Interviews

Brendan Lane (s.Oliver Wurzburg) Teams Will Definitely Focus On Shavon Shields More But He Will Be Dangerous All Season

Brendan Lane is a 25 year old 206cm center from Rocklin, California playing his third professional season and second in Germany in the Beko BBL with the s.Oliver Baskets Wurzburg. As a rookie he played with Mitsubishi Diamond Dolphins (Japan-NBL): 52 games: 12.8ppg, 7.9rpg, 1.1bpg, FGP: 53.0%, 3PT: 35.4%, FT: 73.4%. He started his basketball career in 2009 with UCLA(NCAA) where he played until 2012 playing a total of 79 NCAA games. He finished his college basketball career at : Pepperdine (NCAA, starting five) playing 29 games averaging 13.2ppg, 7.4rpg, 1.2apg, 2.4bpg, FGP: 56.6%, 3PT: 38.5%, FT: 62.4%. Last season with Wurzburg he played 37 games averaging 13.7ppg, 5.2rpg, 1.2apg, FGP: 59.6%, 3PT: 14.8%, FT: 73.6%. He belongs to the top centers in the Beko BBL He spoke to eurobasket after the big 73-64 win against the Fraport Skyliners.

 

 

Brendan thanks for talking to German Hoops. Congrats on the two game winning streak. Is this years team finally figuring out how to win games?

Yeah I think we finally got that confidence back after that tough start. Getting that first win was big for us and hopefully we can keep it going now.

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Eugene Harris(Hebeisen White Wings) I Am Able To Improve My Overall Skills To The Smallest Details With Simon Cote In Hanau

Eugene Harris is a 29 year old 193cm point guard from Pittsburgh and is playing his sixth professional season and first in Germany with the Hebeisen White Wings Hanau. Last season he played for Siarka Tarnobrzeg (Poland-TBL): 13 games: 6.9ppg, 2.0rpg, 2.2apg, 2FGP: 32.6%, 3FGP: 25.4%, left in Jan.’16, later that month moved to KTE-Duna Aszfalt (Hungary-A Division): 11 games: 6.4ppg, 1.4rpg, 2.3apg, FGP: 57.9%, 3PT: 28.3%, FT: 75.0%. He started his basketball career in 2006 with  High Point (NCAA) where he played until 2010 playing a total of 121 NCAA games. As a senior he played 30 games averaging 14.0ppg, 2.6rpg, 2.0apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 38.7%, 3PT: 34.1%, FT: 87.5%.In his first five professional seasons, he has gained vast experience having played in countries like Lithuania, Georgia, Cyprus, Macedonia, and Ukraine. He spoke to German Hoops shortly after signing with Hanau last summer.

 

Eugene thanks for talking to German Hoops. Welcome to Germany. Congrats on signing with Pro A team Hebeisen White Wings. You have played in many countries in Europe, but this will be your first season in Germany. What ties do you to Germany in general and what do you know about the country and it´s basketball?

I actually know a couple of guys that played in this country so I’m pretty familiar with what to expect here.

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Brandon Jefferson (Olimpija Ljubljana)Being Smarter With My Shot Selection Is Something I Learned Playing In The BBL

Brandon Jefferson is a 25 year old 175cm point guard from Flower Mound, Texas that is playing his third professional season and first with Union Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia-Liga Nova KBM). As a rookie he played for KTP Basket Kotka (Finland-Korisliiga) playing 48 games: Score-4(18.5ppg), 4.0rpg, 2.4apg, Steals-2(2.2spg), FGP: 45.8%, 3PT: 35.8%, FT: 88.0%; EuroChallenge: 6 games: 13.8ppg, 3.8rpg, 4.0apg, 1.2spg, FGP: 37.5%, 3PT: 29.8%, FT: 88.5%. He started his basketball career in 2010 for Metro State(NCAA2) where he played a total of 129 NCAA games. In college he was able to improve his scoring and rebounding average each season. As a senior he played 34 games averaging 21.6ppg, 3.1rpg, 2.4apg, 2.4spg, FGP: 45.5%, 3PT: 45.3%, FT: 92.3%. Last season he played for Phoenix Hagen (Germany-BBL) playing 34 games averaging 13.5ppg, 2.9rpg, 4.0apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 34.7%, 3PT: 36.4%, FT: 83.2%He spoke to German Hoops after the tough Eurocup loss to ratiopharm Ulm in Ulm.

 

 

Brandon thanks for talking to German Hoops. How did it feel to be back in Germany again with your new team Union Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia-Liga Nova KBM) playing Eurocup in Ulm?

