Just a few weeks ago, there was a lot of talk about the Fraport Skyliners Juniors returning back to the playoffs a place that they have been a part of the last few years, but on the last game day, the club suddenly was in 10^th place team and needed a win and some help from BBC Coburg. On the last game day there were four clubs with 9 wins with Speyer, Orange Academy; FC Bayern Munich and the Fraport Skyliners Juniors. The Fraport Skyliners didn´t actually make it easy for reaching the playoffs the last weeks as after a strong three game winning streak, the club lost the last two games against Oberaching and FC Bayern Munich which put them in this precarious situation. To make matters worse, they had to face Orange Academy, a very young but deep and talented team that they had gotten creamed by on the road in the first meeting 87-58. In that game Orange Academy had a good shooting day showcasing 5 players in double figures and cleaning up on the boards winning the rebound duel 36-19 as their length advantage really hurt the Fraport Skyliners Juniors. Orange Academy entered the BCM and fans saw two different halfes as the Fraport Skyliners Juniors were the better team in the first half, but in the second half Orange Academy shifted up a few gears on the defensive end and start hitting more shots stifling the home team 92-84. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors needed a win and a loss for FC Bayern Munich in Coburg and in the end a win at home didn´t matter because Coburg lost 75-73 at home. The contest didn´t only have the drama of a do or die situation for Frankfurt, but also showcased two young players that were very close to triple doubles as Frankfurt captain Cosmo Gruehn finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists and 18 year old Orange Academy guard Zach Ensminger who is the son of BBL legend Chris Ensminger had 18 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. After the big Orange Academy win St Paul Minnesota native Joe Rosga explained why the guests pulled out the win. “We stuck together the whole game. We were down 7 points at the half and we knew that we had to come back and make plays. We picked up our defense in the second half and held them to 34 points. Our defense led to good offense. We made more stops and made big plays. It was a huge win for the club and I´m happy to have been a part of it”, stated Orange Academy guard Joe Rosga. Once again the Fraport Skyliners Juniors couldn´t put together a full game effort as Croatian guard Bruno Peric explained what went wrong. “We played good offense in the first half, but not so good in the second half. We had less energy in the second half and were out-energized. Our main problem was that we got outrebounded. We outhustled them in the first half and they outhustled us in the second half”, warned Fraport Skyliner Juniors guard Bruno Peric.

                The first quarter was a real battle as no team could get away from the other and there were 5 lead changes. Orange Academy had the better start finding their rhythm right away taking a rapid 7-2 lead. In the run they moved the ball very well and got everyone involved. 40 year old German Nils Mittman began the run with a fadeaway jumper, German talent Christoph Phillipps hit a trey and 18 year old Zach Ensminger who most likely will play in the NCAA next season scored showing the self confidence of a 30 year old. But the Fraport Skyliners Juniors weren´t shocked and got some of their own offense going getting a key three pointer from ex Freiburg forward Cosmo Gruehn and a lay in from Bruno Peric for the 8-7 advantage. The lead would go back and forth in the next minutes as Mittman dropped a 20 footer for the 9-8 Orange Academy lead and then Knoxville Tennesse native Nigel Pruitt nailed his bread and butter the trey to steal the lead back at 11-9. Philipps continued to have his range from outside hitting another trey for the 14-13 lead. Another Ensminger bucket extended the Orange Academy lead to 16-13. Both teams were at eye level as Frankfurt shared the ball well while Orange Academy suffered too many turnovers. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors stepped up their defense in the last minutes cruising out on a 9-3 run to retake the lead at 22-19 after 10 minutes. Frankfurt remained aggressive and got to the free throw line getting points from ex BBC Coburg center Noah Kamdem and Bruno Peric and ex FC Bayern Munich guard Bruno Vrcic also scored in the paint. “We had good ball movement and energy. We also defended very well letting us have the lead”, added Bruno Peric. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 50% from the field and 29% form outside and had 6 rebounds and 3 turnovers while Orange Academy shot 67% form the field and 50% form outside and had 6 rebounds and 5 turnovers.

                The second quarter also remained a dog fight and the Fraport Skyliners Juniors were able to gain the 7 point lead at the break thanks to some real strong play from Bruno Vrcic on offense in the scoring department. Both teams offenses were executing very well which didn´t allow the other team to get away. Frankfurt got buckets from Vrcic and ex Chemnitz center Aaron Kayser while Phillips continued to be a menace from outside with a trey and Ensminger continued to be aggressive getting a left handed lay in. Joe Rosga who shot for 40% or more for three of four seasons at the University Of Denver tied the game at 28-28. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors held the tight lead 35-33 getting some more offensive production from Aaron Kayser who made an offensive rebound and put back and Pruitt basket while Orange Academy got baskets from Rosga and Mittman. Frankfurt then had two bitter defensive breakdowns with the first allowing big man Nicholas Bretzel get an easy lay up for the 36-35 Orange Academy lead. After a Peric trey, Orange Academy got their second easy basket in a row as Frankfurt had another defensive break down allowing Moritz Krimmer who has 1 BBL game on his resume to make an easy lay in cutting Frankfurt´s advantage to 40-38. Frankfurt did a good job on the offensive glass, but allowed too many easy baskets. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors was able to hold the lead due to a 10-5 run and explosiveness of Bruno Vrcic. Pruitt contributed a trey and Bruno Vrcic sunk 7 points with a in your face three over Kristof Krause, a lay in and off balance jumper for the 50-43 halftime lead. “We had a clear vision about what we wanted to do. We were all on the same page and executed well. The way we played on offense and defense in the second quarter is how we should always play”, stressed Bruno Peric. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 53% from the field and 50% from the three point line and had 14 rebounds and 5 turnovers while Orange Academy shot 57% form the field and 42% from the three point line and had 13 rebounds and 8 turnovers.

                In the third quarter Orange Academy got the lead back began to control the game and would never look back until the buzzer sounded after 40 minutes. Len Schoormann got the Fraport Skyliners Juniors on the board first with a lay in for the 52-43 advantage. But Orange Academy started to slowly chip away at the Frankfurt lead going on a 6-1 run. In the run it was the rebirth of talented young German Nat Diallo who came from Vechta. He got his first basket of the game at the 8,19 minute mark with an alley-oop tap in after retrieving a perfect pass from Zach Ensminger. Dialo stepped it up on the next play making a one handed dunk. Phillpps as always was aggressive and also added a lay in to cut Frankfurt´s advantage to 53-49.  Schoormann continued to execute well making a lay in in traffic, but then came the turning point of the contest as Orange Academy finally was able to break away with a 12-4 run to recapture the lead at 61-57. In the Orange Academy run, they began to let it rain trey´s with three from Rosga, Mate Fazekas and Krause. Rosga also added a lay in. Orange Academy was hit with their fifth team foul at the 5,55 minute mark, but that didn´t hurt their offensive execution. Frankfurt got good production from Noah Kamdem who made a lay in and two free throws to dead lock the game at 61-61. The game was close, but the Fraport Skyliners Juniors just couldn´t get over the hump. Orange Academy continued to demonstrate their precision outside shooting getting atrey from Moritz Krimmer, Joe Rasga and Zach Ensminger for the 70-67 lead. Frankfurt had got a clutch trey from Cosmo Gruehn and lay in from Noah Kamdem. “Coach Gavel told us at the break that it would all come down to playing defense. We picked up our energy on defense and began to hit some shots. That gave us the momentum and also scoring on transition helped us get the lead”, stressed Joe Rosga. “We weren´t focused and couldn´t match their energy and they outrebounded us. They wanted it more than us”, added Bruno Peric. Orange Academy shot 58% from the field and 50% from the parking lot and had 19 rebounds and 11 turnovers while the Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 485 from the field and 405 from the parking lot and 24 rebounds and 7 turnovers.

                Orange Academy were able to pull away again and have a 10 point lead and didn´t allow the Fraport Skyliners Juniors to get over the hump. Orange Academy continued to execute well on offense as Frankfurt just didn´t have the extra energy to get stops. Philipps scored the guests first 4 points and Zach Ensminger made a nifty finger tip roll lay in for the 76-69 advanatge. “Zach has been great. He has control on the floor and gets everyone involved. He finds guys and gets them easy looks. He is a good kid. His dad brought me here. I love playing with him”, stated Joe Rosga. After a Gruehn lay in, it was Ensminger that scored again for the 80-71 lead for Orange Academy. The difference in the game at this point was just that Orange Academy was doing all the little things better with hustle plays, rebounding and drawing fouls. Bruno Vrcic picked it up in crunch-time with a trey and two lay ins to cut the guests lead to 86-78, but he couldn´t totally dig into the Orange Academy lead as Frankfurt couldn´t buy a stop as the guests got free throws from Krimmer and baskets from Krause and Mittmann. A Schoormann basket and Kamden free throws cut the Orange Academy lead down to 88-82, but a Ensminger offensive rebound and put back was the final straw as Frankfurt trailed 90-82. In the last 5 minutes Cosmo Gruen only needed an assist for the triple double, but couldn´t get it. “Cosmo played a really good game. He gave good impulses on offense and defense. He played the way a captain should play”, stressed Bruno Peric.  Kamden and Krimmer traded free throws up until the buzzer sounded. “Everybody stepped up big time. Everybody played for each other and everyone wanted to win. The biggest difference was that everyone played for each other and there was no 1-1 play”, warned Joe Rosga. “They executed better than we did. They remained calm got self esteem and pushed the ball”, added Bruno Peric. Orange Academy was led by Christoph Philipps with 20 points. Zach Ensminger added 18 points and Joe Rosga 15 points while the Fraport Skyliners Juniors were led by Bruno Vrcic with 20 points. Noah Kamdem and Nigel Pruitt added 14 points a piece. Orange Academy shot 55% from the field and 37% from outside and had 36 rebounds and 13 turnovers while the Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 46% from the field and 32% from outside and had 27 rebounds and 9 turnovers. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors begin the Playdowns next weekend against FC Bayern Munich 2.

