I truly never ever thought about Isaiah Swope (178-PG-2003, college: St.Louis) ever getting the Skyliners scoring record maybe because there are millions of other things I’m always thinking about that are basketball related. However the way this walking bucket rookie has played overseas in the easyCredit BBL this season, it was something that was bound to happen. And since I missed his buzzer beater recently with my luck, it also was inevitable that I would miss this incredible club scoring record. Once again I had that problem again of not being able to be in 2 places at the same time. I had chosen to call a Pro A ‘game in Koblenz where I was 0,6 seconds off from witnessing a Calvin Wishart buzzer beater. I have seen many incredible feats in the Frankfurt arena in the last 20 years. I could probably right a book on it, but the first that come to mind are the Jacob Burtschi 10 three pointers, Quantez Robertson, Eric Chadfield and Justin Gray buzzer beaters and many more. Isaiah Swope‘s feat is simply amazing because he did it as a rookie and seeing 41 points in any BBL game is extremely rare. He broke the record of Derrick Allen who netted 37 points against the MHP Riesen in 2008. So what does his club record mean to him? I have interviewed him a few times this season and know that he doesn’t think to highly about personal accolades, but this wasn’t just any old feat, but a major feat. ‘I’m just super super super appreciative what basketball has allowed me to do. I’m super blessed that my team just let me be myself to give me the chance to score 41 points. I have to give a lot of credit to my family, but also myself for having put in the work all these years. I know and won’t forget that there have been a lot of hands that have helped me along my journey’, stressed Isaiah Swope.

But like with the buzzer beater some weeks ago, I also wanted to be able to report on this club milestone even if I hadn’t seen it in person. I reached Isaiah Swope in the early afternoon the day after his scoring masterpiece in Frankfurt. It is no surprise that he felt different the morning after a loss despite scoring 41 points. Once again it’s not all about what he does on the court. ‘If I had scored 6 points and we won, I would have been happier. I never try to put too much focus on individual accolades. As long as we win I’m happiest’, warned Isaiah Swope. The Skyliners had lost a tough first game in Trier and coming in focused to win was massive. ‘The first loss in Trier was close and came down to the wire. We knew that they were a good team. Every game for us is important. We want to make a run for the playoffs’, stressed Isaiah Swope. Frankfurt suffered a bad start allowing a 9-0 Trier run in the first minutes trailing 9-3. Was the team shocked by their lack luster begin? ‘ No we weren’t shocked. We have had enough games this season where we started like this. We were able to find our rhythm then and keep it in the game’, stated Isaiah Swope. The Skyliners desperately needed some scoring punch and that is exactly what they got when he was inserted and reeled off 8 points in a row. Did he inspect any extra film on Trier or was his heavy scoring output simply what the defense gave him? ‘I had a good feeling coming into the game and just did what I always do which is play off my instincts’, said Isaiah Swope. Swope has been coming off the bench as a rookie and as a walking bucket, has it been difficult to adjust to? ‘I just try to do my role to the best of my abilities. Basketball is basketball. As long as I have good communication with my teammates and coaches then all is good’, said Isaiah Swope. The way he gets going in games, he reminds me a lot of Vinnie Johnson the microwave from Detroit Pistons fame . ‘It has been like that my whole career. I know I can score. I mean there are other guys that can do that. Jordan Roland for example is one of those guys, I just do what I do best’, stressed Isaiah Swope. After 10 minutes, he had scored 10 points, but Frankfurt was trailing 26-23. Frankfurt had had problems stringing along stops and watch as new Trier player Steven Ashworth hit big shots. ‘I give credit to Trier. They played really well together and hit big shots, They play fast paced and put a lot of pressure on us. They aren’t easy to play against. You just have to be disruptive and sit down and guard’, commented Isaiah Swope.

The contest remained tight in the second quarter, but Trier led 44-41 at the break. Swope wasn’t the only guard that night that had a great game, but so did American Jordan Roland of Trier. He came alive in the second quarter scoring 10 points. He has contributed 12 points in Trier and would finish with 31 points in Frankfurt and was in the shadow of Swope. Is veteran Roland a player he watches more closely and try to soak up certain parts of his game? ‘No. He is a good player though. I just focus on myself’, stressed Isaiah Swope. The third quarter was back and forth but Frankfurt had the slim 65-63 lead. He had a bucket and 17 points at that juncture. Did he feel like he had to be more aggressive or was he content at that point how the game was going? ‘The game requires me to score, pass, rebound, play defense and do other things as well. As long as we win at the end, I’m most happiest’, stated Isaiah Swope. The fourth quarter was a real dog fight. There were 7 lead changes in the first 2,32 minutes of the fourth quarter. What was going through his mind? Was he enjoying the game a bit or was he totally focused on work? ‘I always enjoy the game, but at the same time am a Competitor. I was just focused on the rhythm’, said Isaiah Swope. Trier was up 9 points with 2,47 to go in the game. It looked like they were in command. He then scored 13 unanswered points. He had scored 11 unanswered points against Jena and won. Did he feel it was time to step up and do his teammates understand then that it’s totally his time? ‘I think that we all look for each other. It is always whoever is hot. In the last game Ryan Hawkins was hot and he got the ball. We also get others the ball. That is only natural. Our first focus as team is to get the win’, stressed Isaiah Swope. Swope made 2 big free throws for the 95-93 lead with 2 seconds to go. Ashworth then made 2 bigger free throws to force overtime. Did he feel like they had the game won before Trier made the free throws? ‘That is part of the game. We were down 9 points and came back. There were 2 seconds to play and they found a way to force overtime. The game is never over until the clock says 0’, warned Isaiah Swope. Trier took no prisoners in overtime and jumped all over Frankfurt with a 12-0 run to slam the door on them. Did the Skyliners run out of gas? ‘We didn’t run out of gas. We just didn’t find our rhythm. We have to find a way to get stops. They made tough shots the whole game, but also easy ones. If we could have had more stops, then we would have been better position to win’, stated Isaiah Swope.

The easyCredit BBL standings are tight and 2 of the next 3 games for the Skyliners are must wins. The next opponent tomorrow is Braunschweig that are the doormat of the league. Frankfurt has fond memories of their first meeting as the Skyliners creamed them by 22 points. ‘We have to focus only on ourselves. What happened yesterday is behind us. Every game is a must win now. We have to come in with the right mentality. We need a winning streak to establish ourselves’, warned Isaiah Swope. His 41 point masterpiece from 2 days ago will be long gone from his memory on Saturday, but for the time being, it is still there. Did he get any cool messages from players that he maybe didn’t expect to? ‘I have to be honest that I have only a small circle of friends that I talk to every day. I try to stay out of the light. I just do my job and go home’, stressed Isaiah Swope. He didn’t have a favorite own bucket of his 41 points, but probably would have if they had won the game. The loss against Trier 48 hours ago surely will be forgotten soon, but his 41 point explosion will forever be in present in Skyliner history. I’m sure next week, people will still be talking about it, but he also will be able to talk about something else when he meets young German prospect Jamie Edoka when he arrives back in Frankfurt. At the moment Edoka is in Los Angeles, California taking part at the Basketball without boarders camp during the NBA allstar weekend. ‘Jamie and I talked a little about it before he left. It is great that he got invited. People are seeing his potential. He is a young smart kid that is really athletic. There wasn’t really too much I could tell him. This is a great experience that will really help his career. He will be great there’, warned Isaiah Swope. Perhaps Edoka will have a story for Swope if he is able to have met Lebron James. That is definitely a story where Swope will be able to focus on.