It felt great being back in Germany. Was very excited when I saw that Ulm was in our group for EuroCup because it meant I had the chance to go back to Germany.

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Orlando Parker (PS Karlsruhe) I Still Consider Myself The Underdog In Every Team I Play For

Orlando Parker is a 25 year old 203cm forward from Orlando, Florida playing his third professional season and second in Germany and first with PS Karlsruhe. He started his basketball career with Wagner (NCAA) in 2010 playing a total of 118 NCAA games. As a senior he played 26 games averaging 6.7ppg, 6.7rpg, FGP: 44.7%, FT: 62.0%. In 2014 he turned professional with UL Eagles Limerick (Ireland-Premier League) playing 17 games averaging 19.9ppg, 8.6rpg, 1.1spg, 1.2bpg, FGP: 45.5%, 3PT: 42.4%, FT: 78.5%. Last season he played with Baskets Vilsbiburg (Germany-Regionalliga) playing  26 games: 22.6ppg, 9.4rpg, 1.5apg, 1.3spg, 1.4bpg, FGP: 55.6%, 3PT: 33.8%, FT: 79.3%. He spoke to German Hoops after the 74-66 victory against Weisenhorn.

 

 

 

Orlando congrats on the 74-66 victory against Weissenhorn. How good is basketball life at the moment for you? The team has a three game winning streak and you are playing good basketball as well?

Basketball life is going very well at the moment, our team practices very hard and we put in a lot of work every day to become a better team and individuals. And that hard word is paying off now.

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Diante Watkins (Nurnberg Falcons BC) I Feel I’m Better And I Still Have A Lot Of Improving To Do And I’m Learning As I Go

Diante Watkins is a 26 year old 174cm point guard that is playing his fourth professional season and first with the Nurnberg Falcons BC. Last season an injury in pre season derailed his path playing for the Bayer Giants Leverkusen. He started his basketball career in 2009 with Daley CC (JUCO): 28 games: 26.5ppg, 5.8apg, 2.7rpg, 2.0spg, FGP: 44%, 3Pts: 38%, FT: 86%. He then played two seasons with Robert Morris (NAIA) and as a senior played 27 games: 24.4ppg, 7.4apg, 3.0rpg, 2.1spg, FGP: 47.0%, 3Pts: 38.9%, FT: 82.7%. In 2013-2014 he started his professional basketball career with SC Rist Wedel where he played 30 games averaging  16.2ppg, 2.3rpg, 3.8apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 48.0%, 3PT: 31.3%, FT: 86.9%. He improved his play in 2014-2015 with SC Rist Wedel playing 32 games: Score-2(21.3ppg), 3.8rpg, Assists-1(6.8apg), Steals-2(3.2spg), FGP: 49.2%, 3PT: 32.4%, FT: 87.4%. He cleaned up the Eurobasket awards winning Eurobasket.com All-German 2.Bundesliga Pro B Honorable Mention -14, Eurobasket.com All-German 2.Bundesliga Pro B Player of the Year -15, Eurobasket.com All-German 2.Bundesliga Pro B Guard of the Year -15, Eurobasket.com All-German 2.Bundesliga Pro B Import Player of the Year -15, Eurobasket.com All-German 2.Bundesliga Pro B 1st Team -15, and Eurobasket.com German 2.Bundesliga Pro B All-Imports Team -15. He currently is tearing up the Pro A averaging 21,0ppg, 2,3rpg and 5,8apg and spoke to German Hoops after the 89-74 loss against Weissenfels.

Diante thanks for talking to eurobasket.com. A tough 89-74 loss in Weissenfels against 2004 Fiba Europe Cup winner Mitteldeutscher BC. You have played in many gyms in Germany in the last years, but where did the breathtaking atmosphere of the MBC wolf den rank with all the other places you have played at?

It’s was one of the best gyms I played in. The atmosphere was great I really enjoyed playing there!

MBC had the 41-35 lead at the break. MBC has a very potent offensive team and at the break were on par of equaling their game point average of 83 points. What was most difficult to slow up the MBC offense?

They are really good at getting fast break points off of your mistakes!

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Kerry Carter (Bayer Giants Leverkusen) Everyone In The League Knows I Can Score But I Need To Be As Efficient As Possible

Kerry Carter is a 25 year old 188cm guard from West Covina, California that is playing his second professional season and first with the Bayer Giants Leverkusen (Germany-ProB). Last season as a rookie he played for Iberostar Tenerife CB Canarias (Spain-Liga Endesa) playing 5 games: 3.2ppg. He started his basketball career with Citrus College and then moved to St.Mary’s, CA (NCAA) where he played 63 NCAA games and as senior played 31 games averaging 12.1ppg, 5.0rpg, 1.5apg, 1.5spg. He currently is tearing up the German Pro B league averaging 29,0ppg and spoke to German Hoops after the 100-88 OT win against the ScanPlus Baskets.