                It is always fun observing the German Pro B with their interesting mix of young talented German players like Len Schoormann, Joshua Obiesie or Ferdinand Zylka to name just a few or the older Germans like Tobias Jahn, Nils Mittmann or Johannes Lischka still lace up their sneakers in their 30´s and then there are the few imports in the league usually young guys just out of college looking to make their run up the basketball ladder. In the last years, the Pro B has seen some real Cinderella stories none greater than Deandre Lansdowne who went from the Pro B averaging22,9ppg and then reached the BBL via the Pro A is balling in Italy today. There also have been other fascinating stories like Kerry Carter who led the Pro B in scoring in 2016-2017 with Leverkusen at 24,8 and then went to the Italy Serie 2 or Kameron Taylor in 2017-2018 who took a step back to the Pro B to then take two steps up to the BBL with Wurzburg and today is a key player for top team Bamberg or last season´s Pro B scoring champ Tucker Haymond who didn´t have it so easy this season sleeping on the floor for a month in Germany, but it all paid off as he signed with Pro A team FC Schalke in mid season. This season´s big Cinderella story could be Cameron Hunt of TG s.Oliver Wurzburg. The American from Duncansville, Texas is currently leading the Pro B in scoring and like so many guys out there has a chip on his shoulder as heavy as a totem poll and it won´t be getting any lighter any time soon as he continues to grind as a professional. “I feel people don’t respect where I come from. As my career continues I want to show people you can become a big time player even if you went to a smaller school”, warned Cameron Hunt. He is a rookie at the moment and at the bottom of the mountain, but in a very good situation with the Wurzburg club as he can shoot out the lights in the Pro B where at times he looks like a man among kids, but at the same time practice with the BBL team and gain valuable experience. “I get the honor of practicing with these guys almost every day and I love it. Competing with these guys has me made a better basketball player. I see myself on a BBL court all the time but will never rush things”, warned Cameron Hunt. The American who lists these 4 NBA greats on his NBA Rushmore with Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O’Neal had an amazing basketball career at Southwestern College KS(NAIA) where he averaged 31,0ppg as a senior, but overall had to watch other kids ball in higher college leagues while he had to pay his dues. Hunt is focused and determined to add to the Duncanville legacy that brought the world the famous football player and Super Bowl champion of the Pittsburgh Steelers Joe Greene or NBA player Greg Ostertag and Perry Jones. “Duncanville will always continue to produce professional athletes as the culture in that city is different than other cities. I would love to become a household name one day like one of those guys so I can continue the Duncanville legacy. I think about my chip every day. As I know many people don’t respect players from the NAIA level. So I am trying to change that every day”, warned Cameron Hunt.

                Cameron Hunt who lists current Atlanta Hawk Trae Young as his toughest opponent ever was born on August 25, 1997 in Duncanville Texas and got his first real basketball experience at Ducanville high school. He had a nice childhood as his mother was his natural caregiver and he is thankful that she sacrificed a lot for his well being.  He was very short in high school and wasn´t on the radar of any NCAA schools and only had one offer from Southwestern College KS(NAIA). But being small didn´t effect his work ethic already at a young age as he would go to the gym and shoot at 6 Am before class seeing instant results.  He underwent a growth spurt as a freshman at Southwestern College KS which came at the right time as his career would take off in his sophomore year. As a freshman he averaged : 6.9ppg, 2.4rpg, 2.1apg, 1.4spg, FGP: 37.9%, 3PT: 32.8%, FT: 63.2%, but in his sophomore year his stats exploded to 24.5ppg, 6.4rpg, 3.4apg, 1.4spg, FGP: 58.5%, 3PT: 37.0%, FT: 81.8%. He continued to be a real scoring machine as as a junior he averaged 23.3ppg, 5.7rpg, 3.7apg, FGP: 50.7%, 3PT: 38.0%, FT: 82.4% and as a senior made another step averaging 31.5ppg, 4.8rpg, 6.8apg, FGP: 50.7%, 3PT: 41.8%, FT: 88.6%. He scored in double figures in his last 103 NAIA games and was able to develop nicely at his pace. “Each year as I got older the game was slowing down to me. I was able to read defenses very much easier. I felt a lot of film work helped with this”, stressed Cameron Hunt. He gave the word consistency a new meaning scoring 20 points or more 76 times, 30 points or more 30 times and 40 points or more 6 times. “I feel my best game was when I was a sophomore and we beat a team we weren’t supposed to beat in a conference tournament game. It wasn’t my highest scoring but I did a lot of things to help my team win the game”, stressed Cameron Hunt. Not only in his personal game was he top, but his teams were always contenders as he reached 3 KCAC finals and won the 2019 title and also reached two NCAA 2 Sweet 16´s. “The most enjoyable run was my senior year as we had a great team that defied a lot of odds”, added Cameron Hunt. Usually winning that first title in the third try can be called three is a charm, but in the case of the American it happened in his fourth attempt. “Winning the KCAC title was up there with winning National player of the year. Both of these accomplishments took a lot of work. I would say the KCAC title felt more rewarding because we were able to do it as a team, “expressed Cameron Hunt. He credits a lot of his success to head coach Matt O´Brien who coached him for all 4 years never letting him cheat himself and making sure he got enough sleep. Coach O´Brien didn´t see his greatness from day one, but moreover it took time to see it. “. He always knew I would be a solid player for him, but he didn’t expect me to do the things I did for the team. We still joke about it to this day”, stressed Cameron Hunt.

                Hunt is playing his professional rookie season in Germany with third division club TG.s Oliver Wurzburg and living in a historic city named Wurzburg. The city has a river called Main that goes through the city with a beautiful castle perched high on a high overlooking the city. Hunt couldn´t have asked for a prettier place to live in as a rookie. “I have learned to appreciate the culture in Germany. I’ve been trying to teach myself German as I have learned to love the lifestyle out here”, smiled Cameron Hunt. He is playing a great rookie season. Not only on the stat sheet, but also with the team record is at the top in scoring and second in the Pro B South standings. Last season the club was only in 10^th place, but this season has been refreshing as the farm team of BBL club s.Oliver Wurzburg have made a total turnaround. Hunt seems to have brought some of that winning magic from Southwestern College KS(NAIA). “When I got to Wurzburg I just wanted to bring winning habits to the team. The team didn’t make the playoffs last year and I wanted to help change that.  The next goal is a championship”, stressed Cameron Hunt. Big and confident words from a champion, but the team just keeps winning as nobody seems to find a way to beat them.  “I think the biggest secret is we are having fun. We really enjoy playing with each other and I feel that can take us a long way”, warned Cameron Hunt. The team is first in points and assists and second in rebounds and almost half the points on average are made by Hunt and Lithuanian forward Rytis Pipiras. But it isn´t just the two imports carrying the load, but the club has very capable young German role players as well. “ We talk a lot about sharing the ball in practice and I feel we do a great job of that. Rytis is a tremendous player who is very unselfish and fun to play with. Rytis is very strong and probably the fastest player on the team. If I could have one of his skills it would be his athleticism. He makes dunking look so easy  I wouldn’t say it’s just me and Rytis carrying the load as different players have big games on different nights”, warned Cameron Hunt. Even if the team is high in the standings and wants to hold that playoff home court advantage, the club still has area´s where it can improve on. “I think we play very hard on defense which is always good but we can improve on our pick and roll defense. Once that is solved I feel the sky is the limit for this team”, added Cameron Hunt. Usually the farm teams of German BBL teams have an influx of very talented and very motivated Germans. Hunt is teammates with guard Joshua Obiesie who has already played BBL and Fiba Europe Cup at age 18 while other teammate big man Jonas Weitzel could win most improved Pro B Player who averaged 9/6 last season and currently is at 15/6 and appreciates it being able to be their teammate. “The sky is the limit for Joshua. He is only 19 years old but plays like he is much older than that. I think what most people don’t notice is how much fun he has playing basketball. Jonas has been great for us. You never have to worry about how hard he will play because he will always give 100%. He is also improving every day and I feel he has a very bright future”, stressed Cameron Hunt.

