Garai Zeeb (187-PG-1997) is a 27 year old 187cm point guard that was born in Leimen, Germany an dis playing his 5th season for the Frankfurt Skyliners. Last season he helped PS Karlsruhe win the Pro A title averaging 10.7ppg, 1.9rpg, 3.7apg, Steals-5 (1.7spg), FGP: 44.9%, 3PT: 30.3%, FT: 68.7%;He began his career with the Eisbaeren Bremerhaven and played his first easyCredit BBL game at 17 against FC Bayern Munich. He played parts of 7 seasons in the BBL with the Eisberen, Fraport Skyliners and Basketball Lowen Braunschweig amassing 107 games and also played 87 Pro B games. He also has played 108 Pro A games with the Romerstrom Gladiators and PS Karlsruhe. He spoke to eurobasket after the big 71-68 cup win in Trier.

Congrats on the massive 71-68 win in cup action against Trier. How good does it feel to beat your ex team?

This win was nice. It feels really good. But for us any win is big.

How do you think was the feeling after this win in comparison to game 5 last season for Frankfurt?

That´s hard to say. Obviously the game 5 win was more emotional, but I think this win was very important as well in preparation for the start of the BBL season.

With what kind of an attitude did the team come into the game? Do you feel like the Americans even understood how big of a game this was?

I think they did. Coach Wucherer stated enough times this week how important the game was. The guys knew that this game would not be easy.

Trier jumped all over Frankfurt in the first quarter leading 19-11. Do you feel like you were overwhelm a bit by the crowd and atmosphere?

I think it is never easy as a new formed team to play against a well working team like Trier that has good chemistry. Trier did a really good job not allowing us to find our rhythm. With time we found it.

Trier shared the ball really nice and just showed their great team chemistry. What was missing on the defensive end for Frankfurt?

We had problems maintaining their big men.

Frankfurt rallied and came back in the second thanks to the hot shooting of Trey Calvin. How good is this rookie?

He is a great player. He really knows how to score the ball. His mid distance shot is also really good. Not to forget he has an excellent three pointer and knows how to create for his teammates. It is not a surprise how well he is playing

Are their similarities to maybe a Justin Cobbs who also was a rookie with Frankfurt a season before you arrived? Do you remember Cobbs? Cobbs was the leader of the team

I don´t really remember him. But I think that Calvin can do the same. He has real good offensive qualities

In the third quarter Frankfurt took the lead. What adjustment did coach Wucherer make for the third quarter?

We made some adjustments on defense to make it more difficult for them to find scoring options and he also wanted us to play faster and bring in more of our athleticism.

The fourth quarter was a fierce battle and in the last minutes it went back and forth. Malik Parsons had the winning basket and Trey Calvin last free throws. What was key defensively in the last minute for the win?

We did a good job forcing them to more difficult shots. They seemed tired so we put more pressure on them. We gave them less good looks and on offense did a good job executing and showing our good offensive qualities.

The guards Calvin and Parsons combined for 43 points. How excited are you for this lethal guard duo to continue to produce?

We as a team will give them the freedom to create and show their offensive skills. I hope that they can continue to help us win games.

How key was it holding Mann and Yahkchali to 7/22 shooting. These are 2 guys that won games for Trier so often last season.

That was huge. They are both really skilled offensively and we as a team slowed them down.

Frankfurt hit only 3 three´s and Trier got 15 offensive rebounds. Can one say stat wise Frankfurt got a little lucky?

Lucky is difficult to say. Obviously we would have liked to hit more three´s. But at the end of the day we played harder than they did and showed we could win even when we don´t have a great offensive day.

How happy were you with the team defense? Is the team with 1 week more of training ready for BG Goettingen?

Our defense is on a good way. I think we will be able to make the next step. We still need to work on things, but it is a long season to continue to grow on defense.

Thanks Garai for the chat