Author: Miles Schmidt-Scheuber

Basketball journalist and play by play commentator

Jake Marvin Has Found More Than Just Basketball In Germany But A Special Bond To God And The Youth

Jake Marvin is a 203cm forward from Lincoln, Nebraska that recently completed his rookie season with TSV Neustadt temps Shooters (Germany-Regionalliga playing 24 games averaging 16.5ppg, 7.4rpg, 1.6apg, FGP: 64.1%, 3PT: 42.6%, FT: 67.2%. Before turning professional he played with Hastings (NAIA) and as a senior played 30 games averaging 8.3ppg, 3.5rpg, 1.0apg, FGP: 51.8%, 3PT: 40.4%, FT: 62.0%. He spoke to German Hoops about his basketball life.

Jake thanks for talking to German Hoops. Where are you at the moment and how have you been enjoying your early summer vacation?

Thanks for the interview. Currently, I am actually still in Germany, living in Wunstorf outside of Hannover. And to be honest, it hasn’t felt like too much of a vacation. I’ve been very active in my church and youth work here in the Wunstorf community. As the leader of the youth group for a local church, we’ve been busy with our weekly meetings, participating in service and preaching, as well as outside events like attending a weekend retreat, starting a little running group, and a financial seminar that I put on for the kids.

You went from the bank to the basketball court after playing your last college game in 2013. Why do you feel did it take so long for you to get a professional job?

Since college was over, I hadn’t actually been looking to turn pro until summer 2016. I had some injury issues my senior year, and at that point was ready for the next step in life. It wasn’t until I quit my bank job in the spring of 2016 that I began to think about the possibility of a return to basketball. I definitely wasn’t satisfied with sitting behind a desk from 8-6 every day and was longing for something more. I was healthy again, feeling good, and playing my best basketball in the Denver ProAm and other competitive leagues I was in. I thought that was the right time to chase the dream again. After making the decision to try again for the pros, it took me just one season to get my foot in the door and land my first opportunity. I knew all the while that God had meant for me to be doing this and opening the right doors at the right time. I’ve learned over the years to be patient and trust his timing.

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Byron Sanford Demonstrated As A Rookie That He Can Overcome Adversity Quickly And Be Efficient And Effective

Byron Sanford is a 25 year old 183cm guard from Louisville, Kentucky that completed his rookie professional basketball season in Germany with BBC Coburg averaging 11,6ppg, 4,6rpg and 2,5apg.. He played at Trevecca Naz. (NCAA2) and really excelled in his last two seasons as a junior he played 17 games averaging17.2ppg, 6.5rpg, 4.2apg, Steals-3(2.9spg), FGP: 55.5%, 3PT: 27.3%, FT: 72.0%. In his senior year at Trevecca Naz. (NCAA2) he played 32 games averaging 18.4ppg, 7.6rpg, 4.2apg, 1.8spg, FGP: 49.4%, 3PT: 39.1%, FT: 69.5%. He was the G-MAC Player of the Year in 2016. He spoke to German Hoops after completing his rookie season in Germany.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber interviewing Byron Sanford of BBC Coburg after hitting Frankfurt for 16 points in a bitter 76-73 loss on the road

Byron thanks for talking to German Hoops. You just compelted your rookie season in Germany with BBC Coburg. If someone had told you in September that the team would move back down to the Regionaliga would you have believed it?

No problem always a pleasure to talk with you. Never would have thought the season would have went the way it did. It was definitely a learning experience and something we can look back and all grow from.

After such a great first season where BBC Coburg moved from the Regionaliga to the Pro B, how disappointing is the fact that the club was unable to stay in the Pro B?

It is very disappointing given that I felt we had the right pieces to be very successful in the league. If you look at our season it very well could have been the opposite because we have so many single digit losses that could have very well went in our favor. If a few more things went right we would have been a playoff contender for sure! Even with our ups and downs as a team our fan support was by far the best in the league and that meant a lot to have ride or die support!

