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#Spain2013 Blog: A Busy First Day in Madrid

August 10-11

A long day of travel was followed by a full schedule upon arriving in Madrid on Sunday to kick off the first day of the foreign tour. Below is a quick chronology of events.

6:15 AM (Pacific): Departed campus.

8:15 AM (Pacific): Departed Portland airport on United Airways flight to Philadelphia.

4:20 PM (Eastern): Arrived in Philly and grabbed a quick bite to eat during a two-hour layover. Most of the guys went with a Philly Cheesesteak, but Coach Rev braved a leftover breakfast burrito that Tanner Riley kept from PDX (always looking to conserve budget expenditures).

6:20 PM (Eastern): Departed Philly for Madrid… About a seven hour flight and this was essentially our time to sleep. Most of the guys got at least a few hours of sleep.

7:45 AM (local): We arrived bright and early on Sunday in Madrid, even though it felt to us like it was about midnight. After bussing to the hotel we had our first exploration of Madrid as we searched out some good breakfast places. It was a bit intimidating being in a new place, but I think everyone avoided the Burger King, McDonalds, and KFC up the road from our hotel and got some local flavor (the coaching staff was excited to see a Starbucks within walking distance).

12:30-2:30 PM: After getting checked into the hotel we headed to our first practice at Estudiantes. Nice chance for the guys to get loose and get some shots up.

6:00-8:00 PM: We were invited to watch the final training camp practice for the Spanish National Team. There were a lot of familiar faces for Portlanders among the 15 players in camp. Current Blazers forward Victor Claver as well as former Blazers Rudy Fernandez and Sergio Rodriguez took part. Also lots of NBA talent including Ricky Rubio, Jose Calderon and Marc Gasol. Pau Gasol watched, but did not participate. It was a great experience for our guys to watch a very skilled and talented group go at it for a couple of hours. Spanish National Team Head Coach Juan Antonio Orenga was a gracious host and his team posed for a group shot with our guys at the end. After returning to the hotel everyone went their separate ways, either to bed or to grab a bite to eat.

Sunday’s Photos: Photo gallery from all of Sunday’s activities.

Monday’s Plan… We’ll grab breakfast at the hotel in the morning and then take a three-hour bus tour of the City of Madrid. Pre-game meal in mid-afternoon and then we’ll load up the bus for our first game of the tour scheduled for 7 PM against the Angola Senior National Team.

About Angola: Originally we were scheduled to play the Ivory Coast, but the schedule was changed and now the Pilots will face a much stiffer test. Angola is actually the top rated team out of Africa and ranked No. 15 in the FIBA World Rankings. The UNC-Greensboro men’s basketball team is staying in our hotel and played Angola on Saturday. Angola was leading 32-11 after the first period and cruised to an 82-62 victory. Chatting with the Greensboro staff they described Angola as big, skilled and professional. It should be a very good test for our guys out of the gates.

Game Coverage: We are hoping to have a live audio broadcast of Monday’s game (10 AM, Pacific), but it will dependent on internet connectivity at the facility. At the very least, we will be posting stats, game recap and video highlights when we return to the hotel after the game.

Follow the Pilots in Spain: In addition to our PortlandPilots.com/Spain2013 blog, some of the best places for ongoing trip updates are the following sources…
- UP Men’s Basketball Facebook Page
- Portland Pilots Twitter –  @PortlandPilots
- Dir. of Basketball Operations Marshall Cho Twitter – @CoachCho
- Head Coach Eric Reveno Twitter – @CoachReveno
- Assistant Coach Michael Wolf - @CoachMikeWolf
- Assistant Coach Colin Pfaff - @ColinPfaff