The University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team is representing the United States at the summer World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand, from Aug. 7-19. Second-year head coach Ben Jacobson is sending periodic updates on happenings with the team from Thailand.

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Aug. 7 -- 7:00 am

We have been in Bangkok for two days and have settled in nicely. We have had two practices and a scrimmage against Japan. The first practice and scrimmage were a little slow going (jet lag)!!! Yesterday was much better! We play Lithuania today (Tuesday) at 4:30 pm. This is 4:30 am Tuesday morning at home as we are exactly 12 hours ahead.

The living and eating facilities are nice. We are staying in the Athlete Village with thousands of athletes from around the world.

We have some unfortunate news in regards to our team. Kwadzo hurt his knee in the scrimmage against Japan and will be out of action for four to six weeks. The good news is he should be healthy by mid-September. The bad news is he will miss all of the World Games.

We will send an update after the Lithuania game this afternoon.

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Aug. 7 -- 10:00 pm

Final Score:  Lithuania 97, USA 63

We played a very experienced, extremely talented basketball team in Lithuania. They were big and strong, and very versatile. Their size and experience, especially the way the international game is played, gave us a number of problems early in the game. The international game is physical, and very different from the college game. Practicing with international rules is not the same as playing in games and that took us time to get adjusted. Early on, Lithuania took advantage of their experience with the international game.

We found ourselves down 19-4 midway through the first quarter, and 32-10 at the end of the first quarter. From that point on we played much better basketball. We made a couple of adjustments at halftime, and more importantly, our players played with a different mindset in the second half. We were aggressive and adjusted our style of play. We started the second half with a 10-0 run, so I was especially pleased with how we started the second half.

Adam Koch and Carlton Reed both played very well offensively for us. Carlton did a nice job attacking the basket, getting to the rim on a number of occasions. Adam was very aggressive after the first quarter. He made up his mind that he was going to make plays. He drove the ball and rebounded on both ends. We were very pleased with Adam's effort as the game went on.

Although we are disappointed, especially with our play early in the game today, and certainly in the outcome, we saw some real positive signs from our team as the game progressed. My hope is our play in the second half will give us confidence to have a much better start against Angola, and that will lead to a better result.

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We are leaving for the gym to watch Angola play Lithuania. The game is at 10:45 this morning. It will be good to see Angola play as we prepare for our game with them on Friday, August 10th at 11:15 am.

Tonight is the opening ceremonies. They expect the crowd to approach 70,000 to watch the athletes march into the stadium. The opportunity to walk behind our flag tonight will truly be an awesome experience!

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Aug. 9 -- 8:00 pm

We just returned from our evening practice and will now watch film of Angola as we prepare for our game with them tomorrow.  Angola is a very different type of team than Lithuania.  They are a much more athletic team, but do not possess the same size or experience.  We look forward to a second opportunity to play, and feel confident that we will play better.

The opening ceremonies last night were terrific.  We gathered with all the other athletes from around the world in a smaller arena, which seats about 15,000, prior to marching into the stadium.  While in the arena, there was a short program, and many countries performed dances, chants and songs displaying pride for their flags and countries.  We left the arena in alphabetical order by country and began the athlete march into the stadium.  Walking behind the USA flag is an experience that none of us will ever forget.

The stadium had a capacity of around 70,000 and it was about 2/3 full.  Included in the crowd were the king and prince of Thailand.  Following the athlete march, they carried the torch in and lit the World Games flame, which was at the top of the stadium.  That was followed by a cultural program and fireworks.  Our guys were busy taking pictures and shooting video of this once-in-a-lifetime experience.   It was an amazing ceremony.

We had a very good practice today.  The guys were much more aggressive and practice was extremely physical, which is the way the international game has to be played.  Jared's ankle continues to get better, and everyone else is healthy and ready to go against Angola.  The guys are headed to bed, and we look forward our game tomorrow morning.

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Aug. 10 -- 2:30 pm

Final Score:  USA 84, Angola 26

We just returned to the Athletes Village from our win over Angola.  We got off to a great start as the guys were very aggressive.  It feels really good to get our first win as Team USA and for the Panthers!

