Vincent Sanford is a 26 year old 190cm guard from Lexington, Kentucky playing his third professional season and first with TG s.Oliver Wuerzburg (Germany-ProB). Last season he played with Barrancabermeja Ciudad Futuro (Colombia-Liga DirecTV)Liga DirecTV-1 playing 20 games: 14.8ppg, 5.5rpg, 3.0apg, 1.7spg, FGP: 50.0%, 3PT-2(42.9%), FT: 76.8%. He started his basketball career with Georgetown (NCAA) in 2009 where he played until 2011 playing 54 NCAA games. He then played two years at Dayton (NCAA) playing 68 NCAA games and as a senior played 37 games: 9.6ppg, 2.7rpg, 1.8apg, FGP: 44.8%, 3PT: 30.2%, FT: 69.8%. As a rookie, he played for Thor Thorl (Iceland-Dominos League): 13 games: 22.1ppg, 7.9rpg, 2.1apg, 2.0spg, FGP: 50.8%, 3PT: 42.9%, FT: 73.0%. He spoke to German Hoops after the huge 89-86 win against PS Karlsruhe.

Vincent thanks for talking to German Hoops. 2017 is here and did you set any new years resolutions or are you the type of guy that doesn´t really put too much focus on setting those type of goals?
Our main goal is to get in a good spot to make the playoffs, and play in the post season.

Congrats on the huge 89-86 win against PS Karlsruhe. How proud are you of the guys for getting the victory against the first place team in the Pro B south?

Definitely proud, we are beginning to find our stride as a team which is very pivotal at this time being the last few games in the season.

In the first game this season PS Karlsruhe won by 18 points. What did the team want to do better this time than the first time around?
Over all we had a better game plan, shared the ball better and had togetherness as a whole to get the win.

How much percent did this win go to scouting and how much to actual skill on the court?

A combination of both 50/50 between the two, scouting and skill.

Wurzburg exploded for 31 points in the first quarter and had 53 points at halftime against the leagues best defense. What was key for giving their defense nightmares in the first half?
Guys just playing with confidence and having fun I can say as a team out there on the floor we had fun! And it allowed everyone to just play the game and have a swagger about ourselves.

PS Karlsruhe came back into the game in the second half. What adjustments did they seem to make and what did Wurzburg get away from to let them back into the game?
They are a great team with a great coach and individual players so we knew it wouldn’t be easy to keep the lead against them. They went on their run but our guys did a great job responding to their punches.

How difficult was that fourth quarter? PS Karlsruhe never got the lead back, but threatened until the final buzzer. What was key in preserving the lead and getting the win?

Just sticking to our game plan and trusting each other is what helped the most.

Did you learn something about the character to the team in this game? Was this the biggest win of the season for the team?

 Definitely! We responded with everything they threw at us which shows that we are able to compete with the best.

It is no secret that getting ample support from you and Sanford is vital each game, but in this game, four Germans scored in double figures. Is this team finally coming around and developing into a playoff type team?
Yes we are all beginning to find our stride as a whole.

The club has won three of it´s last 4 games and a few in crunch-time. Has the team learned how to be a crunch-time team?
Showing up in crunch time shows how much this team has grown and how much poise we have as a unit to grind it out.

The team is averaging 77 points, but giving up way too many points at 82. Does the club have the potential to keep teams between 70-75 points on a regular basis?
That is something that we are still working on, still a process but taking one step at a time with it. It’s all about timing .

The next game is against the Dragons Rhondorf. They beat you at home last time. Wurzburg shot a dismal 2/12 from downtown. What will be key to getting the win in Rhondorf?
Just playing with urgency and togetherness, we are a group of guys that are very hungry and a lot to prove.

Let´s talk a little about 20 year old German Lukas Wank. He seems to really have come of age in the last two months. How vital has he been for the success of the team and what do you appreciate most about his game?
Lukas has come up big he is very important to this team because with his size and ability to play and guard multiple positions it’s a major key on our success.

Fellow American Marcellus Barksdale is second in scoring and first in rebounding and assists What have you learned about his game recently that you you didn´t know in the first week?
I’ve been knowing this kids game since I was about 12 years old. There is no surprise on what he is doing not to me at least it’s all expected.

Your leading the team in scoring. How happy have you been with your season so far?
I always feel I can do better, but I want to win more than anything!

You hit 9/18 three´s in your first three games and then went 0/7 from downtown until going 4/7 against PS Karlsruhe. Did you just go into this game with the shooting mentality of keep shooting, they are bound to fall some time or did you have another approach?
At the end of the day when you shoot the ball it’s either going in or out. But I always have make in my mind with my next shot. It’s the mentality you have to keep even if you are 0-5 .

Who´s defense gets more unnoticed you or Marcellus Barksdale? How does each others defense profit most form each other every day in practice?
I would say both get unnoticed because we both can play on the ball very well and get deflections and steals.

You had 9 steals against Weissenhorn earlier this season in the second game. Did you do anything special in the scouting department as you played them back to back?

Just played with energy and used my hand speed to take advantage from boxing.

How much does your confidence grow after a performance like that knowing that Weissenhorn has 5 BBL license players on the roster that play regularly with ratiopharm Ulm
As a team it has grown, individually I’m going to always be confident regardless of who I am playing against.

Klay Thompson recently hit 60 points in 29 minutes touching the ball for only 90 seconds. Where does this performance rank with you?
I’d say top 15 performances In NBA history.

One always talks about Lebron and Curry, but one has to mention Russell Westbrook. He is averaging triple double stats at the moment. Is he stat wise the best player in the world right now?
Westbrook all day! My favorite player though so I’m biased .

What is your Super Bowl prediction and will TOM Brady be the GOAT of all-time if the Patriots win?
Tom Brady may be the best of all time, but I wouldn´t mind seeing Atlanta get the victory.

What was the last movie that you saw?
Jesse Owens-Race

 

Thanks Vee for the chat.