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Brad Tinsley Continues To Expand His Game Not Just Being Labeled Just A Scorer Or Just A Pass First Player

Tinsley Brad Tinsley is a 29 year old 191cm guard from Oregon that completed his fifth professional season and first with Chemnitz averaging 9,3ppg,3,1rpg and 3,9apg. He started his basketball career at Vannderbilt in 2008 playing a total of 134 NCAA games until 2012 and as a senior played 36 games averaging 9.0ppg, 2.6rpg, 4.1apg, FGP: 52.4%, 3PT: 41.5%, FT: 85.5%. In 2012-2013 he started his professional basketball career for Generali Okapi Aalstar (Belgium-Ethias League) playing 3 EuroChallenge games averaging 7.3ppg, 1.0rpg, 1.3apg; and in the Belgian Ethias League playing 4 games averaging 4.5ppg, 1.0rpg, 1.0apg, left in Feb.’13, later that month moved to Saint Vallier Basket Drome (France-ProB) playing 13 games averaging 10.3ppg, 2.7rpg, 1.7apg, FGP: 42.6%, 3PT: 41.3%, FT: 80.6%. In 2014 he played for the Lakeside Lightnings (Australia-SBL) playing 31 games averaging 28.4ppg, 4.4rpg, 6.0apg, FGP: 54.8%, 3PT: 37.0%, FT: 80.2%. In the 2014-2015 season he played for the MLP Academics Heidelberg (Germany-ProA) playing 33 games: Score-4(16.8ppg), 3.8rpg, 3.5apg, FGP: 54.8%, 3PT: 39.6%, FT: 76.7%. He played for FC Porto from 2015-2017 winning 2 titles and last season averaged 10.9ppg, 2.0rpg, Assists-3(5.1apg), FGP: 53.0%, 3PT: 42.9%, FT: 69.6% He spoke to German Hoops after his season in Germany with Chemnitz.

Brad thanks for talking to German Hoops. Where are you at the moment and did you catch any added sites it Europe after your season in Germany before heading home to the states?

I am currently at my home in Portland, Oregon, relaxing and enjoying my time with family and friends. My wife and I took a short trip to Paris to see the sights and visit some old friends. It was an amazing experience.

Our last interview was in December 2015 when you were playing for FC Porto. Since then you won another title in Portugal and played in Lithuania before coming to Chemnitz. Has time flown by since that Fiba Europe Cup game in Frankfurt?

Yes it definitely has. That was a fun game in Frankfurt and I miss playing in the FIBA Europe Cup.

You started the season with Vytautas Prienu (Lithuania-LKL) playing 2 Basketball Champions League games averaging 10.5ppg, 4.0rpg, 2.5apg. In the Lithuanian LKL you played 7 games averaging 7.1ppg, 1.6rpg, 2.1apg, 2FGP: 48.3%, 3FGP: 26.1%, FT: 66.7%. You were only a few months there. Did you gather anything positive from that experience and why was your stay so short?

Yes I gathered a lot of positive things from that experience. The LKL is a very competitive league. It is very physical with a lot of talented and tough players-they know how to play good basketball there. I had a lot of great teammates that helped my transition there, which was great for me because I was the only American on the team.

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Chris Brady Has remained Completely Coachable And Attentive To Feedback Because It Will Only Make Him Better

Brady Chris Brady is a 22 year old 208cm center from Greenlawn, New York that recently completed his rookie season in Europe in Germany with the Hebeisen White Wings averaging 9,8ppg,4,8rpg and 1,0apg. He played at Monmouth (NCAA) from 2013-2017 playing a total of 133 NCAA games and as a senior played 34 games averaging 9.0ppg, 6.5rpg, 1.7bpg, FGP: 59.6%, 3PT: 22.2%, FT: 69.1%. At Monmouth he was able to improve his scoring and rebounding each season. He spoke to German Hoops after the completion of his rookie season in Germany.

Chris, thanks for talking to German Hoops. Congrats on a solid rookie season in the German Pro A with the Hebeisen White Wings. Your season ended with a sweep by the Crailsheim Merlins. The first team against the eighth team. How confident was the team that they could win this series or was the club somewhat aware of basketball reality?

We were confident going into the series. We were aware of how good they were as a team but we had to focus on our game plan and executing it.