 

 

 

Kerry congrats on the 100-89 OT win against the ScanPlus Baskets. How good was it getting your first professional win at home?

It’s been an adjustment coming from such a winning program in college but I’ve given the game everything and prepared well so I’m expecting more to come.

The Bayer Giants Leverkusen came out roaring scoring 25 points, but then were halted to 10 points in the second quarter. Was it special adjustments that the opponents made or was it just a lack of proper execution on the part of Leverkusen?

I think we didn’t score well as a team in the 2nd quarter because we turned the ball over too much. I take the credit for that. As the point guard I should have done a better job getting our guys going and finding them shots within the offense.

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Marcus Smallwood (Your Individual Skills Will Always Be There But It’s Being Able To Infect Your Teammates With That Positive Energy Of How You Play)

Marcus Smallwood is a 34 year old 198cm forward that has played 10 professional seasons and last season with BG Karlsruhe where he played 24 games averaging 12.7ppg, Reb-5(9.6rpg), 1.0apg, FGP: 55.6%, 3PT: 31.0%, FT: 61.7%. He is from Elgin, Illinois and played at Northern Illinois from 2000-2004. He came to Europe for his rookie season and played for Ostromecko Astoria Bydgoszcz (Poland-EBL): 4 games: 9.5ppg, 9.0rpg: was released in and later that month signed at Pyrbasket Tampere (Finland-Sparliiga): 6 games: 13.5ppg, 10.8rpg, 1.2bpg, FGP: 59%, and also played shortly at Solna Vikings (Sweden-Basketligan): 3 games: 8.3ppg, 5.3rpg, 1.0bpg. The next season, he played in Finland for Forssan Koripojat (Finland-1st Division, starting five): 26 games: 19.7ppg, Reb-2(11.1rpg), 1.3apg, 1.0spg, Blocks-1(1.4bpg), 2FGP-3(64.1%), 3PT: 31.6%, FT: 56.2%. 2006: Elgin Racers (IBL). He had a very strong season in Finland, but surprisingly in the next few years played only briefly in the IBL for the Elgin Racers. He came back to Europe in 2008 and then played mostly in Germany for teams like Kaiserslautern, Cuxhaven, Kirchheim, Vechta, MBC and Speyer. He also played briefly in Kosovo and the Czech Republic. He spoke to German Hoops about his basketball future.

 

Marcus thanks for talking to German Hoops. Where are you at the moment and how was your summer?

Currently I’m in Germany and my summer was pretty enjoyable as I was able to go home to the states for a little over a month and visit family and friends.

You are currently unsigned and 34 years old. What kind of an off season transfer market did you experience?

I just took an approach to see what might be available that could be a good fit. So I guess my experience was typical of anyone that was seeking a team for this season.

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Prince Obasi (I Know My Game Is Perfect For Europe)

Prince Obasi is a 25 year old 193cm point guard from Reseda, California that has been a professional basketball player since 205. He started his basketball career with Saddleback CC (JUCO). Then he moved to Seattle (NCAA) and as a senior played 29 games averaging  8.2ppg, 4.6rpg, 4.4apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 46.3%, 3PT: 27.4%, FT: 55.3%. He started his professional career in 2015 with Patriotas de Tunja (Colombia-Liga DirecTV) playing 24 games averaging 11.7ppg, 4.3rpg, 4.0apg, 1.2spg, FGP: 38.6%, 3PT: 37.0%, FT: 70.4%; Liga Americas: 3 games: 10.0ppg, 4.7rpg, 2.0apg, FGP: 23.5%, 3PT: 40.0%, FT: 50.0%. He also played with Bucaros de Bucaramanga (Colombia-Liga DirecTV) Liga DirecTV-1) playing 35 games averaging 9.3ppg, 3.5rpg, 3.7apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 51.4%, 3PT: 28.7%, FT: 67.2%. He started this season with a try-out with German pro A team Kirchheim Knights, but left. He spoke to German Hoops about his basketball career.

 

 

Prince thanks for talking to German Hoops. Where are you at the moment and how have you been keeping busy since your Kirchheim experience?

 

I am in Irvine, California and I have been trying to contact different teams in order to get signed again. Even tried out for Ludwigsburg 2nd team but they didn’t sign me.

 

How tough was accepting the fact that the Kirchheim Knights and Prince Obasi had to go separate ways?

It was very tough because I know how good I am and believed I could do great in the league plus help the team receive the playoffs once again.

