Malik Riddle (193-G-1999, college: HSU) is a 24 year old 193cm guard from Tennessee playing his second professional season and first in Germany with Pro B team RheinStars Cologne. Last season he played with Gzira Athleta Birkirkara (Malta-BOV League D1) averaging 28.8ppg, 9.4rpg, 3.9apg, Steals-3 (2.6spg), FGP: 57.8%, 3PT: 33.1%, FT: 75.5%. He began his basketball career at Rossville Christian Academy. He then played 2 seasons at Morehead State University (NCAA) and then played 3 seasons at Henderson State University (NCAA2). He teams up with germanhoops.com every week to talk basketball.

Thanks Malik for talking to germanhoops.com. It was the battle of the best 2 Pro B south teams with the RheinStars and Leitershofen. How excited were you to go into this game?

I was very excited about this game. I knew the energy and the fans would be crazy.

Cologne won the first game 85-80. What was the game plan going in?

Just made stops and executed down the stretch of the game when we played the first time.

The RheinStars suffered a tough 94-92 loss against Leitershofen. How had they improved from the first game?

They had some guys play that didn’t play the first match up which helped them. But I still think we had opportunities to come out with the win

The first half was a battle and the RheinStars led by 6 points. What was key for having the half-time lead?

We were making stops and rebounding pretty well. Also was executing in that first half pretty well

In the third quarter Leitershofen exploded for 31 points. What adjustments did they make to get the 4 point lead after 30 minutes?

We had too many turnovers as well as wasn’t getting back on defense fast enough in transition. Which gave them opportunities to get easy baskets.

Asa Williams exploded for 31 points including 8 three´s. What made it so difficult to contain him?

We left him open too much. Most of the game he was open for a three and his teammates just made good efforts of finding him.

You had 6 seconds at the end down by 2 and you took the last three pointer and missed. Take me through the last seconds? Did the shot feel good?

Rupi came down the court as I sprinted to the corner and he hit me. The shot felt good but just slightly to the left.

You scored 24 points and shot 50%. How valuable was this game for your self-confidence?

It was good for my confidence since I’ve been struggling a bit this month. But I felt I was being more aggressive than usual.

You next face Ludwigsburg who you easily beat in the first game. What will be key to getting the victory?

The key will be play with a lot of intensity and energy. We just came off a tough loss so we have to come out the gate swinging.

Thanks Malik for the chat.