Some may have expected the miracle in game three, but nothing changed. The Hebeisen White Wings were blown out on the court. What adjustment did Hanau try to make in game three that didn´t work once again?

We had a game plan and didn’t execute it on the court.

Crailsheim was the better rebounding team and hit their three´s well. Hanau hit only 11 three pointers in the whole series. How key was the inability to hit the trey significant for not being able to stick with Crailsheim?

It’s hard to win a basketball game by getting out rebounded and not shooting well from 3. I’d say these are significant factors in every basketball game.

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Michael Holton Jr Will Take The Importance Of Resiliency And Consistency Into His Third Professional Season

Holton Michael Holton Jr is a 27 year old 185cm guard from Portland, Oregon that is playing his second professional season and first in Germany with RSV Eintracht Stahnsdorf (Germany-ProB).Currently he is averaging 18,7ppg, 4,2rpg and 3,6apg and shooting 40% from outside As a rookie two years ago he played with ECE Bulls Kapfenberg (Austria-A Bundesliga) playing 38 games averaging 8.4ppg, 2.5rpg, 1.8apg, FGP: 42.3%, 3PT: 34.1%, FT: 75.7%; He also played 6 FIBA Europe Cup games averaging 10.7ppg, 2.7rpg, 1.7apg, FGP: 46.4%, 3PT: 27.6%, FT: 87.5%. He started his basketball career in 2010 at St.Michael’s (NCAA2) and as a senior played 17 games averaging 14.9ppg, 4,5rpg, 3,8apg, FGP: 55.0%, 3PT: 34.7%, FT: 79.6%. He spoke to German Hoops after the 2017-2018 season.

Michael thanks for talking to German Hoops. Where are you at the moment and how have you been experiencing your second professional off season?

I’m living in Berlin at the moment and for this first part of the offseason. So far I’ve spent some time unwinding to analyze and decompress from the season, and now I’m looking to rev things back up and get ready for next year.

We didn´t speak all too long ago. You told me then that “I’m very proud of our group of guys for all the work we’ve continued to put in over the course of the season. It’s hard to take a lot of losses, but we’ve been continuously learning from them and have steadily improved up to this point in the season. We’ve been playing good basketball lately and winning our last 3 out of 4 games is a testament to that resiliency. We like how we’re playing and we like our chances heading into playdowns”. The team was unable to stay in the Pro B. How disappointing was accepting this?

This was a really hard thing to realize and accept at the end of the year. Like I had said before, everybody fought and kept putting in the work throughout the season and gave what they had.

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Joe Asberry Didn´t Get A Fair Chance As A Player But Now Advises Young Americans How To Survive Overseas

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.German Hoops had a chat with the charismatic American.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber meeting Joe Asberry at the Hansi Witsch tournament in 2015

Joe, thanks for talking to German Hoops. First of all I´m sorry it took so long to interview you. Would it be fair to say better late than never?

No problem Miles, thank you better late than never works for me all day

You have done and seen so much in your career as a basketball player and just being involved in the German basketball scene. Would it be fair to say you are a basketball legend in Germany that is a bit off the radar simply because like so many unknown Americans looking o live the basketball dream here, you like them have not gotten the deserved respect you should have gotten especially when you were a professional player here in the 90´s?

In my own pea brain, I´m a legend in Germany for sure, just for the simple fact that I´m probably the only American who got paid to play here that was on CNN World Sport and made a commercial dunking a lot and speaking broken German, but I´ll let everybody else in the German basketball scene cast a vote and let me know where I fit in LOL!

You go by the name of Jumping Joe Asberry. I have heard you dunked over 100´s of guys in your career. Was your crazy athletic ability one of the reasons you got this nickname?

Yes my athletic ability was unreal and on a NBA level for sure. I dunked on plenty of people. I was never a shooter. I´ve still got a bit of bounce, but now I´m a ogee and it hurts when I hoop, but I still get out there and give youngsters buckets!

