Former UNCG star Kyle Hines is embarking on a basketball adventure, playing for Prima Veroli of the Italian Lega 2. As Hines plays his first season abroad, he will provide regular updates on his experiences for the News & Record.
Welcome to my second post for the SportExtra blog at News-Record.com. I first want to thank everyone for the support and all the comments that were left after my first blog post.
Today is sort of a celebratory moment for me in my career, as today marks the end of my first professional preseason. After six weeks of learning an entirely new system, surviving grueling two-a-day practices and dealing with the physicality of European play, I have successfully made it through training camp. Six weeks ago, I could only image what this feeling would be like and, being that this is my rookie season, I had no idea what to expect. Now, as training camp is in the past, I want to use this post as a reflection on what I learned the past six weeks.
Meeting all of my teammates for the first time was a nervous feeling for me. I had so many questions in my head upon meeting them for the first time. I wanted to know who they were, how would they treat me and how they were going to be throughout the season. In Italy, there is different makeup of the teams than in most leagues around Europe. In the A2 Italian league, you are allowed two import (or American) players per team. I was very curious to find who that other American was going to be because, being that there are only two of us on the team, I figured I would be spending a lot of time around him. The team signed a guard by the name of Dawan Robinson. He went to Rhode Island a few years back. This is his third year overseas after spending time in France, Poland and a brief stint with the L.A Clippers.
I thought I wouldn't meet him until after I arrived in Italy, but I was wrong. We actually met in the airport. We actually had a lot in common. We are both from the same area - he is from Philadelphia — and because of this we know a lot of the same people. It's been cool having someone that I can hang out with who can also relate to the same things that I'm going through. Because we are the only the Americans on a European team, we are both linked together in everything we do. I think having someone from the same area as me has helped ease the transition of being in a foreign environment.
My other teammates have also helped to ease my adjustment to European life. All of them are veterans of European basketball, some more than others. I have three teammates who are 35 or older — Mickey Mian, Petro Bianchi and Marco Rossi. Mickey has been playing international basketball for 22 years, which to me is truly amazing. He has been playing professionally longer than I've been alive.
Petro is the elder statesman of the team and the captain of the team. He has played for Veroli for the past three seasons and is basically the figurehead of the team. Marco has played for Veroli for the past two seasons. He is probably the quietest person I've ever met. He is basically the quiet leader of the team; he doesn't talk much, but when he does, everyone listens. We have another player who is the complete opposite of Marco. His name is Massimo Rezzano. I think he may be the goofiest person I've ever met. He is always full of energy and is always joking around. But he is fun because it helps the atmosphere in practice and keeps the team light-spirited. I have another teammate who, to me, seems to be the playboy of the team. He knows where all the clubs and popular spots are in Italy. His name is Franco Migliori and he is originally from Argentina.
My next teammate is Ivan Gotto, who we call "Dirk" after Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, because their playing styles are very similar. He played on the team that won the A2 championship last season. He is sort of the unofficial translator for Dawan and I. He spent his senior year of high school in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and attended college at Weber State University in Utah.
Another teammate we nicknamed "The Professor," because he is one of the smartest guys I've ever meant. He name is Afik Nissim and he is from Israel, but has played the past five seasons in France. He taught himself how to speak Italian in only a month. I've been here for a month and half and I can barely speak more than a few sentences!
My last teammate, Sergio Plumari, is the same age as I am — 22. At first sight, you would think that he was goofy and a little awkward looking, but on the court he is very talented and plays harder than anybody on our team.
Throughout training camp, I have made a few of what my coach calls "rookie mistakes" off the basketball court. My first rookie mistake came on the day of our very first practice. The team gave me a Mercedes- Benz to drive while I was here. On the first day of practice I pulled into the parking lot and went to park the car. The parking lot in front of the gym has two areas to park in, a dirt parking area and a gravel parking area. I chose to park in the dirt parking area. I pulled up into the parking space and next thing I heard a loud crash and loud boom. I got out of the car and the front end of my car was stuck in the ditch and the back end of the car was in the air. The team had to call a tow truck to pull it out of the ditch. The bad part about it was, because I was one of the first people to arrive at practice, all my teammates saw my car stuck in the ditch. I was teased for at least two weeks about that.
The second rookie mistake was the first time I tried to use my washing machine. I flooded the whole first floor of my apartment. While I was trying to wash clothes, I didn't really know how to start the washer. So instead of being smart and asking someone to help me, I took upon myself to attempt to turn on the washing machine. After practice, I came back home and I open my front door and the whole first floor was filled with water. It took me almost three hours to mop up all the water and finally dry out my apartment. My teammates have since suggested that I go down to the watering hole where the rest of the town does there laundry for now on.
