Welcome back! I am Spencer Nelson of Gran Canaria 2014. As you know, we lost against Lokomotiv-Kuban last week. I think we competed pretty well for three-and-a-half quarters but they played really well. We were down by a few and knew that we needed to make sure we stayed within the point advantage, but they blew it open in the third quarter and the game kind of got away from us. There is a four-hour time difference between Gran Canaria and Krasnodar, but it wasn't a decisive factor in this game. We’ve played our Spanish League games at noon and it was like playing a game at 3 in the afternoon, Gran Canaria time. I wouldn't say the game time wasn't a factor, but travelling really is. There is an incredibly long distance to cover but it affects both teams, too. They beat us, no excuses, and it got away from us a little too much. We need a little luck – win our game and expect Lokomotiv to beat Banvit – in order to make it to the Last 16.

We stopped in Vienna for a night before taking off to Krasnodar and had the chance to see the city. Vienna is great, we got some bratwursts and hung out a little bit. Vienna is a beautiful city, and the best part is that there was a direct flight from there to Krasnodar. Still, it is a long way to go, but you can't make excuses; we needed to win and we didn't. The way back was a bit more difficult. We didn’t go home, but rather stopped in Madrid until we moved on a few days later to play Valladolid in the Spanish League. Then we got to go home. It was an eight-day road trip and for me, and with my wife and two kids at home, that's a long time. But it's business and it’s what we do. Even with that, it is good to be back in... more

Hello again! I am Spencer Nelson of Gran Canaria 2014, the proud leader of Eurocup regular season Group E. As I get in touch with you, Eurocup Fans, we just got back from Frankfurt, where we beat Fraport Skyliners. We started a little slow, but took care of business in the second half and got going. We had a good balanced effort - four guys in double digits - and everyone contributed. It was fun. Getting a road win so early is really good. As you probably know, winning at home is essential in this competition. Going to Frankfurt and getting a win there makes things better for us. Hopefully we can come home against Banvit and defend our home court. That will give us a pretty good start to get closer to the Last 16.

We managed to get back home on a direct flight, which is almost unbelievable for us in European competitions. Like I said in my previous blog, one of the hardest parts of the Eurocup is travelling, especially for us, but our club managed to get us onto a charter flight flying straight from Frankfurt to Gran Canaria. It was really nice flight with a lot of elderly people; I really couldn't imagine anything better! Our next trip to Banvit will be a lot different - I heard you have to take a boat to get to Bandirma. I am surprised there isn't a direct fight from Las Palmas to Bandirma! Just kidding, we will have to take the ferry and it will be an adventure.
more

Hello everyone! This is Spencer Nelson of Gran Canaria 2014. The Eurocup gave me the chance to speak my mind in one of its blogs this season, so I hope you, the fans, enjoy the ride! I guess I better introduce myself, as not every basketball fan in Europe knows me. I have been playing pro ball for seven years and danced around a little bit. I started in Germany, spent two years in Italy with separate clubs, did the same in Greece - two years in separate clubs - and this is my second season with Gran Canaria. It is the first time that I have stayed with the same club for a long time, so it is nice to be back in the same place! I am originally from Pocatello, Idaho, I played college ball at Utah State and I am currently trying all I can to get more wins here in Gran Canaria.

I am excited about the Eurocup season. It is a really good competition even though it is tougher for us than for anyone else because of the trips. We always seem to get a lot of Eastern European teams in our groups, which is not the best-case scenario for Gran Canaria. We have a tough group We face Fraport Skyliners in Frankfurt. That trip won't be bad at all because there are a lot of direct flight from here to Germany. We also have to head to Krasnodar, Russia; and Banvit, Turkey, so we will have to work hard to make it to the next round. Last season we got the longest trip possible from Gran Canaria to Kazan in the Last 16 - and we play in Krasnodar this time around. We just hope it won't be like last season, when I think the closest trip we had was to Podgorica, Montenegro! But regardless of the long trips, we have to be ready to... more