Angola did not possess nearly the experience or size of Lithuania.  Even so, I was very pleased with our play.  We learned alot from the game against Lithuania about the international game.  Again, the game is very, very different from the college game.  We were much more physical and aggressive at both ends of the floor.  The international game is also played much more in transition and in the open floor.  I feel that we will be able to get off to a better start against Turkey on Sunday with two games under our belt.

Jordan Eglseder started the game this morning and played very well.  Adam Koch played well again and Eric Coleman was much better today.  The size and physical play of Lithuania was a great learning experience for those three and we are already seeing some benefits.  We had very balanced scoring with a number of guys between 5 and 10 points.

We did suffer an unfortunate injury, as in the third quarter, Carlton Reed broke a bone in his right foot and will miss the rest of the tournament.

We now move to a pool of four teams.  We will go with Lithuania to join Turkey and China.  Our game against Turkey is on Sunday, August 12th at 3:45pm.  We then play China on Monday at 1:00pm.  Turkey is supposed to be similar to Lithuania.  We have their game against Republic of South Africa on tape from today which will certainly help with our preparation.  The top two teams from this pool will move to the medal round.

We are off the rest of the day and will practice tomorrow morning at 8am.  Again, it was an excited bunch of guys getting that first win for Team USA and the Panthers!

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Aug. 13 -- 1:00 am

Final Score:  USA 87, Turkey 65

We beat a very good team today! Turkey is experienced and skilled, however they do not possess the size that Lithuania does. For the second straight game we got off to a great start. Our defense was very good and this helped kick start our offense. We held a 26-16 lead at the end of the first quarter and the game never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.

The guys continue to learn about the international game. We are playing more physical and more aggressively, especially at the offensive end of the floor.

Jared played another good game. We have played him at both the shooting guard and the point guard in the absence of Kwadzo. He has done a nice job of running the team when he has been at the point. Kerwin got his first start of the trip and had a good game. Adam Koch was 9-10 from the field and Eric played his best overall game.

This sets up a big game with China. They have two very good guards and two big kids that have played well. We were able to watch them play today which should help us get ready.

Our guys have fought hard to stay in contention for the medal round. A win tomorrow against China and we move to the final eight! We are looking forward to the challenge as we tip off in about 12 hours.

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Aug. 13 -- 11:00 pm

Final Score:  USA 88, China 51

We spent the afternoon enjoying our win over China and the great sense of accomplishment in thinking we had made it to the medal round.   Unfortunately, the information we were given about phase two was incorrect.  We were told that going 2-0, with wins over Turkey and China, would move us into the medal round.  The guys got that part done.

As I mentioned, the information we received about phase two was not correct.  Turkey's huge upset of Lithuania put us in a three-way tie with those two teams.  With identical 2-1 records against the teams in our phase two pool, a tiebreaker was forced to determine which two teams would move on.  They took points for and points against with the games involving ourselves, Turkey and Lithuania.  They divided points for by points against which gives each team a ratio.  Turkey edged us out for second place and they and Lithuania will move on to the medal round.

We just finished our team meeting.  That was hard.  The news that we wouldn't move on to the medal round really hurt.  The guys were very determined and extremely confident following our last three games.  Their goal the entire time has been to bring back a medal for the Panthers and for Team USA.  However, this doesn't take anything away from what we've accomplished the last three basketball games. We've learned a lot both individually and as a team.  We will come home a much better basketball team.  Fortunately, we have two games yet to play.  We will face Finland on Thursday, and if we win, would play the winner of Greece and Israel in the 9^th place game.

Thanks for following us so closely and cheering us on from home.  We will work hard to get two more wins and come home from the games with a 5-1 record.

 

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Aug. 14 -- 10:00 pm

 

Following the events of Monday, and with the change in our game schedule, we decided to spend part of Tuesday as tourists.  We left after breakfast for the Samphran Elephant Grounds and Zoo.  There we watched a crocodile show, where two men were in a pit with crocs and did a variety of things with the animals, going so far as sticking their heads inside the crocodiles' mouths.  There was also a theme show involving elephants.  We were there for about and hour and a half.

From there we went to the rose garden, and watched an hour-long program on Thai culture.  The program gave reenactments of a variety of activities, including boxing, dancing and daily rituals from Thailand.  Being able to do these things was a nice change of pace for the guys, this being our first opportunity to get out and see the sights.

