome because they saw how happy we were to be in their country.

At this point of the trip (roughly over South Dakota traveling at 696mph) we are all ready to get home. It has been a great trip and we have all learned a lot about ourselves both athletically and culturally, but we are anxiously awaiting seeing family and friends again before school starts on Monday.

I’d like to thanks everyone who read this blog for the duration of the trip, or even just once. I really enjoyed writing them and I hope you enjoyed reading them just as much. Thanks to everyone who made this trip possible and I hope to see everyone at the Carver Center during the season!

– Kyle Nelson

Augie in China: Pick and roll comes in handy

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Augustana senior Kyle Nelson and his teammates are in China. He will be blogging regularly on D3hoops.com about the team’s journey.

Currently at a comfortable cruising altitude of 32,000 feet, I think back about what we saw on our last day in China. Our final day was dominated by a seven hour trip to the Great Wall. We boarded the bus and took the two hour drive from our hotel to the far outreaches of Beijing where the Mutainyu section of the Great Wall is. This part was built over 600 years ago during the Ming Dynasty.  Driving up we were able to catch glimpses of it on the tops of the mountain range.

Once there we prepared ourselves for the long climb up more than one thousand stairs to finally reach the wall. We figured this hike would be some good training for the upcoming 2 mile. The hike took a while, but once it was done it was definitely worth it. The Great Wall was a sight to see. It seemed to go on forever. Just walking around on it gave you a great sense of pride just for being up there. We were on the Wall for at least an hour and a half, snapping photos and just looking out onto the mountain range.

After spending time up there we took the cable cars down and got ready to eat our final Chinese meal as a team. By now we were pretty used to the food served at these places; baked fish, eggplant, cabbage, pineapple chicken, spicy beef and egg drop soup. However, that doesn’t mean that were not thinking about having some good American food once we get back home.

Our last stop was at two of the largest markets we saw during the whole trip. They were the Pearl Market and the Silk Market; both located in downtown Beijing. These markets we essentially like the department stores we are used to, as they were indoors and were either four or five stories tall. But we were still able to barter with the salespeople at these places. The Pearl market was most obviously known for its extensive pearl vendors and the Silk Market, you guessed it, had practically a whole floor dedicated to silk materials. The popular items continued to be watches, scrolls, and souvenirs, but bootlegged DVDs made their first appearance in a market this trip and were a popular purchase.

We have quite a bit of time to kill on this flight to Tokyo, Japan (about three hours), and I’m sitting next to Bryant Voiles. Here are his thoughts thus far about the trip:

Thus far China has been an incredible experience individually and as a team. Not only have we been able to bond as a team at some of the most influential places in Chinese history and one of the seven wonders of the world, but also places such as the markets, hotels, dinners and night life. For example, in Beijing the silk market had some very determined people wanting to sell their items. On more than one occasion, they would corner someone in their store and block them from exiting until they bought an item. Being the skilled basketball players we are we managed to effectively use the pick and roll on the salesman so that we were able to leave the store.  The person not being blocked in the store would walk up unknowingly behind the salesman and set a back screen, then the person being cornered would run the salesman right into the screen being set free of the trap and both people would then jog away as the relentless salesman yelled at us to come back. I entered this trip with an open perspective on the culture that I was about to embrace anticipating major differences. Looking back I realize that I have earned a greater appreciation for my own culture and even the little things in life that are sometimes taken for granted such as a toilet seat and clean water that can be drunk from the tap.  
Bryant Voiles ( Senior Co Captain)

Kyle Nelson

Augie in China: Game day in Wuhan

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Augustana senior Kyle Nelson and his teammates are in China. He will be blogging regularly on D3hoops.com about the team’s journey.

Today was the first day of the trip that was dedicated just to basketball. We woke up and bused about thirty minutes to Huazhong Normal University for a game day practice. The gym was very nice, very big, but very hot. There was no air conditioning in the building and as practice wore on it got more and more difficult to keep our footing. Huazhong Normal was very gracious to allow us to practice in their facility. Augustana has had a long running friendship with Normal due to a student and teacher exchange program that dates back into the 1980s. This relationship allowed us to gain access to their gym free of charge.

After practice we had a few hours to cool down before we ate a pregame meal and got back on the bus for our game. The game was in another part of Wuhan and was against Huazhong University of Science and Technology. HUST is very comparable to the size of a Big Ten school. There are about 50,000 students that attend the university and it is one of the best universities academically. It also happens to be one of the top Universities for basketball at the college level in China.

When we drove up to the arena our bus was greeted by a massive red sign that had many Chinese symbols on it, but also unmistakably said Augustana right in the middle. We walked into the gym, which seats around 6,000, and saw the massive scoreboard which read China HUST versus USA Augustana. This was the moment that it hit us that this game was more than just two college teams; it was two teams representing their countries. The team got dressed and we took multiple pictures in front of the various signs that had our name.

Augustana team doing tai chi

There were about 4,800 people in attendance for the game and the crowd was very loud and energetic from warm-ups to the final buzzer. HUST has quite a few big players including a center who could have passed for a sumo wrestler. From the tip to the first quarter it was a pretty neck and neck game, with both teams playing very well. However, in the second quarter we began to pull away with great team defense to get a 23 point lead at halftime. From this point there was no looking back and we cruised to an 80-56 victory for team USA.

