My comeback to USA !

Hello everybody,

I would like to apologize for not updating my diary sooner but I was really busy at the beginning of this season due to our unexpected season start. Indeed, one of my 2008 resolution will be to post more in my diary.

My last message was posted at the beginning of September and was talking about the Swiss National team. So I would like to finnish to talk about it before talking about my season with the Bulls.

As you should have known, we haven't been qualified in the Group A. After playing some good games against Ireland, Cyprus, and Romania, we failed in the Knock-out round against the United Kingdom and my friend Luol Deng. We lost the first round with more than 30pts and I have to tell you that it was really hard to accept it. The second game was more respectful but we played against a team who played better than us at all. When I'm thinking about it now, I think that it was a really good experience and I think that we became stronger. I wanted also to thank you for your support this summer, it was really kind to see people support the Swiss National Team.

Then, I came back to Chicago in mid-september because the official training was beginning on October 1st. I met my old teammates, a new one, Joe Smith, and the rookies. I have to tell you that I'm having a lot of fun with Joachim Noah. We had different journeys but our families are similar, they are also metis-african-european and his 2 parents are also artists. Last but not least, I have someone to talk french with now.

As you may have noticed, this beginning of season with Chicago wasn't and still isn't the start we were expecting to have. It's sad because there was a lot of expectations when we started this season. Plus we didn't change our team and we were supposed to be more competitive.

One of the consequence of this bad start is that our head coach Scott Skiles had been fired lately and Jim Boylan will be his successor until the end of the season.

I'm writing you this message on the plane, coming back from San Antonio where we lost today.

But after all these events, we still are confident and our goal until the end of the season is to get qualified for the Playoffs. We still have a lot of pressure because the result depends on us and I hope that having a new head coach will help us.

In a personal aspect, I'm not satisfied of my season's beginning. I was expecting to play more and I wanted to have more impact in the team. Unfortunately, for different reasons, it didn't happen as I've expected but I'm still confident and I'm working hard everyday to reach my goals. That's one of my resolution for 2008.

Beside that, the second edition of my basketball camp will be organized from July 14th to 26th, 2008 in Blonay. I have very good memories from my past edition that I'm excited to meet you all again!!

Finally, I would like to thank all the people who vote for me in the Credit Suisse Sports Awards as Best Newbies for 2007. It really has a true meaning for me because the Swiss people vote it. I'm playing Basketball for 13 years now and it's a sports that is behind other sports in Switzerland. So the fact of winning this award is really important because it means that people admire the work that I have accomplished until now and it's one of the best present that you can offer me.

I wish you all a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I'll post a new message in January.

Thank you for your support!
See you.

Thabo