During the six-week preseason, we played a total of 11 games. Our first game was an exhibition against Siena College from Loudonville, N.Y. They were on the same 10-day Italian tour that I went on with UNCG basketball team in the spring of 2007, traveling from Milan to Rome. The game was a sort of reunion for myself and the Siena coaching staff. The head coach of Siena, Fran McCaffery, was my head coach at UNCG during my freshman year and his two assistant coaches, Mitch Buonaguro and Adam Chaskin, were also assistants at UNCG that season. In fact, Coach McCaffery and Coach Buonaguro recruited me while I was in high school and played a big part in my decision to attend UNCG. I also got to see Mrs. McCaffery, Mrs. Chaskin and Mrs. Buonaguro who all played an important role throughout my first year at UNCG.
It felt good to see some familiar faces during my first weeks in Italy to help ease the tension and uncertainly of being in a new place. The game ended up being up and down throughout the first three quarters, but in the fourth we ended up pulling away and won by 19.
Next we played a series of "friendly" games against a group of teams from A1 or the first division of Italian professional basketball: Teramo, Virtus Roma and Montergraneo. We played Teramo in our first friendly game and played them evenly throughout only to lose in the fourth quarter. We then played Montergraneo and end up playing them even through the four quarters. Because it was a preseason game we didn't play overtime.
Montergraneo had an interesting team because they signed former NBA All-Star Shawn Kemp to play for their team. He stayed in Italy for only three weeks, however. He went back to America to check on repairs on his house from Hurricane Ike and never returned to the team.
We then played Virtus Roma — one of the biggest teams in Italy — in another friendly game. We ended up losing by 16 points, but it was closer than the final score. Roma also has an interesting player on their team, Brandon Jennings. He was the top American high school player this past season at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia. Because of the NBA minimum age rule (you must be 19 and one year out of High School to be eligible to play in the NBA.), he chose to forgo college and play a year overseas despite signing with Arizona. Next season, he could be a top-five pick in the NBA draft. He has ESPN reporters and other media outlets following him throughout this season.
My individual play throughout the series of games was very up-and-down. I had some really good moments and some really bad moments. But the important thing is with every game I improved. I still had solid performances in the games, I averaged somewhere around 14 points and 8 rebounds. Even though I would like to see those numbers improve, I feel it is a good start, especially against the strong competition that we played.
In our next series of games, we played in three tournaments. The first tournament was hosted by our team. The three other teams besides us that were in the tournament were Carife Ferrara, Eldo Caerta and Solsonica Rieti, all Serie A or first-division teams. The tournament was in honor and in memory of the president of our team's father. He was very important to the community, and the tournament was very important to the people in the town. The tournament is also the only time that we actually play in Veroli. We play all our home games during the regular season in city about 15 miles from Veroli called Frosione. So it was important that we played well to honor the president's father and also to give a good first impression to the Veroli community. We ended up winning the tournament, taking the first game pretty easily, although the second was a little more of a battle. We ended up winning by one in a very intense, up-and-down game. During the tournament, I played really well. I ended up being name the MVP, which is a big honor for me because the tournament was a really big deal to the team and the community.
In our next tournament, we traveled to the Island of Sassari, which is the No. 1 vacation place in Italy. This tournament was the first time all season that we played teams in our league. Our first game was against Reyer Venezia. We ended up winning by 16 and I ended up having my breakout game, scoring 38 points. We played the championship game against Sardenga Sassari. The game wound up going into triple overtime. We ended up winning by five and I scored 31 points. I ended up being named MVP of that tournament, too.
In our last tournament before the start of the season, we traveled to Rosetto, a town right on the beach. We again played two other teams from our league: Harem Scafati and Aget Imola. We ended up winning both games pretty easily and took home another tournament championship, giving us a final record of 9-2 during the preseason.
Even though preseason doesn't really count, it gave our team confidence going into the regular season. Looking back on the preseason, I can say as a team it has been really successful. We have built really good chemistry as a team and that has brought us success on the court. Individually, I think the preseason has helped me to develop more as a player and gain a better understanding of the European system. Having a few big games has also helped me gain confidence.
I'm really excited for the start of the season. Our first game is on the road against Pistonia. It is supposed to be a really big game because both of us had excellent preseason records, so I'm expecting a really good game.
Well that is all I have for you. Before I finish the post, I want to congratulate my fellow UNCG teammate, Kevin Oleksiak for signing his first professional contract, with a team in France called Limoge. Hopefully, I can get him to make a guest appearance here and share his experiences in France.
Thanks again for all the support and all the great feedback.
Ciao,
Kyle