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Janek Schmidkunz Took On The Challenge Of Being More Of A Playmaker With Dresden And Succeeded

Janek Schmidkunz is a 28 year old 183cm point guard that finished his fourth professional season with the Dresden Titans averaging 14,9ppg, 4,0rpg and 5,3apg. He started his basketball career with Central Hoops Berlin (Regionalliga) in 2008. He then also got further experience at ALBA Berlin II (Regionalliga). He then went to the states and played at Amer.Internat. (NCAA2) from 2010-2014 playing a total of 86 NCAA games and as a senior played 26 games: 10.9ppg, 2.1rpg, FGP: 38.5%, 3PT: 38.9%, FT: 61.5%. He returned back to Germany in 2014 joiningthe MLP Academics Heidelberg (ProA): playing 21 games averaging 1.4ppg. In the 2015-2016 season he joined the Giants TSV 1861 Noerdlingen (ProB) playing 29 games averaging 17.0ppg, 2.7rpg, 2.7apg, 1.6spg, FGP: 50.0%, 3PT: 36.8%, FT: 76.1%. In the 2016-2017 season he played with BiG Oettinger Rockets Gotha (ProA) playing 30 games averaging 5.9ppg, 1.2apg, FGP: 48.5%, 3PT: 35.2%, FT: 56.3%. He spoke to German Hoops after the 2017-2018 season.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber interviewing Janek Schmidkunz after the 79-68 loss in Frankfurt where he steered 12 points, five dimes and two rebounds

Janek thanks for talking to German Hoops. It´s been 2 years since the last interview we did when your season ended with Nordlingen. Has time flown by since then for you as you had stops in Gotha and Dresden?

I wouldn’t say time has flown by, but a lot of new experiences and different situations have filled the past two years. I am enjoying this journey as long as I can and think that I can reflect on what has happened over the past two years with a lot of positive memories.

Let´s look back at the last season. After having a solid, but not spectacular Pro A season with Gotha, you took a step back to the Pro B. When you look back at the last season with Dresden, was this the right step?

I am very happy with moving to Dresden. After the success we had with Gotha as a team and overcoming the broken hand that sidelined me for three months, I wanted more security and a bigger role. Dresden wanted me to take over as playmaker and captain and I welcomed that kind of trust they put in me. It was a new challenge and therefore definitely the right decision. Finding new challenges is what makes you better as a player and as a person.

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Isaac Bonga Gets His First Real Taste Of The NBA Getting Selected By The Los Angeles Lakers

Recently Isaac Bonga was horsing around with his teammates Quantez Robertson, Mike Morrison and Niklas Kiel during fan photo sessions at the Fraport Skyliners farewell party only a few days after losing a tough 5 game series against FC Bayern Munich. A month later the 2018 NBA Draft was held in the 19,000 arena Barclays center in Brooklyn, New York only a 5 minute drive away from New York city and he would have had a few more camera´s to deal with than what he had experienced in the Fraport arena as some fans were possibly getting their last photos with the future NBA player. Not only were there many more fans in the huge state of the art arena than Bonga would have had ever seen before in his life, but also guys like 2018 Euroleague champion Luka Doncic or future NBA stars like Deandre Ayton, Marvin Bagley or Trae Young that were strutting around and getting a feel for their own NBA swagger. These are all things that he will have to deal with down the road. In the last two seasons, Isaac Bonga who´s biggest role model is Greek phenom Giannis Antetokounmpo had been present in the various NBA Mock drafts, but fallen in the last season, but his presence was still there even if it wasn´t as great as the season before. Some had speculated that he might drop out and wait another year to polish his skills a bit more in Germany with the Fraport Skyliners in the competitive easyCredit BBL, but instead he stayed in with the likely guarantee from a team that they would select him. Perhaps he also kept his coach Gordon Herbert´s wise words of “teams look at a player´s potential before his stats” in the back of his mind after contemplating if his world championships performance last summer of 6.6ppg, 3.4rpg, 3.3apg, 1.6spg, FGP: 41.5%, 3PT: 8.3%, FT: 69.2% might scare off NBA teams, but really he was never off team´s radars. At the end of his second season there were at times as many as 8 officials from different NBA teams watching him live in Germany. The gamble to forgo another season in Europe and enter now instead of 2019 paid off as the huge German talent was the youngest player in the 2018 NBA draft and wasdrafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round at #39 and then handed to the Los Angeles Lakers joining fellow German Moritz Wagner who was drafted also by the Lakers in the first round at #25. A few months ago Los Angeles Lakers GM Rob Pelinka was in Frankfurt observing Bonga and must have been convinced of his abilities, but still needed that second opinion and I was glad to give my two cents of praise about the German. All of basketball Germany is thrilled about Bonga being drafted. ““I am delighted to see Isaac drafted. He is an excellent competitor and has worked diligently to achieve this latest success. This is also a huge credit to Frankfurt Basketball and the German National teams. Isaac is a versatile player two-way player with great size and length for his position. The most impressive aspect for me when it comes to Isaac is that he has added to his game every year and continues to do so”, stressed ex Nordlingen head coach Danny Nelson.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber interviewing Isaac Bonga after the NBBL playoff lost against IBAM in 2017

