18 September 2007

Ohgie Mcgee reflects on his first game with the Blaze

It was strange that I did not play during the first game the Blaze played after I joined the club. We still have many players so I think I just got lost in the shuffle of all the bodies that are running around in this club. Well I did get to play this last game vs the Jackson Hounds Stats and we got our butts kicked. They have this PG, Chris Manners, that is a tree! This guy was huge! He only played 1 quarter and I think we have to be happy with that because we would have lost by much more had he played the whole game. As is I did not do my job against the other PG. He was able to get 24 points and that was my fault. They had a SF and C that schooled us. After looking over our stats from the game, it appears that Marty (our center) did not show up at all tonight either on offense or defense. We were out skilled tonight and loosing by over 20 points is never fun

Our next game does not get any easier. We play the Riverside Express. This is a rounded team that appears to have things going very well for themselves. Personally, I have been checking out their PG. Tsering will probably start the game and he has some good overall skills. Matt Luong is scary as that boy can shoot the lights out. He has a phenomenal shot and I am not sure which of them I look forward to playing. Either way I think I will be having a rough game and will be working my buttocks off.

I will have to head over to htt://www.talkdep.com to see if I can pick up some edge in trying to take down yet another team that is better than us.

17 September 2007

Ohgie Mcgee signs with Boston Blaze

I am getting so sick of moving! I decided to move back to the states in the hope that the team I joined will not go belly up any time really soon. It seems that every team I joined would win like crazy as soon as I got on the team and then for various reasons the team explodes or the manager quits or some other craziness. This time I moved for reasons other than money, I hope I don't regret it.

I was in contact with three very nice organizations. With each organization, I made deals that significantly restructured my contract so the team would have money to bring in other players. One of the managers really sold me on his team but he was out of town for a number of days. Not hearing any response from him and having to endure another crappy game with the remains of the team I was on, well I had to move on. I feel bad that I did not wait one day longer as I got an email from that nice coach today. Oh well I am sure other opportunities will show up in the future, I just hope they don't show up right away!

So I am headed to Bean town to play with one of the many Boston professional teams in the Golden League. There are not many more competitive leagues in the world, so my talents will be challenged in many more games. I do worry that the US league, like the Lithuanian League, has all of the big talent in the top 3-5 teams and the rest of the league is diluted and is just a punching bag. I don't like being a punching bag, I have the tenancy to punch back : )

So, tonight is my first game back in the states. I am a bit nervous and definitely suffering from jet lag quite a bit.

Come on over and visit www.cyberdunk.com and find out what team you will end up playing for. Hopefully you won't be changing uniforms as much as I have!

07 September 2007

Ohgie Mcgee hits the open market...again

Just when I finished unpacking my last moving box into my rented appartment here in Poland, I get the news from my agent that I am on the open market being shopped around like some dead cow or something.

Evidently I have some high profile teams in US, Israel , Japan, and Germany looking to sign me up. Oh look, a new offer just came in. I can't believe the money people are throwing at me. It is flattering especially when you think of how people have to absorb my 2mil price tag that my previous owner so nicely tagged me with before he quit the team. I think there should be a law against being able to adjust the tag without the player's consent. I will have to write to the league commissioners and file a formal protest. I hate the idea of killing a new team financially just because they wanted to have me play with them. So that creates a delimia. What is most important?

Money is nice and some teams are throwing tons of that my way.
Teamwork and friendships - how much do the players talk and coordinate between games?
Competition level - Some of the leagues are extreemly competative while others are begging for some good tallent to come in and light up their league

My agent wants me to go for the money, not very supprising as he gets a piece of what I earn. I want to go somewhere where I can really help a team and not just be another good player off the bench. I am also interested in adding some spice to a weaker league. In many of the big leagues, players take all sorts of artifical drugs (CDP is the most widely used) and I don't really feel like subjecting myself to the number of drugs necessary to keep up with those power hungry jocks. Sure I take some stuff to help me stay health, limber and active in my practices and games, but it is all in moderation. Hard work and determination goes a long way into enjoying the trip. So joining a league that is not all "pumped up" is very attractive to me. I have worked out a system to help me decide. When my Friday deadline passes (1pm est (gmt-5)) I will take the offers I have and rate each one base on 3 criteria. Money, Teamwork, Competition. Obviously, coaches are going to have to share with me what they have in existence to help promote teamwork so that may not factor in to the equation as much as the other two factors. Right now I favor Competition level the most. I want a league that needs a good PG. I want to help bring in good tallent and attract others to a league that is not doing well. Ohgie Mcgee could bring real professional basketball to a developing league and create some excitement! Naturally, those teams will not be able to offer as much money especially considering they have to buy me out. Money is nice too and is necessary for training. So I am sure I will be busy dealing with offers all morning.

Regardless of which team I pick, I thank all of the coaches that have taken the risk in offering to buy me out of my contract. It is a great honor to be valued so much by so many teams! Thank You!

When I feel the need for motivation, I head over to www.focusdep.com to read incredible quotes that inspire people. Need to be inspired? Check it out.

05 September 2007

Ohgie Mcgee ends season on moderate note

Sigh, another season done. We played against the best of our division (Black Suns) and had a relatively close game until the fourth quarter where they were able to really turn it up. You alwasy hate to loose but loosing the last game of the season is particularly sucky as you have to sit with that until you get to play another game the next season.

This season has been a strange one for me. I started out in Lithuania and that was cool. I think we were stagnating with our team. When a new owner came in, well ... I paniced and took the best offer out there. Turns out in conversations that the new owner would have liked to have met offers to retain me. My new team seemed ripe to advance at the end of the year. We have 4 very good players, but I still content that our lack of play at center is our downfall. Take the last game of the season as an example: 44 min, 4 pts (20%), 4 reb, 1 blk, 1 ast. That's our starter folks! Can you immagine? I can not figure out why the heck this guy is still with the team and why the coach has not brought in another C to start playing around with possibilities. Maybe he knows someone that knows someone else that I don't know. In short, maybe it is just not my business.

When I joined this team I was hopeful that we would be advancing into the next division, now it looks like we may not. I guess the good news is that we should sweep everyone in the division next year, but we will have to wait and see.

Why don't you join the game? I would vote for you starting a C as we sure as heck don't have one . You can check out the game and register for it at www.cyberdunk.com Check it out!

02 September 2007

Ohgie Mcgee reports on his illness

I am not sure what hit me but man, I have been so weak and tired lately! Something like 6 days ago I came down with the worst cold I have had in my life. I have gone to all sorts of doctors and specialists, but none of them have been able to help me get any energy back. I guess it is true what they say tho, time heals all wounds as I appear to be returning to my normal self. I still have a few days to go to get back to 100% of my self, but at least I am back up near 90%.

My coach has been patient with me during this time, but he did pull in another pg this last game. I have been trying to relax a bit more out there on the floor and unfortunately, it has affected the team quite a bit. In our last game, a 117 to 29 blow out, we were so far ahead that I barely tried running back and forth in the transition game. I really did not play well and I am glad my team mates have not caught this illness yet.

When things go wrong in our league, I have to turn somewhere to ask some questions. You bet that during this slump I turned to http://www.talkdep.com to get some suggestions about what to do during this very tiring time. Why don't you check out the conversations there and get ready to learn how to play?