Podcast Ep 6 Season Recap

Season Recap, Thank you to my teammates, coaches, and fans. Great to be back home in the good old US Season Recap, Thank you to my teammates, coaches, and fans. Great to be back home in the good old US of A!!! Getting geared up for the Nick Lewis Skills Camp this summer in Phoenix. Going to be a great week!!! Preparing for summer and all the crazy things that are in store so keep checkin back!!
Thanks to Matt for the Website
Thanks to Jack and Reggie for all the work!! 


Life of Basketball Ep 6

Podcast Episode 5

This episode I talk about starting the playoffs and our season in a little recap, talk about what happens at Pizza Hut after our game, and what it has meant to me to live and travel in Europe.  Please share with friends and family to help get us moving forward and hopefully on iTUNES.  Also leave me a comment about content, ask a questions, or just say you like it!!

www.lobpodcast.podomatic.com

Life of Basketball Ep. 4

This weeks episode I talk about spring time coming to Poland, doing a little redneck bbq polish style, and introduce "Cooking with Loski".  More good stories about living around the world and bouncing a round ball.  Subscribe to the feed and download for the ride to work tomorrow!!
www.lobpodcast.podomatic.com

Listen in

Well I have really taken a liking to this podcasting.  I have published 3 episodes and each one gets a little better but bottom line I am just having a really good time with it.  It gives me the opportunity to share more stories and share interviews with my teammates which gives you a look at what we do while we are over here playing ball both on and off the court.

Episode 3 I share a few stories about what it is like to stay in hotels in Europe.  6'10" dude sleeping in a small bed.  "Big guy on a little bed, big guy on a little bed" also some thoughts on the NFL and the NCAA tourney.  Please have a listen and like my podcast page, subscribe through iTunes, leave a comment, ask a question, or whatever you want just enjoy!!

Life of Basketball Podcast ep. 3

Life of Basketball Podcast

It's official I recorded and publish my first Podcast. Please check it out!! It's a look into the lives of us Basketball players living abroad. I want to give our audience a look into what it is to live overseas and share some great stories and experiences. I will feature a new guest each week, we will chat it up about our lives outside the lines. Leave a comment or suggestions or questions so I can make it a great experience. Also anyone who knows how to get it on iTunes let me know so more people can listen by downloading it. It runs about 45 minutes. Thanks again for following the blog and hopefully you will follow the podcast!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0eNixw6vq8

Frustration Continues

Most of you who know me know that overall I am a very forward looking positive person but lately I am having to try and be this way even harder. My back continues to be suspect and is taking longer than I want to get better. It has been almost a month since the initial injury and I tried to take a little time off to get better but I dont think I took enough time. The timing was terrible because we were finishing our season gearing up for the playoffs. I missed the last 2 games of the regular season which was tough but good to take some time off. But me being me and not wanting to sit the bench I came back and played in the next 2 games, one was for the Polish Cup and the other was the first game of our Playoff pool. I played really well in both games averaging 12pts and 5 rebounds in the 2 games but after the second game in about 10 days I was in trouble. During the bus ride back from the game the drugs that they had given me to be able to play started to wear off and that was all she wrote. I felt like I had been shot in the lower back. EVERYTHING hurt. There was no position or stance that I could get in that would allow my back to relax.

As any of you who have had back issues it is so frustrating because the back is so a part of everything you do and every move you make. Unlike a ankle sprain or bad finger where you can just tape it up a little tighter and get out there, your back cannot be taped! It is the first injury of this kind that I have had that has continued to just nag along. It is now getting better as I have sat out the last 2 weeks and been getting therapy like crazy everyday but I cant wait to get back out there. Our team is in a bit of turmoil right now with a few bad losses and a change in the coach going into the playoffs. Yep fired our head coach the week before we started the playoffs so that has generated some problems because we are working so hard to be good in the playoffs while also working on incorporating the new system from the new coach. Overall the new coach has been helping us get back to playing better basketball but the learning curve based on the timing of it all is making it a little more difficult. I just want to get healthy so I can help the team get back to where we were and start kicking ass again, cant do much from the sidelines!! Next week it is ON!!! On the lighter side of sports as they would say I am currently working on a Podcast. Ya I know I am joining the craze that has become the podcast world. My idea for the podcast is much like this blog, give a quick insight into basketball from on the court but more importantly I want to deliver some of the "behind the scenes" stuff that we all go through while over here playing in Europe. I will have some of my current and former teammates on as guests so we can just share stories of the craziness that happens over here when we are traveling, playing ball, and just living our lives separated from our family and friends for 8-9 months a year. Letting you get a glimpse of what it takes to be a Pro baller that is beyond just the basketball which gives us a great life style but also takes a little bit from all of us. It should be a fun ride and I hope you will all give feed back and let me know what you think. The first episode should be finished this weekend and I will post it I think on YouTube first and post a link here and on Facebook so you can listen in. The episode will be about an hour long so it can be perfect to listen to while working out or driving to work. Hope it catches some wind but I need the feedback to see if it is even good. So I will send the link out next week for all to enjoy. Thanks for reading!! @TheNickyLew on twitter

