вторник, 28 января 2014 г.

I have been living in a hotel as most traded players do right after a trade.  We are lucky as NBA pl


Life has been busy since I last checked in with you all.  My NBA season began in Sacramento, but I am writing now as a Toronto Raptor!  Going through a trade and relocating mid-season is a challenge, but I am very excited about where I am.
There were a number of guys at my position on the Kings roster, and I felt like one of the guys who was currently injured would be the go to when he came back, so I was aware of the possibility of being traded.  I also had been hearing rumors about Toronto wanting to move Rudy Gay and had been reading about possible trades online.  I was at the movies with my mom when I received the call from my agent and life got busy from that moment.
I first had to go to the practice facility and grab the things norwegian cruise lines homepage I needed from my locker, like my shoes and a couple of t-shirts.  Then I had to go back to my apartment and pack up everything so I could move.  Clothes were the hardest to pack because it was nice and warm in Sacramento in the winter, and I was headed to Toronto where it was already really norwegian cruise lines homepage cold.  All of my winter clothes were in my house in Houston so I had to have them shipped to Toronto.  I ended up heading to the airport with about three or four suitcases to fly across country to start the next stage of my career.  Luckily, Chuck Hayes and John Salmons were on the flight with me so I wasn’t traveling alone.
As soon as I stepped off the plane, I could see the snow and feel the cold.  There were some people from the Raptors waiting to meet us, we did a few quick videos so the fans could get to know us, and then the transition in Toronto really began.
I have been living in a hotel as most traded players do right after a trade.  We are lucky as NBA players in so many ways, including that we usually eat as a team before and after every practice and game, so I haven’t had to worry too much about cooking.  Plus, there are a couple of restaurants around our hotel that are easy spots to go to and even a grocery store, so I can just walk downstairs if I need anything. For the past couple of days I’ve been looking at apartments and think I have found a new place to call home.
Toronto is a great city – I had no idea it was the fourth largest city in North America. The people here are great and have been extremely nice.  I have been trying to explore as much as I can but the winter here is brutal!  People rave about the spring and especially the summer, how lively the city becomes, so I am definitely looking forward to that.
Transitioning to a new team can sometimes be tough, but this whole process has gone really smoothly.  I already norwegian cruise lines homepage feel comfortable in the system and have the faith and confidence norwegian cruise lines homepage of the coaches and teammates.  An added plus is that I’m around a great bunch of guys including a few fellow Kentucky alums like our head coach, so it’s nice to be around the Kentucky brotherhood again.
One of the coolest things about the trade is that the Raptors were playing norwegian cruise lines homepage in Washington D.C. very soon after I joined norwegian cruise lines homepage the team, and that is where my mom’s side of the family is from.  I haven’t seen some of them in a long time so I just really wanted to play my best.  When the game was over, I could hear people yelling down the hallway and I already knew it was them. I turned the corner and there were about 30 – 35 of my family members grabbing my teammates for pictures norwegian cruise lines homepage as they walked by, and they went into a big uproar when they saw me.  Just to be able to see them and play well for them meant so much to me.
This week I saw Paranormal Activity: Marked Ones , and I have to say, it was a pretty big letdown.  I was expecting it to be scarier with more chilling moments that had you on the edge of your seat.  There were so many times in the first three movies norwegian cruise lines homepage where you wanted to close your eyes, but you were still so interested in what was happening next.  In this one, I felt like there were certain times when they were trying to do too much instead of just keeping it simple.  The demon and spirits in this one also seemed more geared towards a teenage audience. I wish they had just stuck to the formula from the previous movies because I really liked those.
Glad to have you on the Raptors, Pat! Just so you know, this winter has been one of the coldest in 20 years. Typical temps are a LOT warmer than what we ve been experiencing over the past few weeks but still below freezing and colder than what you re probably used to. As you said, the spring, summer, and early fall are when the city comes alive! Best of luck the rest of the season and hope you re part of the Raps for a long time to come!
Us Raptor fans are really glad to have you here in Toronto! Looking forward to more Raptors games, and more movie reviews. And I agree with your tweet; you totally should ve had the NBA steal of the night against the Nets.
Hey Patrick. This winter has been brutal across half the U.S. as well not typical for Toronto, or the U.S. midwest/northeast. Al Gore and others say it s caused by global warming. Great game last night!!
Good game last night! Hoping there are lots of those moments to come your way and the team. Boy, we re glad you came to TO. Thanks for sharing a glimpse of what you d went through after the trade. Wishing you ll feel this is home! Good luck and keep winning. You got another fan!
PDPATT dude, I m really happy to hear your transition is going well. I ve always been a fan of yours ever since you spent a couple norwegian cruise lines homepage seasons grinding it out for the Houston Rockets. You always hustled 110% and Red Nation definitely misses you, but we know that you re going to make great successes no matter where you go. Great GW shot last night btw!
BIG Raptor fan here from Rochester, NY. You re playing well, Patrick, it s nice to see you into a bit of a rhythm. Definitely a great game against the nets! Ill be seeing you guys in February, wont be staying far from those pictures either. I hope you enjoy Toronto as much as my fiance and I do whenever we re there. Best of luck!
I have to be honest I had never heard of you prior to you coming to Toronto. But was I ever amazed at what I continually discovered from you game after game. Next year I hope you get more minutes and become the 6th man of the year, which you can definitely achieve. It s always a relief when you are on the floor. Keep playing as intelligently and with heart as you currently do. never lose that!
I will be honest with you; when you were traded to the Toronto Raptors, I did not know anything about you. At that moment, the biggest returns on the trade for me were simply that Rudy Gay was shipped out so that Terrence Ross could get playing time, and that we had gotten a capable point guard to back up Kyle Lowry. The couple of post-trade reports on your play suggested that you were a capable offensive player, but that your defense was average.
However, in your short time here, you have only proven that I SHOULD know more about you. Your defense is much better norwegian cruise lines homepage than reported. Your shot has a nice stroke to it, but more than that, you ve shown great basketball sense; norwegian cruise lines homepage it seems you play with a sharp savvy that I would usually expect veterans to have. You ve demonstrated that you have been integral to the improved norwegian cruise lines homepage play of late, and that YOU are one of the biggest returns on the trade.
Colour me impressed. As a current undergraduate student, to hear that you have not only completed your university degree but did so in three years and still found the time to play for an acclaimed college basketball program amazes me. I hold a great deal of respect for you, as most players nowadays enter the league with rather norwegian cruise lines homepage shaky fundamentals, preferring to be one and done in college rather than staying and developing.
Toronto norwegian cruise lines homepage has its roots in hockey. While I have never been a fan of hockey, the mentality of hard work is one that invades every corner of every sports franchise in Toronto. If you continue to play hard, work hard, and do so smartly, the city will embrace and love you for it. You need not put up star numbers Amir Johnson is the perfect example of a hard worker who the basketball fans of the city take great pride in. I expect norwegian cruise lines homepage great things from you and hope you continue to prove the reports wrong.
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