The San Antonio Spurs are representing the NBA in the McDonald's Championship, the biennial tournament that features six club champions from leagues around the world. This week, Spurs forward Malik Rose will provide daily updates of the trip for NBA.com.

Malik Rose takes in the sights of Milan with his family. (Helen Wong/NBA Photos)

Wednesday, 10 a.m.
It was a long journey to get here and we had a few rough moments. At least my family did. We left on Monday evening from JFK Airport and by the time we got here, it was Tuesday morning. I brought my family with me -- my mother Janet, my sister Janita, my little brother Ricardo, my cousin Quisha and her fiancé Eric Davis. It was the first time we had flown to Europe, and about halfway through the trip, we went through some pretty rough turbulence. My mother got a little scared and started crying, so I went back to sit with her and gave my first class seat to my little brother and sister. Once we got past the turbulence, my mother was fine, but I spent the last three hours sitting next to her, holding her hand. She used to do the same thing for me when I was a kid, so it was like the roles were reversed.

We didn't get to do a lot the first day. When we got to the hotel, we were hungry, so we decided to get out into Milan and find somewhere to eat. The restaurants have funny hours here, so we couldn't find anything open. We just kept walking and walking and actually got lost, but we did find a little café where we ate some sandwiches. There was no way we could find our way back to the hotel, so we took a cab. I spent most of the day Tuesday catching up with my rest. I woke up around six or seven Tuesday evening, then we went to a restaurant and had the pasta. It was excellent, but then, this is Italy.

Tuesday night, we hung around the hotel. I brought a couple of DVD players and we watched movies. I did get down to the lobby and I saw some of the players from other teams. I had played with George Zidek in Charlotte and I knew Corey Beck, so I talked with them for awhile. Both of them are playing for the Lithuania team, so we could play them at some point in the tournament.

NBA teams have never lost to an international team and I have that fear of being the first. I don't think we will, but there are some quality teams here. Coach Popovich is going to make sure we're prepared and we'll play Spurs basketball, so we should be all right. We have practice today, and after that, I'm planning on getting out in Milan with my family. But they're getting a head start. My mother is already out with Team Rose, spending money. We're going to have a good time, but when it's time to play basketball, I'll be ready.