Dashaun Wood is a 26 year old 185cm point guard from Detroit, Michigan that is playing his second season in Germany and first for Alba Berlin. He is a young point guard with natural leadership abilities, who directs teammates on the floor and takes the ball in clutch moments. Loves to go inside to score, challenging the big guys, but has also shooting range from behind the 3pts arch. Despite lack of size, he can be effective even at the defensive side. He played at Wright state from 2003-2007. In his senior year, he played 33 games averaging 19.6ppg, 5.1rpg, 4.0apg, 1.9spg, FGP: 43.5%, 3Pts: 37.3%, FT: 88.3%. In 2007-2008, he played his rookie season for Tisettanta Cantu (Italy-SerieA, starting five): 38 games: Score-5(16.9ppg), 3.0rpg, Assists-4(3.3apg), 2.7spg, 2FGP:52.1%, 3PT-2(42.8%), FT:77.4%. In 2008-2009, he played for : Benetton Treviso (Italy-SerieA), injured in Oct.’08 and was off for 2 months: Eurocup: 12 games: 5.3ppg, 2.0rpg, 3.3apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 40.0%, 3PT: 25.0%, FT: 87.5%; Italian League: 17 games: 7.2ppg, 2.9rpg, 3.2apg, 1.4spg, FGP: 43.1%, 3PT: 35.6%, FT: 70.4%. Last season, he was the Beko BBL MVP with The Deutsche Bank Skyliners playing EuroCup Qualifying Round: 2 games: 13.5ppg, 2.5rpg, 5.0apg; EuroChallenge: 6 games: 16.3ppg, 3.8rpg, 5.2apg, 1.7spg, FGP: 46.9%, 3PT: 33.3%, FT: 73.7%; German League: 42 games: Score-1(19.0ppg), 4.6rpg, Assists-2(5.9apg), 1.2spg, FGP: 50.0%, 3PT: 33.2%, FT: 80.3%. He spoke to German Hoops after the 80-69 in Oldenburg.

Congrats on the 80-69 win in Oldenburg. Alba Berlin was leading 41-36 at halftime. What did coach Gordon Herbert tell the team to do better in the second half?

He told us to improve our defensive rebounding. They got some easy offensive rebounds and easy baskets. He was just tired of seeing the easy lay ups and you can´t give a team like Oldenburg the chance to get easy buckets, because it raises their confidence and gets their crowd going.

In the third quarter, Oldenburg started well had the five point lead, but Alba Berlin fought back to be only down 56-55 thanks to a Marko Simonovic three pointer. What did the EWE Baskets Oldenburg do better in the third quarter?

Oldenburg came out very aggressive and hit some three pointers. Rickey Paulding really stepped it up as did Kenny Hasbrouck. They hit tough shots which got their confidence going, but a game takes 40 minutes and no game is ever decided in one quarter.

Oldenburg got it going in the fourth quarter and led 65-58, but Alba Berlin closed out the game with a 22-4 run. Oldenburg seemed lifeless in the last 5-6 minutes. What happened in the fourth quarter?

You have to give a lot of credit to our defense. We took away their easy baskets, limited them to one shot and we rebounded better. When we get our defense set and get our offense going, then we are very hard to beat. The last 5-6 minutes was the real Alba Berlin basketball.

This was another game where scoring took a back seat and you found the open guys all night long. Was this another typical night where you took what the defense gave you?

Yes it was. If you look at my stats, people will say again that he didn´t score much, but if you look at the last 6-7 minutes, I made all the right plays. I found Bryce Taylor for two open three pointers, found Kyle Weaver and Derrick Allen also. If the opponent wants to try to take the ball from my hands, well then we have enough good players that will do the scoring.

It seemed like the run in that Bryce Taylor had with Jason Boone wasn´t so bad after all. Did Alba Berlin fly in some kind of super special medical healer?

Bryce Taylor is a tough guy and one of the toughest on our team. He can score 20 points, but at the same time he does the dirty work on the team. His toughness is really at another level. I knew that nothing would hold him back. We are making a run for second place and these are all important games.

Alba Berlin is riding on a 9 game winning streak. Bamberg and Ulm are still ahead of you. Can Alba Berlin pick up their game even more now?

Yes I feel that we can pick up our game more. We are just beginning to oil up the Alba Berlin machine. We are continuing to work hard and getting ready for the playoffs. We are consistent, bring a lot of intensity and have energy which any teams needs when going into the Beko BBL playoffs.

The leading scorers in the Beko BBL are Bobby Brown, David Holston and Dashaun Wood. An Isiah Swann is quietly leading his team. Will one of these 4 players become 2012 Beko BBL MVP?

I think one of these 4 guys will win it. All four guys are leading their team and making sure their teams are winning and playing consistent night in and night out. I think that it will come down to the voters who think which guy helps their team the most.

Was Friday March 16^th, 2012 the biggest Doomsday in the history of March madness as Duke, Michigan and Missouri all lost?

I don´t think that that was the biggest doomsday. The biggest doomsday or surprise was that Butler was an NCAA finalist 2 years in a row. A small mid major team doing that again probably won´t happen. That Butler did that, is the craziest thing that ever happened. I am in first place in my NCAA pool with the Alba Berlin and Skyliner players.

Do you see anymore sleepers making upsets?

I have won every game in my NCAA pool. I don´t see anymore upsets happening.

Alba Berlin head coach Gordon Herbert told me that he thinks that Quantez Robertson could beat you in a 100 meter race. Do you support that?

I don´t know. I think that the reason coach said that was because Tez beat me to a loose ball in the game in Berlin recently. If I would have got the loose ball, then I think that he would have picked me to win a 100 meter race.

The Fraport Skyliners play the Artland Dragons Tuesday. Will Frankfurt make an upset there?

They had two tough loses last week. They want to get back on a winning streak heading into the playoffs and bring that energy and hustle that they have been showing. I see them getting back to that level and giving the Artland Dragons a tough game.

Thanks Dashaun for the chat.