Stanley Whittaker (183-G-1994, college: Keiser) is a 27 year old 183cm point guard from Philadelphia playing his third professional season and first in Germany with PS Karlsruhe. He played his rookie season in Lithuania and last season had his break through with UBSC Raiffeisen Graz (Austria-BSL) playing 24 games: Score-2 (21.5ppg), 6.3rpg, Assists-2 (8.0apg), Steals-1 (2.6spg), FGP: 49.3%, 3PT: 40.5%, FT: 78.4%. He played his college ball at Frank Phillips (JUCO) and Keiser (NAIA). He teams up every week with Miles Schmidt-Scheuber to talk basketball.

Congrats on the big 85-81 victory over Paderborn. The team did a good job controlling the game for almost 30 minutes. How unneccessary was allowing them back into the game shortly before the horn in the third quarter? –

We turned the ball over which led to some easy baskets for them. We also got pretty stagnant offensively, which led to them getting out in transition much more. I felt we were solid if we just continue to build better habits and stay consistent for an entire 40 minutes.

How proud are you still of Moe Pluskota, who made free throws and then a big block with 44 seconds to help set up your free throws. Is it fair to say that he won you guys the game at the end?

That’s what we expect from Moe, I’m glad he made that block, I told him that was huge for us. I let him know he won us that game.

Is it a bit worrisome knowing that game could of got away, because you couldn’t control Barnes, Flanigan and Trapp?

They’re good players, they were down with nothing to lose so they fought back, I give them credit. Our group, we just have to be consistent for the entire 40 minutes.

The team only hit 2 three pointers. How often will one win a game when one can’t hit the ocean from outside?

Our defense in the first half gave us some separation, we were able to turn them over and get transition baskets. We didn’t shoot the ball well from the three but we dug deep and found a way to win without it.

You had another solid game with 27/4/5/4 stats. What satisfaction did your game give you the most on this night?


Not really any satisfaction honestly, just glad we got the win on the road.

48 hours later you lost to Vechta 98-88. How tough is this loss knowing if the team had taken better care of the ball pretty would of won.

Yeah that’s the most frustrating part of this loss. We won’t stand a chance against any team turning the ball over the way we did, and it started with me, I take ownership of that, I have to take care of the ball better.

PS Karlsruhe allowed 37 points after 10 minutes. Was this the worst quarter of the season and why did the defense fall apart?

It was a tough first quarter, Vechta came out more aggressive, more assertive. I had 3 turnovers in the first quarter and they were not missing so we put ourselves in a hole early on which gave them a lot of confidence and momentum.

The game was up and down for PS Karlsruhe. After a strong second quarter allowing only 14 points, you then allowed 27 points in the third quarter. Is their concern about the team playing like this so late in season?

Just being consistent on the defensive side of the ball, we weren’t consistent last night and Vechta isn’t just some bad team, they got really good experienced players. As a whole, we just have to be better.

PS Karlsruhe cut it down to 6 points with 1,20 to go, but couldn’t get over the hump. Did the team run out of gas at the end?

I think we had some left still but we just didn’t get the timely stops that we needed. If I’m not mistaken 92/88 we were attacking but turned the ball over and they came down and scored, those plays tend to suck the air out of players especially when you know the pressure of a stop and score is very needed at this point in the game.

You had another strong game with 30 points and 10 assists, but you and Zylka combined for 13 turnovers. Was it more mental mistakes or Vechta?

Us turning the ball over that much is unacceptable, we have to do a better job of taking care of the ball. I know I had a few unforced turnovers which is really bad. It was more so on us.

You next battle the wiha Panthers who you easily disposed of 82-68. They are in a slump at the moment. What will be key to sweeping the season series?

Our preparation, we have to prepare well, focus on the things we can control and give our best effort come game time.

Thanks Stanley for the chat.