Road to Recovery

There is nothing worse then having to try and battle through an injury. This past week I managed to slip a disc in my lower back during and individual workout. We weren't doing anything out of the ordinary, it was a typical morning workout we have usually twice a week where we work on post moves and get up a ton of shots. Well this particular morning my back decided that it was not going to be happy with me and it crapped out. It was the most interesting and acute pain I had ever experienced. Sure I have been hurt before with sprained ankles and twisted knees but when your back goes out, GAME OVER! There is no comfortable position to sit or lay in and every little movement you make becomes unbearable. Ok enough with the self pity. The real theme of this post is a more outward looking big picture idea. In my case the set back or hurdle is an injury but in the World right now people are struggling with much bigger "injuries" in their daily lives. Mainly I look at the obvious economic situations that hit everyone very hard. There were some serious mistakes made by a lot of people on all levels. Some on purpose, or should I say done with what was thought to be good intentions, and some done without anyone's control. Much like what happens when an athlete is hurt on the court. When we get injured on the court there is an immediate response that usually involves the trainer and a bag of ice to try and immediately relieve the pain. That is what also happens in life. When we are hit with something that hurts us in our lives we immediately look for the first thing that will relieve the pain. In some cases this can be drinking, eating, or consumerism in excess all of which seem at the time to be the best way to dull the immediate pain i.e. the ice from the trainer. But none of these early treatments are good long term. So after the ice has taken affect and the pain has subsided, there must be an objective evaluation of the injury. Where exactly is the pain? What was the cause of the injury? During this period the trainer or doctor tries to get down to the essential parts of the injury so that a proper diagnosis can be made. This I think is the step that most people in dealing with real life situations have the hardest time with. Most often I think it is because evaluating yourself and what part you played in your current situation is something that people are just not comfortable or unable to do. In order to find the route cause of your situation you have to really dig deep and find where the problem started and what was the exact cause? Finally after a diagnosis has been given the treatment or therapy can begin but without an accurate diagnosis of the injury, the treatment can be rendered irrelevant. So if in my case the injury is to my lower back and after the trainer looked me over and tested range of motion and source of pain that obviously is radiating from my back and then says "Ok well looks like you hurt your back so lets do some exercises for your arms and see if that helps?" I would look at him and call him crazy. Well when you are unable to look at yourself and truly diagnose yourself correctly there is no way you can start the proper treatment or therapy to resolve the problem. Treatment can only begin when the true injury has been found. I guess my point in all of this is that in the last week I have really been able to see how much being hurt sucks when you aren't able to do what you love. There is nothing worse then having an injury cause you so sit out, because there wasn't necessarily anything that I did wrong. It just happened and things just happen in life too. But when we are able to dig in and really evaluate what we can do to make our current situation better that is what make us great. I am working hard to do everything I can to make sure that my back is stronger and healthier then ever so that I can continue playing ball. I know that there are situations in all our lives that happen and we just can't control, we all get injured but the thing we can control is what happens next. What do you do now to make sure that it doesn't happen again? Work to make yourself stronger and hopefully avoid future injury. There is no substitute for hard work and dedication.

"Life has no smooth road for any of us; and in the bracing atmosphere of a high aim the very roughness stimulates the climber to steadier steps, till the legend, over steep ways to the stars, fulfills itself." – W. C. Doane

Bringing in the New Year

Well I can't believe that we are already in to 2012. Remember back when we were worried what would happen when the clock hit midnight and the date turned to 2000. People were prepping for the end of the world, stock piling stuff, and bearing in for end of days. Well hahaha now we have the iPad, iPhone, Internet video that can make anyone, Justin Bieber and the no talent Kardashians famous, and working our way back to Mars. But again we are facing another end of days scenario with the Mayan calendar. We must brace for the end, Again. I saw a great cartoon not to long again that depicted to Mayans standing looking at each other and there is a pile of paper in front of them and the first Mayan says "well that's all the paper I have left to finish the calendar" and the second responds "that's really going to mess somebody up someday". (probably didn't do that joke justice so I will try and find it and post it) Anyway moving forward so let's dive into the BBall for all of you who actually read this for that reason. We have continued to do very well and I must say that when we are playing well we are a very good team. We have won 5 in a row coming into the last push of games before the end of the season. I continue to play well in limited minutes but I keep the productivity at a high level and work hard to make sure that when on the court all I have goes into the game. The team has come together very well and I am always very aware of the fact that this isn't an easy thing because it is rare that a team, in Europe, stays together for more then a year so when we do start to come together to play at a high level it is very impressive. That is what separates good teams over here from championship teams, how quickly you can all come together and play as a real team. For the most part this has gone very well for us. Our fans continue to rock the house for our home games. I really wish that I could share with you how great fans are over here, they are in the game every moment and don't stop. Singing chants and banging on drums man it's great. So BBall is going very well for the moment. I don't remember if I have given out our website or if some of you just don't have it so I will include it at the end of this post. On a side note our photographer this year is awesome, definitely one of the best I have had as a pro so there are some great pics on the site and on my Facebook page. To finish out I really wanted to get this post out before the end of this month because the next few weeks will be very difficult for me and my family. I can't believe that it has already been a year since my mother passed away. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't find myself reaching for the phone and saying to myself "I need to call mom she will know what the answer is, or what to do, or just tell me that I am her Nicky boy!". That will probably never go away and I don't think it will be any easier to realize that she will not be on the other end of the phone. But I know that she is looking in time to time and sending a smile on the wings of a butterfly or a funny feeling on my neck. I miss her deeply. I will end on that and to all that knew her and continue to be a part of my life I can't imagine surviving this last year with out all the great love and support I get from you all everyday. Team site: www.wtkanwil.com.pl copy and past in the browser -Thanks for Reading! www.theplaybig.com @TheNickyLew on Twitter