Tonight, we went back to work on Finland.  We watched their game against Mexico, and put together our scouting report.  Tomorrow we will watch film with the team and have a one hour practice.  We look forward to taking the court on Thursday against Finland, with the opportunity to move our record to 4-1.

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Aug. 15 -- 6:00 pm

We had a good practice today in continuing our preparation for Finland. Prior to practice we watched film with the guys and went over our scouting report. Tomorrow morning we have a one hour shootaround so we can go over their stuff one more time.

Following our practice we attended the Russia vs Lithuania quarterfinal game. Russia got off to a great start...I think it was 18-4 before Lithuania got anything going. Lithuania's size and depth eventually wore Russia down and they won the game by nine.

We will watch some more film tonight and get to bed early so we are ready for tomorrow's game! Game time with Finland is 4:30pm.

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Aug. 16 -- 10:00 pm

Final Score:  USA 59, Finland 44

We battled hard defensively to get our fourth consecutive win. It was one of those games where the ball just didn't want to go in the basket for us. We had some easy looks around the hoop and some open jump shots that just didn't fall. To the credit of the guys they played very hard on the defensive end and in transition.

Adam Koch played well again. Jared and Travis were also in double figures. I really like how our team has played offensively. The guys have done a great job of sharing the ball and taking what the defense gives us during a particular game. Looking forward to seeing who steps forward tomorrow!

Israel has a good team. They shoot the ball better than Finland and are much more physical. It will be a very good game to wrap up our play here!

We just finished watching tape and the guys are in bed as we play in about 10 hours...short turnaround!

The guys are determined to play well one more time and come home 5-1!! Game time is 9pm back home today...thanks again for following so closely and cheering us on from home!

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Aug. 17 -- 5:00 pm

Final Score:  USA 63, Israel 57

We beat Israel today to finish 5-1! After getting off to a good start our offense struggled a little bit. Israel played some 2-3 zone and we missed a couple open three point shots. In the fourth quarter we did a great job of getting the ball inside against the zone. Eric was the difference late in the game.

Eric was also our leading scorer today. This is the first time on the trip that he has been our top scorer. We feel like that is a very positive sign for our team. Carlton, Jared, Travis, Jordan, Adam Koch and Kerwin all had some very good offensive games.

Our defense was very good the last five games. We did a nice job of taking away some things from each opponent. This was a big key as it helped get our transition game started. It feels like we will have good depth with this year's team and we would like to be able to push the basketball in transition. The key to this is great defense and rebounding!

Following our game today we went to the Grand Palace. The statues and palaces were amazing! Another great experience for the guys!!

We have one more day to take in some sights. Tomorrow our plan is to attend the "Weekend Market". Tabbed as the world's largest flea market the guys will get their opportunity to go back and forth with vendors negotiating prices. We will also attend the closing ceremonies later in the day.

The guys have done a great job the last five games! I'm really proud of the way they responded and played to get to 5-1.

 

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Aug. 19 -- 1:30 am

Saturday was a day spent enjoying Thailand. We attended the `Weekend Market' and spent about an hour looking around and shopping. It was an open bazaar market that went on for blocks and blocks - it was amazing how big it was. We couldn't believe it.

We came back to the village early afternoon, in time for some of the players and coaches to attend the gold medal game between Lithuania and Serbia. Lithuania won the game by the score of 85-66.

At about 3 o'clock, we loaded the bus and headed downtown for the closing ceremony. This was a final opportunity for us to walk in the red, white and blue. One of the highlights was the exchange of uniforms and t-shirts among the athletes. A number of our guys traded their USA t-shirt for a uniform or t-shirt from a different country. The closing ceremony ended with a fireworks display, and we were back to the village at about 10 o'clock.

Right now, it's 1:30 am Sunday morning in Thailand. We've packed our things, cleaned our rooms and are headed for the airport. Our flight leaves at 6:30, and we will land in Cedar Rapids at 6:30 pm Sunday night, Iowa time. We should be back to Cedar Falls between 8 and 8:30 Sunday evening.

This trip has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Representing the United States on behalf of our university is something none of us will ever forget. The time we've spent over here has certainly helped us become a much better basketball team.

We're looking forward to our return home and being able to catch up with everyone. Thanks so much to everybody for following our team and supporting us these last few weeks. Go Panthers!

-- Coach Jake