COVID-19 can you finally go away Please! It has been more than a year since this damn Pandemic and so many people are dying and so many people are going crazy. The deaths are the worst but it also has been hurting so many aspects of life. Sport isn´t one of the most important things in life, but it can take you away from the hardships that so many are going through. The Fraport Skyliners have been pretty much gotten through the easyCredit BBL season ok in terms of players being tested and playing against clubs that had positive cases. But COVID-19 hit them last week while they were in full preparation for the tough game against top team MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg. Their game against them on the road and in Wurzburg this week were postponed to a later date. This can always happen, but how bitter now in the down stretch part of the season. Frankfurt already had a tight schedule until the end, but now will have to play two more games in a short amount of period. With shots not being attempted on the court this week for the Fraport Skyliners it was time for Fraport Skyliner living legend Quantez Robertson to sit back and just shoot the breeze.

                It is 3:00 Pm on a Tuesday afternoon as I reach Fraport Skyliner legend Quantez Robertson. He was just released from practice. It wasn´t a normal practice, but a Zoom team workout. He had heard about being quarantined last week and quickly was tested like every other player. He isn´t amused that the quarantine won´t end until April 21^st.He and his teammates were really motivated about playing Ludwigsburg and Wurzburg, because they wanted to seek revenge for the two loses that they suffered earlier in the season. So instead of sweating on the court, the Fraport Skyliners now have to sweat in their apartments as they prepare for MBC next week. Every player has a exercise bike and basketball. The players and coaches conduct various 30 minute training sessions over Zoom during the day. The workouts consist of different exercise so the guys will remain fit. Despite the tough times, Robertson still hasn´t lost his humor. After a hard workout he joked who would be able to do more pushups him or ex teammate and friend Mike Morrison. “The way me arms feel now, he would win by maybe 2 push ups. My record is around 30”, smiled ex Auburn(NCAA) guard Quantez Robertson.

                With no games and just boring ZOOM conferences every day, it was only fitting to sit back and just shoot the breeze with Quantez Robertson. With the Fraport Skyliners season momentarily on hold, it gives Tez more time to follow what the other teams are doing. For big power house team FC Bayern Munich and Alba Berlin it doesn´t seem like it will be a cake walk to the final especially when you have the tough feisty Patrick led team MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg. The last loses by Munich and Berlin didn´t surprise Robertson as he sees Hamburg being able to make a run in the playoffs. “Munich may have underestimated Braunschweig. Plus Braunschweig have been playing well as of late. Hamburg is a pretty good defensive minded team and had Berlin´s number that day. Hamburg has really come together well this season. They play an aggressive style of play and create a lot of opportunities on offense. They get out well onto the open court and big man Kotsar runs the floor really well. Ludwigsburg looks like a very strong competitor for the title”, warned Quantez Robertson. He also will give his all on the defensive end to help Matt Mobley win the scoring race. He can begin in his first game back stopping current top scorer of MBC Michal Michalak next week. “I think that Matt can win the BBL scoring title. If he keeps scoring the ball he can. Michalak has been shooting the ball and getting to the rim well. I will do my best to make it hard for him and make him take contested shoots and alter his shots”, said Quantez Robertson. He has faced many difficult players on the floor and was hard pressed to name just one. “There are too many guys to choose from. I have played against point guards, small forwards and even power forwards this season”, expressed Quantez Robertson.

                Just before I started to talk to Quantez Robertson, a massive easyCredit BBL news flash was released as new rising team Crailsheim Merlins announced that they had signed current Fraport Skyliners coach Sebastian Gleim. A rumor had surfaced last week about this as now the speculation can start about who will return back. Gordon Herbert is out of the picture. “I won´t return to Frankfurt. I hope to stay in the VTB League”, said Gordon Herbert. It didn´t take long for me to come up with some names and Tez had no problem giving his two cents about the possible candidates. An interesting guy is ex national player Denis Wucherer. He played with the Skyliners back in the day and as a coach did a fantastic job in Giessen and in Wurzburg despite struggling this season. “I like the way he coaches. He is tough and aggressive on the sidelines. We can hear him on the sidelines when he is talking to his players. The guys enjoy playing for him”, stressed Quantez Robertson. Another interesting candidate could be German Thomas Paech. He was an assistant in Trier and Berlin, but failed in his first two head coaching gigs in Vechta and Bonn. Having Klaus Perwas as a mentor could be an interesting thought. He is a very energetic coach. I know the guys in Vechta and Bonn liked playing for him. He and Klaus could be a good fit”, added Quantez Robertson. A coach I would love to see in Frankfurt would be Mike Taylor. He has a lot of energy and is a players coach. “I remember him in Ulm my first two seasons in Germany. It would be nice to see him back in Germany. It would be nice to finish my career for him”, warned Quantez Robertson. Just when I wanted to move on to the next topic, Tez blurted out how about Tyrone Mccoy? He is another good choice. Currently an assistant in Ulm and has head coaching experience in Artland and Tuebingen. “He is an ex Skyliner. I remember him in Artland and Tuebingen. I remember breaking his steal record when we played Ulm. Now I could rub it in his face”, joked Quantez Robertson. Ânother great catch would be ex Skyliner Derrick Allen. At the moment with Rasta Vechta. “He would be an interesting choice”, stated Quantez Robertson.

