All Star Game and Euro Cup game

A lot has happened in the last week and half. First the all-star game. We had a cocktail with all the selected Turkish and American/foreign players the night before the game. It was just a gathering and they introduced each player and gave her a small trophy. It didn't last long but that night most of the players went out to a club. It was a lot of fun and I hung with Seb and my teammates most of the night. It's a popular place fore Americans to go to because they play American hip hop music. I got to know some of the players in a different setting than a basketball court so it was a lot of fun although very crowded. The game was every bit as fun. All-star games are mainly entertainment for the crowd so the introductions were a lot of fun. Each player stood on this platform that rose from the ground with music playing and colored fire going off all around us. We walked down some steps in spotlight and to music. Everyone got really into it which made it that much better. The game was really relaxed. Not much defense and a lot of offense. Our team knew we had to win though and we did by 21. It would have been great if it ended there but unfortunately I sprained my ankle as I landed on someone's foot coming down with a rebound. I've had trouble with this particular ankle in the past but this by far is the worst sprain I've had to endure. It's been a little over a week now and it's still pretty swollen and tender. I'm getting an MRI on it tomorrow to see if the damage to the ligaments is not too bad. Hopefully I will be ok enough to play on Saturday for our next game. Injuries are something I've always had to deal with since my ACL so this is nothing new. I know my body and what it can and can't handle and I will be on the court in no time at all. I just have to take a little step back before I do.

After my ankle sprain we went to Russia to play in the second game series of the second round of Euro Cup. This was a must win or don't lose by more than 13 game for us if we wanted to advance. I knew that, so with enough tape, adrenaline, and pain killers I was able to play as much as I could. It was worth it because we lost by 10. That was the first game that we celebrated after losing. We were the first 32nd seeded team to ever beat a #1 seed in the 40 years of Euro Cup. Needless to say we were pretty excited. We will be playing a team from Croatia next week in the round of 16. However, my ankle was pretty beat up after playing in that game so I didn't play in the following Sunday's Turkish league game so it could heal faster. The team lost without me but they still played very well. I'm focusing on therapy and just getting this ankle working again as soon as possible.

I'm also in the process of uploading more pictures to my shutterfly account. knewlin.shutterfly.com. Take a look!

Updates!

I hope everyone is having a great start to the new year! I sure am here in Turkey. New Year's eve was fun for Carmen, Chrissy, and I. Our manager took us out to a restaurant for dinner. There was an American singer and band there to entertain us during dinner and somehow our manager got Chrissy to go up and sing a Turkish song. She knows one in particular from just listening to it so much. So although she doesn't know what she's saying she still knows the words. (That happens visa versa with the Turkish girls who sing American songs but don't know what they are singing about.) Anyways, the crowd loved her and she was fantastic. After dinner we counted down to midnight at Incirlik (Air Force Base).

We played Seb's team in Istanbul a few days later. It was very weird playing against Seb. She even said that she felt like giving me a high five after a free throw so I guess it was weird for her too. We lost by a good amount, but they sure have a great team. We had to shake that loss off because today we played our first Euro Cup game of the second round. They are the 1st seed and we are the 32nd. However, we won!! We all played really well and together and led the whole way. We couldn't get too excited just yet, because we have to play them again next Thursday in Russia and we know that is going to be a different story up there. It will be much tougher. We won by 14 points so if we win or don't lose by more than 14 then we will go on to the round of 16.

Chrissy and I will be leaving Saturday to go to Istanbul to play in an All-Star game. Coaches, media, and fans vote for 12 Americans/foreign players to play against 12 Turkish players in the annual game. Two of our Turkish players were selected for their team and our coach will be coaching the Americans/foreign players. Seb was also selected so I will see her again. This will be very exciting to play on the same team with not only the best in Turkey but some of the best players in the WNBA. It's quite the humbling experience to be named an all-star among some of these players, but we're looking forward to it and it should be a lot of fun. Of course we've got to prove where the best basketball players come from and win the game.

I talked to my old teammate Krista Rappahahn the other day and learned that she just arrived in Sweden to play basketball. She has some down time while she is applying to med schools so she thought she would play half a season before things get crazy. It made me wonder how many of my old Stanford teammates are actually over on this side of the pond to play, go to school, or work and I counted eight not including myself. It's great to hear all of their stories and adventures they are having like me. Can't wait to find out my next adventure!