                The American who lists Brent Smith, Andrew Hamm, Myron Fisher, Jacob Horsch, and Dj Walla as his all-time best teammates has continued to be a scoring machine as a professional, but despite having that success, it still has been an adjustment learning a totally new kind of game. “The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make so far is the style of play in Europe. It is completely different over here but once I start making quicker reads I will be settled in”, said Cameron Hunt. He compares his game to Golden State Warrior DÁngelo Russell and is the kind of player that can score at ease, but also knows when to find his teammates, but there is another distinctive strength of the NBA player that Hunt enjoys. “I enjoy how D’angelo Russell plays the game at his own pace. He isn’t the fastest but you are going to go his speed when he has the ball. I think what I see the same in our game is we are always looking to make the right play. I really admire that about his game”, stressed Cameron Hunt. It is no secret that he can score at ease, but don´t rush calling him a walking bucket just yet. “I don’t think I am a walking bucket yet, as I have a lot more work to do. I feel scoring comes with also having a good passing game as a threat as well”, stressed Cameron Hunt. Two other strengths of his is seeing the floor well and getting steals. “I am never thinking of pass first or score first. I just feel if I make the correct basketball play every possession the results will be in my favor. I understand I have long arms so I try to use them a lot. If you can disrupt people´s offense your chances of winning increase drastically”, warned Cameron Hunt. He was a solid blocker at 196cm in the NAIA registering 44 in his 4 year career and never averaged more than 0,6 blocks per game, but as a rookie his shot blocking ability has skyrocketed to 1,2 and he currently has 22 blocks. He credits shot blocking as a hidden strength in his arsenal. “I think opponents just don’t realize how long my arms are”, smiled Cameron Hunt. He has taken his fine work ethic from Texas to Germany and his attention to detail continues to develop as well as his game as he learns under German coach Eric Detlev. “Coach has been wonderful. I have told him my personal goals and he has been all for it. He has developed some great players in the past so I take in everything he says to me”, warned Cameron Hunt. A few weeks ago he had the opportunity to relive his home town in the form of an animated sitcom created by the well known Amy Poehler who rose to fame with Saturday Night Live and it will air on Fox. Duncanville will revolve around the life of Duncan Harris, a normal 15-year-old boy, who is always one step away from making a bad decision. Duncan lives with his mom, a parking enforcement officer, who dreams of becoming a detective someday and always has to watch Duncan, his dad, who wants to be the best dad possible for his son, and his sister Kimberly. “I can’t wait to see how the show Duncanville turns out. I think it has a lot of potential and I’m definitely going to watch it now”, added Cameron Hunt in January 2020. One thing is for sure, Cameron isn´t like Duncan, because so far in his young basketball life he has made all the right decisions with going to Southwestern College KS(NAIA) and with TG s.Oliver Wurzburg. Currently he is averaging 21,4ppg, 4,2rpg and 5,0apg while shooting 41,3% from outside. He has scored in double figures in 17 of 18 games including a 37 points and 16 rebounds explosion against Oberaching, 31 points against Baunach and 29 points against FC Bayern Munich 2. He recently was rewarded with a three year contract and can still play up to 5 BBL games this season. For a guy that has had a chip on his shoulder his whole life, it won´t go away now after this huge success with the 3 year deal, but still be there, because he can still get better, develop further and reach higher levels. Sky is the limit for Cameron Hunt.

J´ Covan Brown is a 30 year old 188cm point guard from Port Arthur, Texas that is playing his eighth professional season and second with Hapoel Jerusalem (Israel-Winner League). Last season with Hapoel Jerusalem (Israel-Winner League) he averaged 10.3ppg, 2.3rpg, 4.6apg, FGP: 44.4%, 3PT: 34.4%, FT: 84.5% in the Winner league and 8.9ppg, 2.2rpg, 4.2apg, FGP: 38.6%, 3PT: 37.1%, FT-2 (94.7%) in the Basketball Champions League. He played parts of three seasons in Greece, and also with Hapoel Galil Gilboa in Israel and in other countries like Turkey, Dominican Republic and Kazakhstan. He played three seasons at The University of Texas (NCAA) and as a senior played 34 games averaging 20.1ppg, 3.4rpg, 3.8apg, 1.2spg, FGP: 45.0%, 3PT: 36.9%, FT: 86.3%He spoke to germanhoops.com recently after winning the Israeli cup about his basketball career.

J’Covan thanks for talking to germanhoops. com. You won the Israeli cup recently and was named MVP. How did it feel winning the title and being named MVP?

It felt great bringing the cup back to Jerusalem and just fighting for each other to win it. I just wanted to go out and make this 30th birthday special and just win it for the fans.

Hapoel Jerusalem is battling Maccabi Tel Aviv for the top spot in the Winner league and is also playing well in the Basketball Champions League. How is this team different and if not better from last season’s championship team?

We had a great team last season and did great things. We won the cup and made a run, but just couldn’t win the Champions League cup and Winners league, but it was great building a bond. This season we brought 5 players back that understand each other . We have been through the trenches and know what it means to win games down the stretch. It isn’t about Maccabi, but just about us Hapoel Jerusalem. 

Your playing your third season in Israel and second with Hapoel Jerusalem (Israel-Winner League). Players often move around in their careers like you did early in your career. Has Israel become like a second home for you?

Playing and living in Israel is comfortable. I have met a great group of coaches in Israel. When you make deep relationships with coaches like that, you just try to stick around and be with them. I have a good relationship with coach Oded Kattash. He understands me and I understand him. He gives me the freedom to be myself, but also to buy into the situation with the team.

After winning your first professional title in 2015 with : BC Astana (Kazakhstan-D1) you won your next one in 2019 . How good did it feel winning that second one in comparison to the first one?

All championships are special. When your growing up playing sports you want to win titles no matter if it’s Little League or if your in High School or College, you just want to win and have that DNA in your system so later when you have kids you can tell them I did that and I did that and if they ask if you won championshsips then you can say you won this and that. That’s what it all about with me. Every championship is special for me.

In Greece with AEK you were teammates with some real vets with ex NBA and NCAA champion with Florida Taurean Green and Malik Hairston. What do you remember from their presence on and off the court?


Those two guys took me under their arms when I got there. I was a bit younger, but with Malik and me it was a great fit. He helped me a lot and was just a great guy on and off the court. It was the same with Taurean. We also bonded very well. When we got on the court our relationship was great and we knew what it took to help push each other win games. Those two guys were unbelievable teammates and vets. 

In your first two years at the University Of Texas you had some amazing future NBA guards as teammates with Avery Bradley, Cory Joseph and Dexter Pittman. Which one of these players had the most influence on your game?

Al those guys were with me in college for one year. I had good relations wit all of them. If I had to choose, I would say Avery Bradley and Corey Joseph. They were both the same for me. We were all guards and shared a lot of time together competing one on one and helping each other get better.

How did head coach Rick Barnes groom and prepare you best for a professional basketball career?

No comment on that one

Who was the toughest player that you battled in the NCAA that then reached the NBA?

I can’t even think back that long. The NCAA had some great players back then. The toughest player that I ran across basketball wise was Draymond Green. He brought so much to the game. He did so much for Michigan State when we battled them. It was tough both times and Draymond just pushed to the next level. At that time I was scoring the ball, but when he guarded you, he made you think basketball more and not always having it be being about talent.

What was the last movie that you saw?

Bad Boys 2

Thanks J’Covan for the chat.

Joe Asberry is an American ex professional basketball player that really has seen it all from crime to drugs, but also playing against legends like Gary Payton, Jason Kidd and Brian Shaw being teammates with German legendary player Christian Welp and had a 11 year professional career that saw him toil around in the minor leagues of Germany, but he belonged to the best in his day at that level. Since retiring from the game, he has been a spokes person for young kids and drug prevention, guest speaker, worked in the Alba Berlin organization, been a master of ceremonies for UBC Hannover and been a mentor for young Americans coming overseas trying to live the dream of being a professional basketball player.He spoke to germanhoops.com about his memories of Kobe Bryant. 

Where were you and how did you find about the death of Kobe Bryant?

I was in the gym pumping iron when one of the moms from my u18 team sent me a message and told me that Kobe had passed away

When I heard about it, I thought it was a hoax. What were your first thoughts when you heard about it? 

My first thought was well,we lost another balla to the grim reaper. My best friend died not to long ago,Marzel Price,so I thought they’re playing horse together in Hoop heaven. And I know Zell was talking trash and saying,”Let’s play 1 on 1 Kobe

How much of your day the day after did you take informing yourself about his death and watching videos?

The only video I watched was the one from the news where the eye witness discussed hearing the Copter crash

Can you remember about when you first knew about Kobe Bryant and what was your first impression of him as a kid? 

I had heard all about Kobe when he was in high school,and watched him play in the Mcdonalds All American Game and I thought he was maybe a bit over hyped. Steven Jackson was the MVP of that game I thought. But I would later meet Kobe when he was a rookie. He was a judge at a dunk contest I was in. I took 2nd place. That high flyer Mike Hairston beat me. I missed a dunk and he didn’t miss any. We both talked to Kobe and he was a humble down to earth dude. I liked him. He told both of us we had NBA type of bounce so that compliment from a stud like him I’ll take to my grave when the grim reaper comes for me. I ‘ll beat his ass in horse too in hoop heaven. I don’t want any parts of him 1 on 1,I’ll let Zell handle that for me LOL!

How did your love for Kobe Bryant develop over time as were winding down your professional career in Europe. How do you remember following his career 

My love for Kobe flew over the top in the 1998 All Star game. Most players at that time were TOO afraid of Michael Jordan. I couldn’t understand how pro athlete’s had become male groupy’s.That’s why I loved Kobe. He went right at the basketball God and tried to snatch up the King’s Throne

Kobe Bryant was for so many the greatest ever. What did you appreciate most about his game? 

I appreciated the most about Kobe’s game was his dunks in traffic. I am older then Kobe so on the playgrounds I wanted to be Michael Asberry,Dominique Wilkens,and Magic Johnson.

Kobe Bryant had so many amazing games like his 81 points and countless other games where it was lights out as well as winning 5 titles. What is your fondest memory of him of what he did on the court? 

My fondest memory was the game when he dropped 81. It was like me playing 2k with him on Rookie, but this was real life in the best league in the WORLD! I’ve lost many loved ones to gun violence, so for me death has become normal. I’m not sad from it anymore, but I just celebrate the joys of life I’ve had with people. The basketball world will never get over this. What hurt me to be honest was the fact that his daughter died as well .I can’t rap my head around that. I’ve met cold blooded gangsters who are still here and that beautiful little girl is gone. So I’ve had a hard time dealing with that, it has tested my faith. So I just visualize her shooting 3’s in hoop heaven and my guy Zell rebounding for her and telling her how pretty she is and how much of a beautiful woman she is going be when she grows up hooping in her high heels! RIP to all of the people who lost their lives in that Copter that day too. Let’s not forget that not only the great balla passed, so did other good people including Gigi’s little team mate, Just too sad Miles.

When you look back in 20 years on the career of Kobe Bryant how will you remember his legacy best? 

I will remember his legacy best with what I loved the most about him that MAMBA Mentality. That cocky arrogant 18 year old who told EVERYBODY I can give ANYBODY in the world buckets. I love that. I didn’t have his skill set, but in my time I thought I could dunk on any man alive. If I got that bunny hop,your ass was DONE!

