Brandon Shingles is a 28 year old 190cm guard from Albany, Georgia playing his third season in Germany and first with the Uni-Riesen Leipzig (Germany-ProB). He started his basketball career at Morehead St. (NCAA) and as a senior played 32 games: 4.8ppg, 2.2rpg, 4.8apg, 1.5spg. In 2010 he started his professional basketball career at Aschersleben Tigers BC (Germany-2.Regionalliga) playing 15 games: 14.5ppg. He led the team to the Regionaliga 2 title. In the 2011-2012 season he played for Guildford Heat (United Kingdom-BBL) playing 6 games: 7.5ppg, 4.8rpg, 2.8apg, FGP: 57.1%, FT: 31.3%; left in Nov.’11, then moved to BBC Febro Eagles Magdeburg (Germany-Regionalliga) playing 7 games: 16.1ppg, 7.1 rpg, 3.9apg, 2.0spg, FGP: 61.8%, FT: 63.0%. He then played for KB Drita Gjilan (Kosovo-SuperLeague) and two years ago for GBP Badajoz (Spain-EBA) playing 15 games: 15.5ppg, 8.3rpg, 3.6apg, 2.3spg, 2FGP: 60.8%, 3PT: 6.3%, FT: 57.3%. He spoke to German Hoops after the 76-69 win against the Dresden Titans.

Brandon congrats on the 76-69 win against the Dresden Titans. Leipzig has a 5 game winning streak. How good is basketball life for you now?

Thanks Miles. Basketball for me is really good now. I’m very proud of our team effort these past weeks but we still have a lot of work to do.

Was the big Sachsen derby all what is was hyped for? What college rivarlies do you remember from your college career?

It was a big win for our team beating them since we were 0-8 I think all-time against them. So happy we could break that streak. In college we had some big rivalries against Murray State and EKU and Austin Peay. I miss those days.

The Uni Riesen Leipzig won 3 of the 4 quarters. How many minutes did the team play the kind of good basketball that Tuna Isler wants from the team?

Overall I think coach was very pleased about our defense in this game. We worked really hard on it all week.

You hit six big free throws of the last seven points. Were you feeling extra pressure just due to the importance and history of the game?

To be honest I’ve had no pressure at all. I knew what my team expected of me and delievered .

How vital was the home court and basketball IQ in the last two minutes for Leipzig getting the win?

Most of our victories came down to the wire so far. I know this sounds bad but we play our best basketball when our back is against the wall.

This was the second least number of points that Leipzig gave up with 61 points against Speyer being the first. Leipzig had seven possession more in terms of having eight turnovers less. Was the defensive effort in key situations the biggest strength on the day?

The coaching staff did a good job of preaching defense all week. We all knew that was going to be a huge factor against a good Dresden team .

One doesn´t want to put a damper on the great win but you, Julian Scott, Sascha Leutloff and Sascha Ahnsel combined for 71 of the 76 points. Could too much reliability on a few players have a negative effect when one of the guys has an off night?

I feel we have a good team chemistry. If one of us has an off night I fell that any of our teammates can carry some of the load as well.

After two loses the Uni Riesen Leipzig have a 5 game winning streak. What keeps improving with this team in this current winning streak?

I think we become to gel better as a team. And showing the we can close games at the end.

The trust with American Julian Scott continues to grow with every win. How much can your growing bond off the court spark this duo further on the court?

What I like about our friendship is that we can talk about other things other than basketball because sometimes you need to take your minds away from the game.

How good is your friendship with Julian Scott on NFL Sunday? Which teams do you support and how big is the competition in this sport for the both of you?

Sundays are mostly relax days for us. He likes the Dallas Cowboys and my team is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We really don’t talk much football because my team isn’t very good so I stay out of the conversation lol.

What was the last movie that you saw?

Shutter Island.

Thanks Brandon for the chat.