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Roland Nyama Learned That There was More To Basketball Than Just Putting The Ball In The Hoop

Roland Nyama is a 24 year old 198cm forward from Frankfurt, Germany that has the German/Cameroonian citizenship and recently finished his first season with PS Karlsruhe averaging 6,5ppg and 2,2rpg. He started his basketball career with the FTG Frankfurt junior team. He then got further valuable basketball experience with Eintracht Frankfurt (2.Regionalliga) in 2008. He then continued to play with Eintracht Frankfurt (2.Regionalliga) from 2009-2011 while also playing for the Deutsche Bank Skyliners Frankfurt II (Germany-ProB) where he played 6 games in two years. In 2011, he came to the United States and played for the Holderness School. He came to Stony Brook in 2013 and in his first full season played 34 games averaging 7.5ppg, 3.6rpg, 1.5apg, FGP: 42.2%, 3PT: 39.0%, FT: 69.2%. In his last season he played 32 games averaging 10,3ppg, 4,4rpg and 1,4apg He spoke to German Hoops after he finished the 2017-2018 season with PS Karlsruhe.

Roland thanks for talking to German Hoops. Where are you at the moment and what have you ben mainly doing days after your rookie season ended?

Hi Miles thanks for having me again. I’ve spent time reflecting and being thankful for the chance of realizing my dream. Besides that I’ve been doing yoga and primarily spending time with my husky puppy.

Congrats on an amazing season with PS Karlsruhe. Two years ago they were still in the Regionalliga and this season was one of the four best teams in the Pro A. Just comparing the talent on this team with so many of the other dep Pro A teams would you ever have expected last September that the team would go so far?

Everybody on the team knew what we were capable of. We just needed to show the outside world. From day one I had no doubt that we’d be special.

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Jarelle Reischel (Telekom Baskets Bonn) Is Back In The Gym Fine Tuning His Game For The easyCredit BBL

GES/ Basketball/ PSK Lions - Portrait, Fototermin, 02.10.2017 Jarelle Reischel is a 26 year old 199cm forward that recently completed his second professional season with PS Karlsruhe Lions (ProA) averaging 13,9ppg, 5,9rpg, 3,0apg and 1,8spg. Last season as a rookie he played with Vechta (BBL) and the Westchester Knicks (D-League). He was born in South Carolina and grew up in Frankfurt, Germany. He headed back to the states in 2008 and returned in 2016. He played at Pleasant Beach HS an dthen played for three NCAA schools with Rice, Rhode Island and E Kentucky playing a total of 125 games. He had his break out season as a senior at E.Kentucky (NCAA) playing 30 games averaging 17.9ppg, 6.8rpg, 3.2apg, 1.7spg, FGP: 53.4%, 3PT: 38.1%, FT: 78.4%. He signed with the Telekom Baskets Bonn today and actually had sat down with German Hoops in May after his season had ended with PS Karlsrruhe.

Jarelle thanks for talking to German Hoops. Where are you at the moment and what have you been mainly doing days after your season ended?

At the moment I am still in karlsruhe and since the season ended I been mainly hanging out with my teammates we are such a close group

We all expected that we would go this far.Everyone in the program knew what kind of talent we had. Our expectations were high amongst us and the outside just didn’t know that because we have so many names that were just question marks

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