One of my last questions in my standard interviews is what is your opinion of the neverending debate of who is the greatest of all-time Michael Jordan or Lebron James. Often players remind me that I left out Kobe Bryant.I have been thinking about this a lot How worthy is a Kobe Bryant to be seen as the greatest of all-time?

I still think that Michael Jordan is the best player of all time. He made it global. Without Michael Jordan,”Jumping” Joe Asberry doesn’t get paid to hoop overseas. As the clock ticks, Lebron James will be the best player of all time, because he loves to pass and is a better overall player then Jordan and Kobe. The best scorer of all time and killer is hands down Kobe Bryant. The man dropped 60 in his last game and had plenty left in the tank. All my opinion though LOL!

My last question isn’t what is the last movie you saw, but what video of Kobe Bryant will you take a look again when you have some time to look back at his great career?

The video of that last game when he played vs Jordan when Jordan played for the Wizards. At that moment Mike knew it was time to pass the torch. Kobe scorched him and everybody else that got in his way! Thank you so much for the interview Miles. I appreciate you my guy,you’re the “Marv Albert” and best to do hoops here in Germany You’re in my ghetto Hall of Fame! LOL!

Thanks Joe for sharing your memories of Kobe Bryant.

The Fraport Skyliners season continues to move on and people are still wondering when it will finally start as it has been 5 months to forget. It is March 1st, and the team is now heading into the stretch run and instead of fighting for a playoff spot, is battling not to get lost in the shuffle near the end of the standings. Currently the 2004 BBL champion is in 14^th place with a miserable 5-14 record and have only two wins more than the last two teams Hamburg and MBC. Lucky for Frankfurt that only one team moves down. Just like in December 2019, the club had many weeks of rest as the schedule didn´t have a game on the program for them. The rest and extra practice did them good, because the next opponent MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg would be no cake walk. They have been one of the hottest teams this season. On account of not reaching the playoffs last season, only have been playing once a week in the BBL and have been able to curb all their focus and energy on the BBL play. Ludwigsburg came to Frankfurt in second place sporting a 14-4 record. They played their best basketball at the beginning winning 9 of 10 games and since then have had a 5-3 record, but are always dangerous as they were able to defeat top teams FC Bayern Munich and Alba Berlin. But The Fraport Skyliners didn´t come to play as they performed one of their worst games in years at home getting crushed by the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg 79-54. At times they didn´t look like an easyCredit BBL team and probably would have had problems beating average Pro A teams on this afternoon. They couldn´t buy shots even if they were 75% off, had a free throw phobia, couldn´t secure easy offensive rebounds and just made dumb mistakes one after the other. After the poor showing a shattered Shaquille Hines reflected about the new season low point. “We try to follow the game plan and try to be perfect. But that just doesn´t happen for us in the game. We have to forget about trying to be perfect and just go out and play. We couldn´t get our pick and roll to work and they attacked us the whole game. We played an ok defensive game, but we also have to play good offense. We have to know how to read and react and make plays. We didn´t do that. We got no easy baskets, no transition baskets, missed too many free throws, and missed open shots despite having good weeks of practice and beating Bayreuth in a test game”, stressed ex Braunschweig forward Shaquille Hines.  The MHP Resen Ludwigsburg didn´t play their best, but their defense was spot on. “We relied on our defense. We wore them down with our aggressive style. We did a good job with our pick and roll defense and getting offensive rebounds was big in helping us open up our lead”, stressed ex MLP Academics guard Jaleen Smith.

                4540 fans turned out in the Fraport arena to witness if the Fraport Skyliners had improved any over the last weeks of game free time, but instead saw them get out on the wrong side of the bed as the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg hurried out on a swift 7-0 lead. The guests did damage in the near distance area as ex Seton Hall(NCAA) standout Kadeen Carrington hit a real tough contested shot over Joe Rahon, ex Fraport Skyliner Jonas Wolfahrt-Bottermann made a reverse lay up and ex Iowa State(NCAA) stand out Nick Weiler-Babb also scored in the paint. The Fraport Skyliners finally became awake as they used their inside presence of Leon Kratzer to make back to back baskets to cut the Ludwigsburg lead down to 7-4. After a Weiler-Babb dunk, the Fraport Skyliners were able to execute getting a trey from Hines and a lay in from ex Ludwigsburg guard Lamont Jones to dead lock the contest at 9-9. Despite the solid start by the guests, in between they would delve into one on one play instead of keeping their team basketball going. The first quarter stood for runs and inconsistency from both teams. The MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg recovered from the Frankfurt 5-0 run to unleash their own run of 6-0 as Marcos Knight who looks like a power forward in a guards body drove through the lane and scored and then hit a trey for the 15-9 advantage. The late signing of Knight could prove to be the difference come playoff time. The first quarter didn´t elapse with that run, but the Fraport Skyliners ended the first 10 minutes with a timely 4-0 run as ex Michigan State guard Matt Mcquaid nailed a jumper after getting a fine ball reversal pass from Jones from the another wing and Jones also made a pull up jumper as the guests led 15-13. “No team was able to find a steady rhythm. Frankfurt really had many open looks, but couldn´t hit. Kratzerr is still recovering from his long injury and was tired after a few minutes when he was on the floor”, stressed TV Lich guard Jermale Jones.

                The Fraport Skyliners really struggled in the second quarter amassing only 8 points, but the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg couldn´t really take advantage of it as their offense was ok, but not great. The Fraport Skyliners suffered another very poor start in the second quarter as they were stopped on their first 5 possessions allowing the guests to go on a 5-0 run to extend their led to 20-13. The run was started by a pretty alley-oop feed from Knight to Weiler-Babb who finished with a nice dunk and then ex New Hampshire(NCAA) guard Jaleen Smith scored from way long range with a trey as Ludwigsburg led 20-13. Smith finished with 9 points and 6 rebounds and has made a fine transition from the Pro A to the easyCredit BBL this season. “My role is to be a defender and hit the open shot. This wasn´t one of my best games”, stressed Jaleen Smith after his 2/9 shooting day. The Fraport Skyliners finally escaped their offensive funk and in ability to execute on offense as Shaquille Hines was sparked by a huge defensive block and scooted up the court and drilled home a transition trey. This led to a 7-0 run as Frankfurt tied the game again as Jones made a lay in and Kratzer a tip in. Frankfurt had little fortune from outside so had to bang the ball inside more. The MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg didn´t always have luck with running their plays and finishing like a team, so they often resorted to 1-1 on play that didn´t always work. So many mental lapses and defensive break downs plagued the Fraport Skyliners the whole game. Instead of living on the momentum of a 7-0 run, they allowed the guests to close out the second half with a lethal 13-1 run to go into the break with the overwhelming 33-21 advantage.  The run was began by a Carrington trey and followed by hard one handed dunk by Marcos Knight. Knight has such a strong body that one wouldn´t necessarily think that he had speed. “I played against him years ago. He has very good speed for his size. He has done  a good job working on his game and developing. That helped him move up to the BBL from the Pro B”;added Alabama native Jermale Jones. What really put a dagger to Frankfurt´s throat in this run were the back to back three´s from Weiler-Babb at the end. “When Ludwigsburg´s plays weren´t working, they went to their 1-1 play. Many of Frankfurt´s three´s were short which is a sign for tired legs. Frankfurt was defending well, but just couldn´t hit shots”, stressed Jermale Jones. The MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg shot 42% form the field and 36% from outside and had 25 rebounds and 8 turnovers while the Fraport Skyliners shot 24% from the field and 11% from outside and had 23 rebounds and 5 turnovers.

                In the third quarter the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg continued to execute well while being able to keep their double digit lead. Frankfurt continued to have ups and downs and were staring at a huge deficit. The Fraport Skyliners actually had a good start in the third quarter which has been a problem this season making three consecutive stops and getting a Hines lay in and Kratzer free throw to cut the guests lead to 33-24. After a Knight lay in, Lamont Jones countered with a runner to cut the Ludwigsburg advantage to 35-26. The MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg had some big plays on the defensive end with Weiler-Babb and Knight blocks which led to a Knight trey and 39-27 lead. The guests got good energy from ex Team Ehingen American Tanner Leissner who made a few free throws and also was very aggressive on the offensive glass which led to 8 points and 9 rebounds in only 17 minutes. Hines continued to be active on the offensive end as was Kratzer getting buckets, but Ludwigsburg still led 47-34. Frankfurt was playing good defense on the team, but couldn´t slow down their 1-1 play. The MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg closed out the third quarter with a vital 6-2 run to keep a healthy distance from Frankfurt leading 53-36. In the run Frankfurt got free throws from ex Alba Brlrin guard Akeem Vargas and the guests got another high energy play from Knight with a hard one handed dunk and Carrington added a late trey. “We took advantage of Frankfurt´s mistakes and pushed the ball ahead. We got more transition baskets which opened up the game for us”, added Jaleen Smith. “You can see it on many of the guys faces that they aren´t having fun. We have had good and fun practices, but the games are different. We prepare so much, but can´t make adjustments. We lose the ability to play our game. We continued to defend well, but just couldn´t hit anything”, added Shaquille Hines.