                Miles Schmidt-Scheuber and current Polish national coach Mike Taylor in Ulm in 2008

Quantez Robertson has played with very many teammates over his long 12 year career so there really wasn´t a better time to shoot the breeze about them. You might think that Tez is only playing video games and on Netflix all day, but no he keeps excellent tabs about his ex teammates. He had no difficulty telling me Trae Holder was back in Germany. The ex Arizona State guard was a rookie with Frankfurt two years ago and recently latched on to Pro A team Nurnberg. “It didn´t surprise me that he scored 39 points last weekend. I knew he was capable of that. He showed it with us having some big games at home and on the road”, remembered Quantez Robertson. Two ex teammates that he will never forget are the German twin towers Joe Voigtmann and Danilo Barthel that have become Euroleague veterans playing this season in Russia and Turkey. “I think what would stick out the most today if I were to practice with them would be that Joe is more of a perimeter guy and Danilo more of an inside guy. Joe played the three a lot this season”, said Quantez Robertson. One player Tez saw develop from 15 to 18 was Isaac Bonga who is playing his third year in the NBA. After a tough rookie season with the Lakers, he has played with the Washington Wizards the last two seasons. Last season he was a solid role player that rebounded and played defense and often started. This season he has been downgraded hardly playing of getting DNP´s. Is he on thin ice with the Wizards? “No I don´t think so. The problem is that Westbrook and Beal hardly come out of the game. It is tough for him to get quality minutes. I think what he needs to do is put on more muscle mass so he can play the three. He is tall enough and moves well enough to guard small forwards. He would definitely see more playing time”, warned Quantez Robertson. Tez smiles when I mention ex teammate Aaron Dornekamp. He like Tez is a guy that always took care of his body and worked ahrd. That is why he is still playing at  ahigh level in the ACB in Spain with Tenerife. Tez knows who will play longer, but then becomes very diplomatic. “I will probably play longer, but you never know. But you know what. Maybe we will hang it up at the same time”, smiled Quantez Robertson.Miles

                The list goes on and on with ex teammates and another is American Ramon Galloway who balled with Tez in the 2013-2014 season. Galloway can be classified as a true basketball globe trotter. He has been almost every where in Europe, South America, Middle American and the middle east. He was very close to have made the Orlando Magic in 2016. In his 8 professional seasons, he has played for 18 organizations something that really made Tez think. “That is wild. Sometimes it is tough for a player to find just one home in a season. I have noticed that he has played very well where ever he has played. I can imagine that it is tough to move around so much. You need to have the right mind set. I have been very blessed to have been able to play for only one team”, stressed Quantez Robertson. Another ex teammate was Brady Heslip who never meta rim he didn´t like. The G-League most three pointers made in a game record holder recently retired after cutting his career short. Tez has very fond memories of the ex Baylor(NCAA) sniper. “He took some very long three pointers. I remember him making some long three´s in practice where he didn´t even look at the rim. When he was square and had a good look, it was a very good chance it was going in. He was the best Canadian shooter that I ever played with”, said Quantez Robertson. Tez also had the opportunity to have played a few months with Jon Leuer. It was in the 2010-2011 season as there was the NBA lockout. Leuer is another player that Tez outlived on the court as he retired a few years ago. “He was a cool guy. It took him a while to get used to the European play. But he soon showed how good he was . He was a great inside player that stretched the floor well. He and Jermario Davidson fed off each other well”, remembered Quantez Robertson. He also was teammates with AJ Moye who´s career was cut short because of a stroke. “I talk to AJ every few weeks. He worked at the Mamba sports academy. It was fun being teammates. In pre season we spent a lot of time in the gym. He was a real gym rat. You couldn´t keep him out of there”, remembered Quantez Robertson. Last but not least is Zach Peacock. The ex Georgia State(NCAA) great is another player that doesn´t want to stop playing. He is three years younger than Robertson, but a guy like Tez that has always been consistent. After playing in Germany in his first three seasons in Giessen, Bremerhaven and Frankfurt, he has found a home in France. He is in his eighth season in France and sixth season with JL Bourg Basket (France-Jeep ELITE ProA). He seems to have taken after Tez and found love for only one team. “He has been doing great. He is captain of the team. He has always been at the top of the scoring list. I haven´t talked to him ina few weeks, but I keep tabs on him”, said Quantez Robertson.

So with so much time in his apartment and his family in the States, Quantez Robertson has a lot of time. Netflix never gets old with him even in these tough times. “I have watched a whole lot of movies and TV Shows. I recently watched Archer. When I get tired of that I play video games and when I get tired of that, I switch back to movies and TV”, smiled Quantez Robertson. Last week Quantez Robertson had something to smile about as he had a rare occurrence. Just before The club announced that it was hit with COVID, Quantez Robertson couldn´t believe his eyes when he saw a picture of himself in an Argentine newspaper. For once I wasn´t doing the reporting, but was reading about myself. I have had a massive history with the country and a city that I often visited in my life and they wanted to know what had happened to me. The article talks a lot about my basketball career and after a Skyliner home game a few weeks ago against Chemnitz, I was wearing  a jersey of the Argentine cities football team and Quantez Robertson was hamming it up with me. It was only obvious that only Quantez Robertson could be in this picture a guy I have followed from his first practice in the BCM in 2009. “That was fun. I have never been or played in South America, but it was pretty cool to be able to say I made the newspaper there. It was awesome to see”, stated Quantez Robertson.