CAI Basketball

Photo: After the CAI vs. Caja Laboral game on November 14. From left: Chases, Adam Chubb, fiancee, Emily, Chad Toppert, and his girlfriend, Catelyn. With Adam standing at 6'9" and Chad at 6'6", we felt as if we were in the land of the giants around the guys.


On one of our early days in Zaragoza, we were out and about, and our ears perked up to Americans speaking English. We spotted a couple of extremely tall men whom we figured must be basketball players. As it turned out, we wound up having dinner at the same restaurant with these then strangers (a Japanese place called, Sakura) and then quickly started chatting with Adam Chubb, and Chad Toppert, Americans playing professional basketball for CAI Zaragoza. By the end of dinner, we had exchanged contact information, and agreed that we'd find a time to connect again. Since that first meeting, we ran into Chad at a Real Zaragoza soccer game and later, invited Adam, and Chad for dinner along with their girlfriends, Emily, and Catelyn.

Photo: Adam and Colin after dinner at our house



Apparently, it's a pretty good living to play basketball in Europe if the NBA doesn't work out post-college ball. Adam has been in Europe for about 6 years, the first 5 years in Germany and now, he's in Spain. The teams provide the players with a car and an apartment upon their arrival.


The next day, we went to the CAI vs Caja Laboral basketball in Zargoza. Caja Laboral is the best team in the league and they beat CAI pretty handily. However, CAI played competitively especially in the second half of game.


Photo: Emily and Kelsey
















Photo: Chad and Catelyn at our dinner table. They are from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Chad played in the Development League in Albuquerque last year.

















Photo: Chad passing














Photo: #15, Adam on court. He's one of the more seasoned players and plays the role of 'on court coach' with the younger players















Photo: Chad making a free throw shot (he got the point). Chad had a good but frustrating game since he lost his contact lens and he had to leave for the locker room to replace it.