                In the fourth quarter the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg made another step in their game upping their offense and execution rate while the Fraport Skyliners found some offensive consistency late in the game, but couldn´t get over the hump allowing the guests to score 26 points. Jones got Frankfurt on the board first in the fourth quarter, but the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg had seen enough and then annoyingly slammed the door shut on the Fraport Skyliners with a rude 14-1 run to extend their lead to 67-39. In the run, the guests got a couple of trey´s from Knight and Carrington while Leissner continued to be active on the offensive glass hauling down more rebounds and getting 4 points. At the 6,47 minute mark, Fraport Skyliner legend Quantez Robertson got his first point of the game with a free throw. He would end the day with 1 point, 5 rebounds and 5 assists on 0/7 shooting from the field.  17 year old 2017 JBBL finalist Len Schoormann broke the run with a three pointer to cut the Ludwigsburg lead to 67-42. Frankfurt then executed better on offense, but the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg had already done the most damage. Hines scored 5 points, Jones hit a runner and Mcquaid nailed a trey, but Frankfurt couldn´t get consistent stops as they still trailed 75-52. Little used young German Aaron Kayser made a pretty left handed lay in and the guests closed out the game with Konstantin Konga and Hans Brase free throws. “We played good defense for 35 minutes. They picked up their offense at the end. It wasn´t a pretty game, but we won the dog fight”, warned Jaleen Smith. “We finally got some good looks and made shots. We couldn´t get easy baskets and didn´t find Kratzer on the pick and roll. They did a good job closing in on our pick and roll. I can´t take anything positive out of our game. We had no energy. Even Tez wasn´t Tez today”, added Shaquille Hines. The MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg were led by Marcos Knight with 20 points. Nick Weiler-Babb added 14 points and Khadeen Carrington produced 12 points while the Fraport Skyliners were led by Shaquille Hines with 16 points and Lamont Jones added 15 points. The MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg shot 40% from the field and 295 from outside and had 46 rebounds and 11 turnovers while the Fraport Skyliners shot 34% from the field and 19% from outside and had 38 rebounds and 14 turnovers.

With the carneval season over in Dragon country where the club had a little break, it was time again for basketball. The regular season is slowly winding down as the top aspiring playoff teams are jockeying for the best playoff positions. The Dragons Rhondorf have been playing solid basketball in the last weeks having won three of the last four games, but suffered a disappointing 108-94 loss at the hands of BG Hagen a little more than two weeks. ago. The defense continues to be the clubs big weakness as they have been unable to find any kind of consistency. They now had a golden opportunity to work on their defensive game with the arrival of the weak ETB Wohnbau Miners Essen who came into the game with a pathetic 1-22 record and had accumulated a horrible 17game losing streak this season. The club allows way to many points with 91, and can´t muster much offense averaging only 72 points per game. In the first game, the Dragons Rhondorf won on the road 111-85, but had big problems on defense again allowing way too many points and surprisingly lost the rebound battle 42-29, but did a better job forcing the Miners to 22 turnovers. In the return date in the Dragon Dome, the Dragons Rhondorf saw the same 5 starting ETB Wohnbau Miners for 40 minutes as that was all that was present. Ex Pro A team ETB Wohnbau Baskets Miners had serious injuries woes as Radwan Bakkali and Giorgas Moukas were out and Chris Alexander also wasn´t present with rumors swirling that he had returned back to the States early. The Dragons Rhondorf had to deal with 40 less points from these three players and were able to destroy the ETB Wohnbau Miners 102-63. But how does one really rate a 39 point win when the guests didn´t have one rest the whole game playing 40 minutes? The Dragons Rhondorf had good moments and also bad moments as mental lapses accompanied them all game long. After the 16^th win of the season 36 year old Anish Sharda reflected on the good and bad of the victory. “I never thought of them having only 5 players. I really wanted the challenge of playing against Chris Alexander and Radwin Bakkali. We didn´t come out with the right energy. We forced  a lot and we still aren´t where we want to be on defense”, warned ex TV Langen guard Anish Sharda. Radwin Bakkali didn´t play, but had a good seat on the bench to witness the loss, but in the end was very proud of how the team fought. “I remember seeing a game in the NCAA where a fight broke out and the bench of Alabama was ejected. They only had 4 more players in the last 5 minutes. Rhondorf had a deep roster, but our 5 guys gave their all. The difference today was the depth of Rhondorf. At times they looked like the San Antonio Spurs with all the passing they did. They are well coached. We ran out of gas in the second quarter”, stressed ex Jacksonville(NCAA) center Radwin Bakkali.

            At the start it was 5-5 with 10 fresh legs, but it was the underdog and guests ETB Wohnbau Miners that came out stronger and executed better on offense taking a rapid 8-2 advantage. In the first minutes, the fact that the guests only had 5 players for 40 minutes didn´t overwhelm them as they shared the ball nicely. 17 year old Luca Michels got the club going with a trey which was followed by a lay in by 29 year old Michael Agyapong and a lay in from 23 year old German/Nigerian Simon Obi who didn´t begin to play basketball until he was 18.The ETB Wohnbau Miners caught the Dragons Rhondorf still in bed and managed an OK zone, but the Dragons couldn´t hit open shots. After a time out the Dragons Rhondorf started to bang the ball inside and were rewarded with an agonizing 14-2 run to take the 16-10 lead. Ex Iserlohn center Gabriel de Olveira got aggressive inside and scored 4 buckets while New Jersey native Diijon Allen-Jordan used his athleticism inside to produce 2 baskets. The Dragons not only destroyed Essen inside, but also got their transition game going. The Dragons Rhondorf were finally awake and had a strong offensive rhythm. The Dragons Rhondorf got more aggressive on defense and strong defense led to successful offense. Even if the Dragons made the turnaround, they were too soft in the paint and allowed Michael Agyapong be a one man wrecking crew in the paint. Most of their baskets were in the paint area, but Slovenian center Jure Besedic nailed a trey in the last minutes while Marek Kotoneo scored twice in the paint giving the Dragons Rhondorf the comfortable 23-13 lead after 10 minutes. “We weren´t locked in on defense at the start. We got going when I got in and we pushed the ball more. A big problem that we have is that we want to much sometimes instead of locking in and doing it step by step”, warned Anish Sharda. The Dragons Rhondorf shot 43% form the field and 11% from outside and had 14 rebounds and 2 turnovers while the ETB Wohnbau Miners shot 23% from the field and 12% from outside and had 15 rebounds and 5 turnovers.

            The Dragons Rhondorf kept the double digit lead in the second quarter, but the ETB Wohnbau Miners stayed with them and continued to hang around. The ETB Wohnbau Miners had another strong start like they had in the first quarter going on a 7-3 run to cut the Dragons lead to 26-20. German Luca Michels continued to be the go to guy contributing 5 points displaying his fine inside out play with a sweet trey and pretty left handed lay in and German Jonathan Broer hit a jumper. But that second quick start didn´t faze the Dragons Rhondorf as they slapped the ETB Wohnbau Miners back with a 11-2 run to extend their lead to 37-22. They got some instant energy from Diijon Allen-Jordan as he made a hard dunk on transition and a lay in while they also got baskets from Kotineo, a trey from Sharda and a floater from Besedic. The Dragons Rhondorf controlled the game, but weren´t consistent still making too many unneeded mistakes. Rhondorf weren´t playing with high intensity, but were getting easy baskets inside while Essen had a lot of fortune getting loose balls which helped them get extra chances. Down the stretch the Dragons Rhondorf got a clutch trey from ex Nurnberg forward Pal Ghotra while the ETB Wohnbau Miners got more energy and baskets from Luca Michels and Michael Mobes also scored. The Dragons Rhondorf led only 42-30 at the break. “We didn´t execute well and were going 1-5. We were too concerned with ourselves instead of banging the ball inside”, said Anish Sharda. “We played very well despite the circumstances. Michels played very well. He was totally fearless. He has been playing mostly with our second team, but he should have been with us since the beginning of the season”, added Radwin Bakkali. The Dragons Rhondorf shot 41% from the field and 26% from the three point line and had 28 rebounds and 9 turnovers while the ETB Wohnbau Miners shot 26% from the field and 12% from the three point line and had 27 rebounds and 11 turnovers.

            The Dragons Rhondorf finally broke the game wide open with a 38 point explosion in the third quarter as it rained three´s and their lead ballooned to 80-41 after 30 minutes. After Essen got on the board first in the second half with a Michael Agyapong runner, the Dragons Rhondorf exploded for a 16-2 run to extend their lead to 58-34. In the run the Dragons Rhondorf let it rain three´s as Simonas Lukosius drilled home two trey´s while Diijon Allen-Jordan and Anish Sharda also hit from outside. They also got a transition basket from De Olveira retrieving a touch down pass from Allen-Jordan. The ETB Wohnbau Baskets had little offense except for Luca Michels who was in attack mode all night long. He nailed a trey, but then the team would go on another big offensive drought as Rhondorf went on a 14-0 run to extend their lead to 72-37. Allen-Jordan remained aggressive and confident scoring 3 baskets while Lukosius scored another trey and de Olveria made a tap in and Ghotra contributed a three pointer. In the last minutes, Rhondorf got massive production from Kotieno who executed 4 times as there was less and less resistance from Essen on the defensive end as the game wore on. The guests got 2 baskets from Agyapong. “We hit three pointers and executed better. If your opponent plays zone for 40 minutes, then you have to be sharp and execute and we did that”, stressed Anish Sharda. “Rhondorf didn´t make as many shots in the first half, but we got tired in the second half and they started to hit open shots”, stressed Radwin Bakkali. The Dragons Rhondorf shot 52% from the field and 41% from the parking lot and had 40 rebounds and 10 turnovers and the ETB Wohnbau Miners shot 24% from the field and 13% from the parking lot and had 37 rebounds and 15 turnovers.

