Things are going well for us; as I get back to you, we just beat Hapoel in Jerusalem for our fourth win in five games. We managed to win that game by holding them to just 44 points in the opening three quarters, which was big for us. It all starts with defense! We played a complete game. None of us scored over 20 points, but we had four or five guys over 10 points and that leads to great results; it was a team win. We won three in a row after losing in Romania. The game against Asesoft was definitely a wake-up call for all of us; we need to play with everybody and to be ready for every single game. Everybody wants to win, especially against us. We have to be ready for every single opponent, no matter which country, league and city they come from.

We had time to see Jerusalem for like an hour and a half the day after the game. We didn't see much, but walked around the main stuff for a little bit, really quick. There weren't a lot of tourists or a lot of people, which made it better, of course. I saw Joe Jones before the game and of course, we talked to each other during the game, too. We had to guard each other. It was a lot of fun and a great win for the team — and for me, because it is great to win against a friend, because you can brag to him during the summer!

Trash talking is okay sometimes. Joe tried to say something to take me off my game a little bit and we kept talking to each other: "Oh, what a lucky shot", "you can't do this", stuff like that. It makes basketball a lot more fun. I was talking to him after the game and he said, "I will come after you in Vilnius" and I said, "I hope you do, because it makes it more fun." He is a great competitor and I wish I could play against him every single day; that would make me better and him better at the same time. Unfortunately, we didn't have time for dinner after the game. We went back to the hotel, had dinner and it was already 23:00 so we stayed in.

I also talked to E.J. Rowland when Banvit played in Vilnius. We were teammates with VEF Riga. I was supposed to meet up with him after the game, but we had a team dinner following a great win against a great team like Banvit. It took a little bit too long and it was a long, family dinner so I couldn't really catch up with him. I hope we will have a little bit more time in Bandirma. I am really looking forward to seeing that guy again and playing against him. I think we will fly with a charter, which will definitely help. That way, we cannot have excuses like a long trip to Bandirma. We can just go there, compete and try to win. Their gym is pretty small and always packed; Turkish fans always support their teams. That will be a difficult game.

We have played against every team in our group. There are definitely a lot of good teams in the group and a lot of surprises. Like I said, we have to take it game after game and never look past the next game. We didn't come out focused in Romania and lost by 20 against Asesoft. Every team is a good team and we have been fortunate enough to play good basketball and win a lot of games. We are definitely moving in the right direction; we must be playing good basketball because if not, we would never be 4-1 in a group like this.

Our next game will be against Partizan in Belgrade. I have played in Pionir before, with Bilbao Basket against Crvena Zvezda. It is a great, historic gym and the fans there are the craziest ever. It is a good atmosphere and that is always fun, no matter if they are against you or for you. As long as there is a good atmosphere, it is fun to play. It will be probably one of the most difficult games so far for us — in Belgrade and against Partizan, which will be thirsty for wins after getting its first one. It will be very, very difficult and a totally different team than when they came to Vilnius. They are playing a lot better every game. We have to stick to our game, scout them, try to find their weaknesses and play great defense, because that is what will help us win.

We had three road trips so far and spent a lot of time on the road. Some people play cards, some others watch movies and others try to talk to people you haven't talked to a lot. We hang out together most of the time. If we are not watching movies, we try to talk and build our team chemistry. Nothing different from what anybody else would do: play games on your phone, watch movies and television and stuff like that. I watched Dallas Buyers Club not too long ago. I was really, really surprised by that movie. It won some Oscars and I needed to watch it, and finally I got the chance to do it. Wow, I was really surprised, it was a great movie. I was really moved by it and the two actors, Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, played extremely well. I really liked that movie.

The goal going forward is pretty obvious: to keep winning, qualify and then try to rank as high as possible. It may look easy, but it isn't, of course. The higher position you get in the group, the better chance you get to have an easier group in the Last 32. We have to keep playing our basketball and getting wins.

We will play most of our final games at home. Lietuvos Rytas fans, see you there!