So far, it has been a tough season for us in both the EuroLeague and the Turkish League. There have been many games where we were leading most of the time and in the last minutes we would lose. It has been tough on everyone I think, because no one expected to lose this many games or to start 1-10 in the EuroLeague. One thing is for sure: our team will continue to fight and compete in every single game. We have such a great group of guys and everyone gets along so well, so we are remaining positive and continuing to work every single day in practice.

As many of you know, this time of year around the holidays is great, but it can also be very difficult for anyone playing abroad. Being away from family is one of the biggest challenges in working overseas. Thanks to Ray McCallum and his sister Brittany, we were able to have a nice Thanksgiving dinner. She cooked a feast! We had chicken – ironically turkey is hard to find here in Turkey – plus green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, corn bread, mac and cheese, all of it!! I'm sure there are some things that I'm missing, but you get the point. We had a great meal. Afterward, we played some games. I'm currently the champion at UNO; you can ask Ray, Stanton, Markel or Jeremy! Also, we played Catch Phrase!! That game is crazy, but it was a great time.

"I'm looking forward to finishing this year strong and to even better things in 2019!"

Istanbul is great!! It has been raining a lot here the last couple of weeks, so getting out in the city hasn't been too high on the list of things to do for my wife Caitlin and I. We try to get out as much as we can. We enjoy going to the different restaurants here in Istanbul. We are both foodies and love trying different things. Some of our favorite restaurants are Nusret, Zuma and Eataly. She just got back recently from the USA because her brother got married. I'm glad she gets to go back home throughout the year, but it is always difficult being here alone. It can get pretty boring.

My answer to that boredom? A lot of video games!!!! I play Fortnite on my PS4! I like to play with my older brothers and also with my teammates Emircan and Jeremy!! Jeremy is pretty good, while Emircan and I are definitely lacking in the Fortnite skills. One night I had dinner at my teammate Dogus Ozdemiroglu's house. His mother invited me for dinner and she made some homemade Turkish food. It was amazing!!!! She made icli kofte, which is a stuffed Turkish meatball. It is one of my favorites! She is such a nice lady and an amazing cook!!

Christmas is just around the corner, so I hope everyone has a happy holiday and a happy new year! I hope we continue to get better as a team and most importantly that everyone can stay healthy! I'm looking forward to finishing this year strong and to even better things in 2019!