            In the fourth quarter the Dragons Rhondorf continued to play their game and led by as much as 49 points, but couldn´t hold it as they allowed a 12-3 run at the end to loose by 39 points. Both teams got their offenses going in the first few minutes as Rhondorf got two baskets from Kotieno while the ETB Wohnbau Miners received two buckets from Michale Moebus. The Dragons Rhondorf then buckled down on defense and got their offense going again going on a 12-3 run to have their biggest lead of the game at 97-48. The Dragons Rhondorf continued to share the ball well letting everyone have a go as Lukkosius nailed another three pointer, Kotieno made a tip in, Besedic nailed another trey and young German Mats Linden made a tap in. The ETB Wohnbau Minersstill  had a little energy left in them going on a 12-3 run to cut the Dragons advantage to 100-60. In the Essen run, they got key production from their young German kids as Michels and Moebes both added 5 points a piece. Jonas Falkenstein hit a trey for the 100 points while young 15 year old Senegalen Ousmane Ndiaye also got on the board with a bucket and added 8 rebounds in 12 minutes of work from the bench. “We had too many mistakes on defense. We aren´t following our defensive principles which shows a lack of focus”, stated Anish Sharda. “Despite losing so badly, it was a good learning experience for our young players.  They can build off this game and not make the same mistakes in the next game”, warned Radwin Bakkali. The Dragons Rhondorf were led by Mark Kotieno with 22 points and 9 rebounds. Diijon Allen-Jordan added 20 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks. Gabriel De Olveira added 16 points and 10 rebounds while Simonas Lukosius ahd 13 points while the ETB Wohnbau Miners were led by Luca Michels with 24 points. Michael Moebus added 15 points while Simon Obi had 12 points and 13 boards while Michael Agyapong had 10 points and 15 rebounds. The Dragons Rhondorf shot 48% from the field and 35% from outside and had 55 rebounds and 13 turnovers while the ETB Wohnbau Miners shot 28% from the field and 18% form outside and had 49 rebounds and 16 turnovers.

Deandre Lansdowne is a 30 year old 187cm guard from Albuquerque, Mexico that is currently playing for Germani Brescia Leonessa (Italy-Serie A) averaging 13,3ppg, 3,0rpg and 1,6apg in the Serie A and in the Eurocup is averaging 10,9ppg, 2,6rpg and 2,3apg. Last season he played with Basketball Lowen Braunschweig. In his first season he averaged 14.7ppg, 4.1rpg, 3.3apg, Steals-3 (1.7spg), FGP: 47.2%, 3PT: 38.4%, FT: 72.8% and last season upped his stats averaging 18,6ppg,3,4rpg and 3,6apg. In 2016-2017 he played with the Hamburg Towers averaging 12,3ppg, 5,0rpg and 2,3apg. He started his career in Germany in 2015-2016 in the Pro B where he played with Hertener Loewen Basketball (Germany-Pro B) playing 27 games: Score-2 (22.9ppg), 8.1rpg, 3.6apg, Steals-5 (2.6spg), FGP: 61.5%, 3PT: 30.8%, FT: 66.5%. He played college ball at Fort Lewis (NCAA2) and as a senior played 32 games averaging 15.3ppg, 4.8rpg, 2.1apg, 2.0spg, FGP: 47.2%, 3PT: 37.1%, FT: 50.7%. He then gained his first professional experience with Pioneros de Delicias (Mexico-Chihuahua Vive) before continuing career in Germany. He spoke to germanhoops.com about his memories of Kobe Bryant.

Where were you and how did you find about the death of Kobe Bryant?

I had just returned to my home from a game.

When I heard about it, I thought it was a hoax. What were your first thoughts when you heard about it?

I didn’t believe it was true, in a few of my group chats with friends back in America were trying to figure out if it was real or not. We didn’t want to believe it either.

How much of your day the day after did you take informing yourself about his death and watching videos?

Videos, pictures, they were everywhere. For the day it was a time of grief to remember how much he really did inspire me as a basketball player throughout my whole career. You were born in 1989. You were 7 when he began with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996.
Can you remember about when you first knew about Kobe Bryant and what was your first impression of him as a kid?

I followed Kobe more seriously when I was in my later high school days. But loved his game, and his fire while playing. He was just always in ‘Kill Mode’ on both ends of the floor.

How did your love for Kobe Bryant develop over time as you got through childhood and high school? How do you remember following his career?. You were in college when he won again in 2010

I always followed his stats and games. Always watched what he was doing, and how he was doing things. It was just a beauty to watch his offensive game, and how he didn’t save any energy on defense also. Yeah I was, and I celebrated for sure. Haha

Kobe Bryant was for so many the greatest ever. What did you appreciate most about his game? Was he a guy that you pretended to be on the playgrounds?

As I’ve said before. His offensive skill sets, having little weaknesses. As well as on defense he showed no mercy to his opponent. He took pride in guarding the other teams best player while being the offensive go to player.

Kobe Bryant had so many amazing games like his 81 points and countless other games where it was lights out as well as winning 5 titles. What is your fondest memory of him of what he did on the court?

Yes his 81 point game was just one of the best to watch!

The outpouring of sadness was incredible in the last 24 hours. Guys were crying and leaving heart felt messages on Social Media. How long do you think it will take until the basketball world comes to terms with this tragedy?

It will take a long time. People are doing and showing such amazing respects to Kobe and Gigi ALL OVER THE WORLD!

When you look back in 20 years on the career of Kobe Bryant how will you remember his legacy best?

How many kids that are now adults that he impacted and inspired.

One of my last questions in my standard interviews is what is your opinion of the neverending debate of who is the greatest of all-time Michael Jordan or Lebron James. Often players remind me that I left out Kobe Bryant.I have been thinking about this a lot in the last. How worthy is a Kobe Bryant to be seen as the greatest of all-time?

They all are game changing, kid inspiring people. They are all the GOATS, neither above the other.

My last question isn’t what is the last movie you saw, but what video of Kobe Bryant will you take a look again when you have some time to look back at his great career?

I will just YouTube Kobe motivation, and that’s all you need!

Thanks Deandre for sharing your memories of Kobe Bryant.

When will the Fraport Skyliners season finally commence? Ok so the season has been ongoing for 5 months, but in a way everyone is waiting and waiting for this club to break out of it´s funk, but it just isn´t happening. Battling injuries and not having a point guard from the start until now to organize the game has proved to have soured the club´s season. Before the season began, this team looked pretty Ok on paper. Of course there were some risks involved, but best case scenario, this team could have had success had a lot of the players panned out, but the key component was consistency and players just didn´t bring it. A great example of how the season has gone happened within 48 hours of each other. The Fraport Skyliners had a 8 point lead mid way through the fourth quarter against the Crailsheim Merlins and lost in OT despite having the last possession and the opportunity to win the game. Frankfurt most definitely should of won when looking at the easy misses that Jones and Kratzer had in crunch-time. But sometimes coming back from injury, the energy decreases the more energy is needed that one doesn´t quite have having been injured. Two days later, they led by 13 points at the break in Oldenburg only to totally cave in in the third quarter like usual in this season allowing a double digit run and then losing again in OT despite having the last possession and again the chance to win the game. Frankfurt nailed 13 three´s themselves, but coughed up the ball 18 times which you can´t do against a team like the EWE Baskets and got tossed around in the paint as all 3 big men Leon Kratzer, Darius Carter and Marco Voeller all fouled out. Plus their inability to make free throws cost them the game as shooting 50% is unacceptable. Had they been a bit more consistent in this area, they would have won the game. But as has happened so often this season, they just can´t put together a complete game. Defensive let downs and mental let downs have been a common occurence . “A big problem this season has been us losing focus and energy in certain phases of the game. We need to be able to play great for 40 minutes. All it takes is for a team to play one quarter well which could allow them to win the game”, stressed Shaquille Hines after the loss to Crailsheim.

                Before the season I was very bold and predicted that on paper this team was a playoff team. Of course with that happening a lot had to go right. I knew deep down that that prediction was more than risky, but I´m always taking the positive over the negative. That Anthony Hickey wouldn´t pan out and Joe Rathon was acquired so late was something that I didn´t plan with either. Plus all the injuries that the Fraport Skyliners have had had also have effected them greatly. A healthy team chemistry still hasn´t been built. Interesting enough is despite the injuries, the club never gave up. They always gave the effort, but just didn´t have enough strong components to match up with the opponents. Frankfurt played a hard fought game in Vechta and probably would have won in Vechta had Lamont Jones and Richard Freudenberg been on board. But in the end, the what if´s don´t matter, but only the wins and that is something that the club hasn´t been able to buy this season. Failing in crunch-time has been a problem the team had back in 2012-2013 where they lost many games, because they didn´t have the ability to finish games the right way. If one looks back at this season, the team has lost way too many close games that one could almost feel like the basketball God has scolded the club for some peculiar reason. It has been at least 6 games this season that the Skyliners should of won. The teams are the Telekom Baskets Bonn, FC Bayern Munich, Wurzburg, Braunschweig, Crailsheim and Oldenburg. So if they had won only 4 of those games, then they would be fighting for the last playoff spot. Had they won more, then they would be fighting for home court advantage. Instead they are in 14^th place and have to keep an eye on Hamburg, MBC and Bonn who only have 2 wins less. Lucky for Frankfurt is that only one team will move down this season.