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Torey Thomas (AEK Larnaca) You Can Win A Title One Week And The Next Week Can Be Searching For A New Job

Torey Thomas is a 31 year old 178cm point guard from White Plains, New York that is playing his 10th professional season and first AEK in Cyprus after starting the season with KK MZT Skopje Aerodrom (FYR Macedonia-Prva Liga). He started his basketball career at Holy Cross (NCAA) in 2003 where he played until 2007 playing a total of 125 NCAA games. As a senior he played 34 games averaging 13.7ppg, 4.7rpg, 4.7apg, 2.8spg, FGP: 37.5%, 3Pts: 40.3%, FT: 77.1%. Last season he played for Aris Thessaloniki (Greece-A1) playing 31 games averaging 10.2ppg, 3.9rpg, 3.4apg, Steals-1(1.8spg), FGP: 47.0%, 3PT: 34.5%, FT: 75.4%,He is a basketball globetrotter as he has played in 13 countries since turning professional in 2007 and AEK is his 19th professional team that he has laced up his sneakers for. He is still looking for his first professional title, but has demonstrated his basketball craft on both sides of the court as he was top assist man in Holland, scorer in Sweden and steals in Sweden, Holland, Russia, and Greece. He is a a true °pass-first” point guard, but that can lead a game in scoring on any night. Unselfish player. Makes everyone else better and on the defensive side an absolute lockdown defender that is a great on the ball defender. Like Quantez Robertson can fill up the stats sheet. Last season he helped Rosa Radom (Poland-TBL) win the Polish cup playing  43 games averaging  12.0ppg, 5.3rpg, Assists-5(4.5apg), Steals-4(2.1spg), FGP: 40.6%, 3PT: 31.0%, FT: 80.8%; FIBA Europe Cup: 12 games: 11.3ppg, 4.2rpg, 4.3apg, 1.7spg, FGP: 54.8%, 3PT: 36.2%, FT: 78.9%. He spoke to German Hoops after his release from KK MZT Skopje and got an interview that was to help him search for a new team, but half way through the interview he was signed by AEK. The Interview was done in accordance to the questions he was presented with. There was speculation that the Fraport Skyliners might be looking for a new point guard so some questions were dealing with the German team´s situation.

 

Torey thanks for talking to German Hoops. Where are you at the moment and how have you digested the release at KK MZT Skopje Aerodrom (FYR Macedonia-Prva Liga)?

Thanks for having me Miles. I am in Dubai at the moment enjoying a few days to myself.

You played three games this season with KK MZT Skopje Aerodrom (FYR Macedonia-Prva Liga) averaging 3,3ppg, 4,3rpg and 4,0apg in 22 minutes. You stated it was a mutual agreement. Why from your point view was your stay so short?

It was mutual there was pressure from the beginning on the coach and we didn’t make the results the first three games so they needed to make a change. I am happy I won a Supercup with them.

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Jacob Parker(Gotha) I Have Never Been A Guy That Worries About Statistics Because It’s All About Putting Your Team In The Right Situations To Win Every Game

Jacob Parker is a 23 year old 198cm forward from Bixby, Oklahoma that is playing his second professional season and first in Germany with BiG Oettinger Rockets Gotha (Germany-Pro A). As a rookie he played for KK Tajfun Sentjur (Slovenia-Telemach League) playing 13 games: 6.9ppg, 3.7rpg, 1.1apg, FGP: 52.6%, 3PT: 41.4%, FT: 87.5%; FIBA Europe Cup: 6 games: 7.8ppg, 6.3rpg, 1.3apg, FGP: 60.0%, 3PT: 21.1%, FT: 71.4%; Adriatic League: 26 games: 5.9ppg, 4.2rpg, FGP: 54.5%, 3PT: 38.3%, FT: 75.0%. He started his basketball career at Stephen F. Austin (NCAA) in 2011 and played 128 NCAA games in a four year period. As a senior he played 33 games averaging13.7ppg, 5.7rpg, 1.7apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 56.5%, 3PT: 42.9%, FT: 83.9%. He spoke to German Hoops about basketball after signing with Gotha.

Jacob thanks for talking to German Hoops. You are in Gotha, Germany now. What have been the most distinct differences between Slovenia where you played as a rookie and Germany in the first days that have really stood out?

The unity of the organization. Everyone here is eager to take the next step, and excited for the season to start.

You played a solid rookie season with KK Tajfun Sentjur (Slovenia-Telemach League) and this summer got signed quite late into the transfer period. How did you experience your second signing summer? Did you have more offers than expected?

Everything happened very quickly. I weighed my options and felt that this was the best opportunity for me.

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