Augustana team poses with HUST after the game
Augustana beat Huazhong University of Science and Technology 80-56.

Augustana's Kyle Nelson holds a young boy after the gameOnce the game was over was when the madness began. We were all swarmed by the Chinese fans and asked to take pictures with just about everyone, from adults to babies. At one point I was just handed someone’s child and took about three or four pictures with him. Not only was the game memorable, but I think everyone will take away a great feeling from this game for how we were received as honored guests in Wuhan, China.

One final day in Wuhan then off to Xi’an!

Kyle Nelson

The game story follows:

WUHAN, China – Playing without starting point guard Brian DeSimone (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) didn’t seem to faze Augustana as the Vikings defeated Huazhong University of Science and Technology by a score of 80-56 on August 9 in Wuhan, China. DeSimone was ill and missed the contest but senior Drew Croegaert (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) and junior Eric Safranski (Putnam County HS, Granville, Ill.) stepped up and performed well. Croegaert and Safranski combined for nine assists and one turnover in the game.

“This was a solid effort, especially without our starting point guard,” said head coach Grey Giovanine. “Once again our depth and ability to play hard the whole way made the difference.”

The game was close after the first quarter with Augustana clinging to a 15-14 lead. Solid defensive play in the second quarter helped forge a 31-12 run during that 10 minute session and the Vikings led 46-26 at halftime.

“We converted several steals into easy baskets in the second period and that really helped,” said Giovanine, whose team is now 2-0 on the China trip.

Brandon Kunz (Lake Zurich HS, Lake Zurich, Ill.) led the team in scoring with 12 points and he grabbed eight rebounds as well. Kyle Nelson (Deerfield HS, Deerfield, Ill.) contributed 10 points and Bryant Voiles (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) added eight rebounds. The Vikings held a plus 13 advantage in the rebounding department and grabbed 18 offensive boards.

The Augustana defense held Huazhong to just 16 of 54 from the field and only three of 14 from three point range after giving up 10 three pointers in the opening game of the trip on Saturday. In that 82-66 win over the Dongguan Snow Wolves the Vikings surrendered 10 of 26 from three point range.

This game drew particular interest on Huazhong campus as a capacity crowd of 4,800 was in attendance to watch the Vikings put on what amounted to defensive and rebounding clinic.

“What a great experience for our players to compete in an environment with nearly 5,000 fans who were really into the game,” said Giovanine. “The crowd was appreciative at how hard our guys competed and they cheered every hustle play we made and we made a lot of those.”

Augustana will play Xi’ian University on Aug. 12.

Augie in China: Tai Chi, Yangzi

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Our first flight in mainland China took us from Guangzhou to Wuhan (population 9 million), a city north of our prior stop. We boarded a China Southern flight and were on the plane for only an hour and twenty minutes; a relief compared to our two previous flights on this trip. Once in Wuhan we met our tour guide Pony and she bused us to the Holiday Inn located in downtown Wuhan, right on the Yangzi River. The river is one mile wide and 70 feet deep. So compared to the Mississippi River, it is massive. The Yangzi River is the third largest river in the world and flows right through the middle of China.
 
Augustana team doing tai chi
The Augustana team, including coach Grey Giovanine’s son, Luke, far left, gets a Tai Chi lesson in a hotel atrium.

Our travel group got to experience a very unique session with a Tai Chi master in an area just off our hotel lobby. Master Miles, a friend of our tour guide, agreed to come in and give us an hour and a half lesson in Tai Chi. He began with a demonstration of what he could do, displaying the impressive flexibility and balance that Tai Chi requires. After he finished it was our turn. He taught us quite a few moves, some pretty simple and some rather difficult.

Tai Chi seemed to be much more manageable for the people who were not 6’8 and over 200 pounds. The big guys had some trouble with some of the flexibility moves, but it was all in good fun and a very worthwhile experience.
 
An early bed time was in order to prepare for our toughest game of the trip thus far against Huazhong University of Science and Technology. It is the largest university in central China and has an enrollment between 30 and 40 thousand. The Vikes are 1-0 so far overseas.
 
More from Wuhan tomorrow!
 
-Kyle Nelson

Augie in China: Layover in Japan

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After two hours in O’Hare Airport and 12 and a half hours on a plane, Augustana has set foot in Japan! It was a long awaited arrival as the flight lasted half a day. Most of the guys were buried in their personal entertainment systems on the plane, and were either playing games or watching movies. To pass the time we would by play Battleship or Tetris on the plane’s system against one another.

All of the big guys were fortunate enough to get exit row seats so that we could stretch out in the extra room (thank you to Dr. Norm Moline and whomever else set that up).
 
Once landing in Japan, we made our way through security and settled down in a Japanese noodle restaurant to get our first taste of Japanese food. Our stay here isn’t very long (a 3-hour layover) and we are confined to staying within the terminal. But, everyone is excited to come back to Japan at the end of our trip when we get to spend a day in downtown Tokyo.
 
Our flight to Hong Kong leaves in an hour. See everyone then!
 
-Kyle Nelson