                Imagine where the Fraport Skyliners would be today in the standings if they were letting up 68 or 69 points on average which wasn´t even so long ago under Gordon Herbert. Instead they are giving up 80 points per game and still belong to the best defensive teams in the league at position 4. Scoring only 75 points per game won´t give you wins if your giving up 80 points on average. They are rebounding the ball ok, but not great. There are just too many games where they get beat over and over on the offensive glass. If they could have turned that down a bit, then they would of won a few more extra games. There have been some bright spots for me. As usual Quantez Robertson is having a very solid season. At age 35 he is still going strong and the team´s most valuable player. I hope that he will follow Rickey Paulding and keep playing seeing that the Oldenburg stud just signed a 2 year contract extension. Joe Rahon also has been a pleasant surprise. He needed no real adjustment time and has been that playmaker that runs a team. He may not be a consistent scorer, but he doesn´t have to be. But he has shown on occasion that he can finish when needed. Frankfurt finally has a playmaker that puts his teammates in the best situation to score. It has been a while since a Skyliner averaged over 6 assists in a game. Also Matt Mcquaid has stepped it up in the last month having scored in double figures in five of six games. His three pointer is finally coming through for him as he is shooting at outstanding clip of 13/24 at the moment. His confidence is finally there and will be needed in the last two months for more success. Also Shaquille Hines has had some good games like the 29 points against Crailsheim, but also he is battling the consistency bug as he couldn´t muster more than 4 points in Oldenburg. Leon Kratzer also is performing well despite having been injured. Lamont Jones has had good games and overall been consistent in the most part. The only critic on both is Kratzer sometimes not getting the key rebounds and being inconsistent on the finish when he is practically sitting on the rim and with Jones it´s his skeptical shot selection. The two biggest winners this season have been Akeem Vargas and Richard Freudenberg. Vargas looks reborn after battling nasty injuries the last years. He is still defending well with passion and has developed a lethal trey while Freudenberg has finally escaped his shell and is having his break out season. He is shooting the ball very well and now is hoping to come back from a few weeks off and find his rhythm again. New forward Darius Carter hasn´t been integrated yet, and he will need to step up his game to give Frankfurt that much needed added scoring option. Daniel Schmidt continues to be that question mark. He won many titles with Bamberg despite not playing many minutes. In Frankfurt it hasn´t been any different with the minutes averaging 6. But he also has had many DNP´s. He seems to not have convinced Sebastian Gleim enough for getting more trust and minutes.

                Like back in November/December the Fraport Skyliners had a long break to think about their season and to come back on March 1 and find a way to beat Ludwigsburg. Back in December they returned back from a long break and prompt lost two games. They had 19 days now between the Oldenburg loss and the next game against Ludwigsburg to come up with a plan and to have everybody ready for the stretch run. The good news is that out of the last 13 games, they have 8 home games remaining. But they have to start off with a bang right away. They have 4 of 5 home games and three in a row against Vechta, Ulm and Alba Berlin. They have to be very focused in this period to win some games. After this comes a phase where they have 3 winnable games against teams like Braunschweig, Hamburg and Bonn. Winning against the lower teams will be crucial for them to go into the last 5 games with some confidence and have some space away from the teams behind them. Also in the last 5 games, they will face some more winnable games against MBC, Goettingen and Wurzburg at home. They will have two away games in Munich and Bayreuth. They have to take each game one at a time and just come out focused and play witMiles h some heart. I am confident that they won´t have to deal with fighting to stay in the league, but they have to be very careful, because the heavy breathing of the teams behind them is getting closer. Cutting down on defensive and mental break downs will be vital as well as finally executing in crunch-time. This constant losing in the last minutes or on last plays can´t go on forever. The Fraport Skyliners finally have to wake up or otherwise the season could go in a direction where the pressure will be increasing and having to win games will be a lot different than needing to win games now.

Jalen Mccloud is a 24 year old 180cm point guard from Fort Worth, Texas playing his second professional season with the Kirchheim Knights currently averaging 16,2ppg, 2,9rpg and 3,2apg. He played his rookie season with the Bristol Academy Flyers (United Kingdom-BBL) playing 27 games averaging 15.3ppg, 2.7rpg, 4.0apg, Steals-4 (2.1spg), FGP: 48.1%, 3PT: 33.0%, FT: 83.3%. He began his basketball career with North Crowley High School. In 2013-2014 he played with Blinn JC (JUCO) playing 31 games averaging 9.3ppg, 1.1rpg, 2.9apg, FGP: 54.7%, 3PT: 38.7%, FT: 64.0%. In his second season at Blinn JC (JUCO) he played 30 games averaging 11.7ppg, 2.5rpg, 3.2apg, FGP: 52.3%, 3PT: 33.3%, FT: 69.2%. He played his junior year with Texas Southern University (NCAA) playing 35 games averaging 8.5ppg, 2.5rpg, 1.1apg, FGP: 50.4%, 3PT: 29.7%, FT: 84.7%. He made one more move as a senior playing with East Tennessee State (NCAA) playing 31 games averaging 11.9ppg, 2.8rpg, 3.4apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 51.7%, 3PT: 39.7%, FT: 75.3%. He spoke to germanhoops.com about basketball before the season started.

Thanks Jalen for talking to germanhoops.com You had a strong rookie season in England with Bristol and now are playing your second season in Germany with the Kirchheim Knights in the very competitive Pro A league. With what kind of expectations did you go into your second professional season?
I expect to have a good, healthy year and finish as high as we can in the tournament while also building positive relationships.
What do you know in general about the country Germany and it’s basketball? Have you had any friends, ex teammates or opponents from the NCAA that have played in Germany?
I did not know much about Germany, but after doing some research I have gained further knowledge. Germany basketball is highly respected around the world. I have seen many friends and former opponents come in and out of Germany.
The Kirchheim Knights and head coach Mauro Parra are very high on your basketball qualities. What was the deciding point that made you want to put on a Kirchheim jersey this season?
After speaking on the phone with Coach Mauro Parra, our conversation went really well and he was able to give good insight and answers to questions that I did not even realize I had. I also trust my agent in making decisions for me, and we felt this would be a good fit.
The Kirchheim Knights have had some very talented point guards over the last years that also developed further there. How excited are you to be continuing the strong Kirchheim point guard tradition and leaving a long lasting impression?
I am very excited about this opportunity, and I am eager to begin the starting line up and have much success with this new team.
Let’s talk about your game. You’re a point guard that can fill up the stat sheet at ease. If you had to compare your game to an NBA player who would best fit the description?
Kemba Walker
What really stands out in your game is your quickness and your controlled game which a good point guard should always have and be able to control. What other strengths do you possess and will be on display in Germany?
I plan to display my athleticism and passing abilities in Germany. I feel I excel most in these areas.

You score solidly and have solid assist stats. Last season with Bristol you had your best assist average since your school days. Do you see yourself making continued strides as a playmaker this season with the offensive weapons you have and history of former Knights point guards that were able to shine as playmakers?
Yes of course! I plan to keep progressing and elevating my passing game as well, because scoring and passing has to be at a balance for me to be considered a great point guard.
Your also a very strong defender. How much pride do you take on the defensive end and on what parts of your defensive game do you continue to work on so you can be even more of a presence?
I am pretty sure that no one enjoys being scored on, so the key for me is to try to keep my opponent from making plays. Sometimes it is difficult, but there is always a strategy/game plan for me before going into every match. I have been working on improving my off ball defense and trying to anticipate better when defending my opponents.

You’re a guy that can fill the stat sheet with ease, but what do you feel is a hidden strength that isn’t always noticed right away on the court?
I feel like one of my hidden strengths is my ability to jump. People often underestimate this quality with me because of my height.
Last season you played with the Bristol Academy Flyers (United Kingdom-BBL) playing 27 games averaging 15.3ppg, 2.7rpg, 4.0apg, Steals-4 (2.1spg), FGP: 48.1%, 3PT: 33.0%, FT: 83.3%. What was your wake up call to being a rookie in England where you knew that you were very far away from home?
My biggest wake up call was not being able to spend holidays with my family. I never really became home sick, but the holidays made me realize I was not able to simply go to my house for a good meal and usual traditions.
How much of a pleasure was it playing with American Fred Thomas as a rookie. How much easier did he make your job as a prolific scorer and how instrumental was his presence on and off the court making the whole transition from the NCAA to the pro ranks more comfortable?
He was very reliable and consistent. I knew what position he needed to be in order to make those shots which helped take the load off of scoring some games and helped me to gain assists. I was able to showcase my talent as a true guard and my skills in calling plays. Off the court, we connected well especially once we realized that we shared the same birthday.
Last season in the BBL, you had a 2-1 record against your ex teammate at E Tennessee State Devontavious Payne. What kind of experience was it playing against him and was there any good nature trash talking going on?
It was definitely a pretty cool experience. Devontavious is one of the best shooters I have ever played with and against. There was definitely some trash talking going on in those games, both before and after. We both have a competitive edge, which made it somewhat personal but he is like a brother to me.
You began your college career at Blinn (JUCO) where you balled for two years. How important were these two years of grooming for the NCAA? What part of your game made the biggest growth that helped you get into the NCAA groove better?
Playing at Blinn showed me that I had to build my physique and get stronger. I also quickly learned how to improve my playing speed, which helped me to be a better player at the next level. My IQ made the biggest growth from studying more and watching a lot of film.
You had a very solid first season in the NCAA with Texas Southern (NCAA) playing 35 games averaging 8.5ppg, 2.5rpg, 1.1apg, FGP: 50.4%, 3PT: 29.7%, FT: 84.7%. How important was the latter end of the season for your game having some big games against Alabama State and Southern?
I knew that in order for us to be the top seed going into the conference tournament that we had to win those games, and I was fortunate enough to have a good offensive impact.
Describe about your last week of basketball at Texas Southern winning the SWAC tournament over Alcorn State and then facing North Carolina in the NCAA tournament? Was this your most exciting time in your college career?
The emotions were very up and down because I was not sure what was next, but the time there was definitely a great experience for me. The tournament was exciting because I was able to play on a major platform and participate in something that many college teams dreams of.
When you remember the play of Joel Berry and where he is now and how your game has developed, how do you feel your chances are as a whole being able to continue to go up the basketball ladder and eventually reach the highest level?
I feel like the difference between us two at that time was that he was more prepared and ready for a higher stage in basketball. Now, I feel my IQ has gotten a lot better for me to be ready for any level of play.
You then made another move going to Eastern Tennessee State for your senior year. Why did you do this considering your success at Texas Southern?
I felt that a better opportunity presented itself which would allow me to gain more exposure and develop better as a basketball player. I also enjoyed the traditions and coaching style that Coach Forbes discussed with me prior to taking a visit out there.
You had Mercer’s number at East Tennessee State scoring 25 and 22 points in wins. Were these two games games where you played some of your best basketball?
I definitely feel like I played my best basketball in these two games from a scoring standpoint.

