Trip Recap

The Bullets have returned from Italy full of pizza, pasta, gelato and memories. Italy was such a special trip and I am so fortunate that I had the opportunity to coach, learn and grow with our group this time of the year. The foundation that we laid these past three weeks will be invaluable as we work together to build a program of unparalleled quality. If being in Italy and competing against second league professional teams wasn't enough motivation for our group, our women's lacrosse team won the National Championship for the SECOND YEAR IN A ROW! We watched two of their games at team dinners...talk about inspiring!

I hope our fans enjoyed reading our player blog posts. They did such a great job of owning their day and connecting with our fans back home. Simply put, they were Gettysburg Great! Not only did we have the opportunity to compete on the court, explore cities like Venice, Florence and Rome but we had the opportunity to get to know each other. I left the trip having a good idea of who we are as a team, developed a better feel for our individual personalities and enjoyed sharing stories, laughs and the trip experience with our players. On May 30, this is what I can tell you about our group...

• They are really appreciative. They buy into "being where your feet are." They immersed themselves in a foreign culture, some even tried to speak a little Italian. They treated our bus driver and tour guide like superstars...as a Coach, that makes you smile. I was really proud of their attitude and appreciation the entire trip. 
• They are attentive and intellectually curious. They asked thoughtful questions, especially when we were at the Colosseum. As a Coach you love players and teams who want to learn!
• They are really, really funny. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Laughter is a great medicine for bringing people together. It certainly did that. 
• We have a competitive edge. They focus on the things that lead to winning. It's one thing to talk about it but it's another thing to do it. We have a group that does.
• We are great with adjustments. We only had 7 practices and implemented a new system prior to our trip departure. A lot of our coaching and strategy was done on the fly. I was really impressed with our ability to pick up concepts quickly and execute them.
• They are a group I'd go into the Colosseum with. It's only been 3 weeks as their Coach but their maturity, investment, togetherness has really impressed me. Wishing we could fast forward to October! 

All of our games were played against second league teams in Italy. Most of the teams had players in their 20's but a few brought down a ringer just for our game that was a seasoned veteran. All 4 games were a great test for our guys. We played even lineups and minutes. I wasn't so concerned on winning the games but developing a better feel for our personnel, what style works, how each player likes to be coached, etc. It is amazing how different the US game is from the European game. It took us a few games to adjust to the physicality, lack of foul calls (we didn't have refs for 2 of the games!) and in Europe it seems like you can take 4 steps without dribbling (I no longer know what a travel is!). Because of the learning curve with the refs, rules and physical nature of the game it provided us with great adversity which we pushed through. We got to work on certain situations, more stoppage of play with quarters allowed us to work on ATO execution and develop a hit first mentality. 

Our final game was the most memorable. The home team was a great host (Alex English, former NBA player, his ex club) they did lineups and played both anthems. It was really special to hear the Italian National Anthem and watch the fans and players proudly sing their anthem in unison. After the game, fans came pouring over to our players and asked them for autographs and photos...that was really cool! This was my favorite part of the trip, it's more than just a game...sport connects, that's one of the greatest lessons we could have learned. After the paparazzi stopped both teams enjoyed dinner together (our favorite meal of the entire trip) at this small restaurant owned by the parents of a player on the host team. The passion overseas is unmatched...I know we took some back with us. 

So what's next...all of our players are home; some have internships, two will be on campus, one will be playing for Luxembourg in the U20 FIBA European Championships in July but all will be working on their game and body so we can keep taking steps forward to a building a championship caliber culture. 

I'd like to extend a special thanks to Coach Petrie for organizing this trip the past three years. This experience for our team would not have happened without his leadership. Coach Slanovec was also instrumental in the planning of this trip and he deserves a special thanks as well. 

We traveled to Italy ready to share our Passion, Investment and Enthusiasm. I'd say we did that and more, now we're ready to attack our next journey together. Bullet Basketball is all about ships...Friendships, relationships and championships...we checked off the two most important ships on that list in Italy. 

Ciao! 

-Coach Dunne