How did head coach Steve Forbes give you that last push as a senior helping you get best groomed and prepared for a professional basketball career?
Coach Forbes main thing was honesty and constructive criticism. He was great about telling us what we need to work on and how to perfect our craft. He also has several professional players that he coached that still believe in his coaching.
Who won a one on one in practice you or Desonta Bradford?
We both had our fair share of wins, but he probably has a few more than me.
Who has been the toughest player that you battled in the NCAA that is in the NBA or in Europe?
Jeremy Senglin
Please list your five best teammates of all-time?
Emmanuel Mudiay, Jeremy Senglin, Desonta Bradford, Zach Lofton, Myles Turner
Please name your personal own NBA Rushmore. Which four heads would you pick past or present for your list?
Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Shaquille O’Neal, and Magic Johnson
What is your personal opinion of the never ending debate of who is the greatest of all-time Michael Jordan or Lebron James?
Personally, I feel like if we are discussing those two players as the best players of all time, then Kobe Bryant deserves to be in the discussion too. I feel like Kobe Bryant are more comparable than Michael Jordan and Lebron James, because they are the same height/weight which makes their style of play more similar as compared to Lebron.
What was the last movie that you saw?
2 Fast 2 Furious
Thanks Jalan for the chat.

Luke Nelson is a 24 year old 191cm guard from Worthing, England playing his fourth professional season and first with BAXI Manresa (Spain-Liga ACB) currently averaging 4,7ppg, 1,7rpg and 1,0apg in the ACB league. In the Basketball Champions League averaged 11,4ppg, 1,3rpg and 3,1apg and shot 45% from outside. In 2017-2018 he played with Betis Energia Plus Sevilla (Spain-Liga ACB) playing 34 games averaging 8.2ppg, 2.1rpg, 1.7apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 47.7%, 3PT: 41.0%, FT: 77.1%. He played at the : University of California – Irvine (NCAA) from 2013-2017 playing a total of 116 NCAA games and as a senior played 17 games averaging 17.0ppg, 3.4rpg, 3.1apg, 1.7spg, FGP: 47.9%, 3PT: 42.7%, FT: 69.0%. He began his basketball career with the Reading Rockets (EBL). He spoke togermanhoops.com a few days ago and last night helped lead Great Britain to a 81-73 victory over Germany leading all scorers with 26 points.

Luke thanks for talking to germanhoops.com. Where are you at the moment and how is basketball life treating you at the moment?

My pleasure! I am currently playing for BAXI Manresa in the ACB, and I am really enjoying basketball again now after missing the entire 2018/19 season due to injury, feel really good to be playing again

Your currently with the British national team participating in qualifying games for the 2021 European championships. What kind of a feeling do you have putting on the British jersey?

I always feel great pride when representing GB! There is something special about doing what you love for you country and I’m happy to be a part of the program.

What is the current state of British basketball. In the past it had NBA players, but in the last few years, it has been a changing of the guard.

It’s always been an uphill fight for us, but we are definitely on the right path. The program has improved a lot since the Olympics in London, and now it’s our job to keep the progression going.

Where do you see British basketball going in the next years. The current team has experience and you are one of the younger guys on the team. How much potential does British basketball have?

We have a good, talented group of guys at the moment, both players and coaches, so now we need to learn to put it all together and get positive results in games.

You play at home against Germany on Monday. Germany is very young and has no NBA players with them. What kind of game can we await and what will be key to winning?

We can’t worry too much about who is and isn’t playing for them, we have to focus on us and what we need to do to beat the 12 players that are in Newcastle on Monday. I think it will be a competitive game, and our key to winning will be our defense. That side of the ball has always been a strength for us

Talk a little about the future players like Killeya-Jones or Carl Weatle? How much potential do they have and what other players can we expect to see more of in the future?

Sacha and Carl are both talented players and I don’t know if I’d call them ‘future’ players because they both are playing at a good level in Europe and are competing for minutes right now, but the future of British basketball is in safe hands.

Who would win a one on one in practice tomorrow you or talented guard Devon Von Oostrum?

I’ve never actually played with or against Devon, but growing up he was a couple years older and was clearly one of the best players at every European championship, so I kind of saw him as the bar I wanted to reach and hopefully surpass! But in terms of a one on one, i’d always pick myself, regardless of the competition!

How is your role different with the British national team in comparison to Manresa or isn’t there so much difference?

I think the main difference is the system, and because of that I probably play a little differently. When you’re at your club, the coach has a lot of time to implement his systems and enforce offensive and defensive discipline, but in these short international windows, there isn’t nearly enough time for that, so schemes are a lot different.

You have always been a consistent scorer, but can do a little of everything. If you had to compare your game to an NBA player who would best fit the description?

I’d like to say someone like Lou Williams, but I don’t watch nearly enough NBA games to really know

You shot the ball very well from outside as a senior at UC-Irvine, as a rookie and currently in the BCL. What has been your secret to steadily becoming a very good three point scorer. Has it only been reps and shot selection or did you actually change something up on your mechanics?

The main thing is to keep confidence in my shot high, and for me that means getting up extra reps.

Your shot has been improved, but on what other things are you currently working on to keep improving your game as you move up the basketball ladder?

I will always work to improve my shot, but I focus a lot on improving my defense and ball handling so I can become a more versatile guard.

How rewarding has this season been with Manresa for you considering you missed all of last season because of a sprained left ankle. Are you content that all your hard work has paid off this season?

It’s felt great to be playing again, but I am still working to get my ankle stronger and quicker every day, so I can put the surgery and last year completely behind me.

Your playing your second full season in the ACB one of the top leagues in the world. How do stay hungry to keep wanting to get better? Are goals like Spanish Euroleague team or Euroleague teams in general the biggest goal or is the NBA realistic after having played NBA Summer League a few years ago?

My goal right now is find some consistency with Manresa as I feel my performances have been too up and down. But my overall goal is to play at the highest level I possibly can, but to do that I have to focus on each year individually and think more short term so I keep improving.

How vital is it having teammate Ryan Toolson? Is he like a mentor for you? He has experienced so much and can shoot out the lights?

It’s been great to see Ryan do what he does, and guarding him in practices has helped me a lot to see why he is so efficient and effective. It’s easy to see why he’s had such a long successful career in Europe.

You played your rookie season with Betis Energia Plus Sevilla (Spain-Liga ACB) playing 34 games averaging 8.2ppg, 2.1rpg, 1.7apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 47.7%, 3PT: 41.0%, FT: 77.1%. What was your wake up call to being a professional rookie in Europe where you were very far away from California?

there wasn’t anything specific that was a wake up call really, just the daily grind of a long season was enough to let me know that I am a pro now!

As a rookie you had veteran Blake Schilb on board, another great guard you had the opportunity to be teammates at a young age. What do you remember being able to soak up best from his game that helped you as a rookie?

Blake’s demeanor was something that stuck out to me. He was always under control and knew what he was trying to do offensively and never seemed rushed. that is something that I hope to be able to feel throughout my career

How important was it scoring 15 points against FC Barcelona as a rookie. Was this a moment where you knew that you had arrived on the professional stage?

I don’t think so, I feel like it was a few games before that when we beat Zaragoza at home and I had a strong 4th quarter that helped us win the game. Playing well doesn’t mean much to me if we don’t win as well.

Is this a game that you will forever remember because you played against Spanish basketball legend Juan Carlos Navarro?

I didn’t really appreciate this until the next day, because before and during the game I was thinking about how to win the matchup and help my team win, but then after I thought about it, I realized what a legend he is, especially in Spain

You played at the University of California-Irvine from 2013-2017. Being around the Los Angeles area how do you remember seeing the legacy of Kobe Bryant there?

Kobe fans are some of the craziest people in America! They loved him so much it was almost annoying! But only greatness can inspire that kind of love. Hearing stories from one of my coaches, Ryan Badrtalei, who was close with him and his family, was amazing.

What was your biggest achievement there? Was it possibly reaching the Big West final in 2017?

It was definitely winning the big west tournament and playing in the NCAA tournament in 2015.

Will you always remember your 29 point explosion in the win over Hawaii more than your 29 point game against Cal-Davis where you lost by 30 points and the team scored only 49 points?

If we win, I’m happy! so I much more likely to remember those

Was your 36 point outburst against Cal Poly-SLO your best and most memorable game in the NCAA?

That was probably my best offensive game, but the most memorable was the game against Louisville in the NCAA tournament in 2015

How did head coach Russell Turner groom and prepare you best for a professional basketball career?

He has a great passion for the game and he demanded that of us as players, and that’s something I hope to carry through to the end of my career.

Who won a one on one in practice you or Jaron Martin?

I loved competing with and against Jaron for those 4 years, but it was pretty equal over those years, but I was probably a little ahead by the end!

Who was the toughest player that you battled in the NCAA that reached the NBA?

Not many players from the Big West have made it to the NBA, but I remember David Nwaba being an intense defender and has played for a few NBA teams in the last few years.

Please name your 5 best teammates of all-time?

Jaron Martin was a great teammate and fun to play with and watch play and is one of my best friends to this day. Kingsley Okoroh and Mo Soluade are guys I’ve played with for national teams since we were all 13 years old, and I’ve loved being around them and playing with them as we all grew up.

Please name your own personal NBA Mount Rushmore of current or past NBA players?

Lebron MJ Kareem Kobe

What is your own opinion of the neverending debate of who is the greatest of all-time Michael Jordan or Lebron James and where does Kobe Bryant fill into the equation?

As great as Kobe was, I think the debate is between Lebron and MJ. But I personally think Lebron wins, maybe because I grew up watching him, but I think he’s dominated basketball for too long not to say its him.

Thanks Luke for the chat.