Interviews

Ade Dagunduro(MBC) Ready To Unleash Another Weapon In The Second Half Of The Season

Ade Dagunduro is a 23 year old 196cm guard from Inglewood, California that is playing his first season in the BEKO BBL fort he MBC Wolves. He grew up a few steps from the legendary Forum which was home to NBA legends like Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jaabar and James Worthy. He started his career at Antelope Valley junior college before transfering to Nebraska. In the 2007-2008 season, he played 33 games averaging 8.9ppg, 3.6rpg, 1.7apg, FGP: 49.1%, 3Pts: 36.4%, FT: 60.6%. In his senior year, he played 31 games averaging 12.8ppg, 4.4rpg, 1.4apg, 1.3spg, FGP: 52.0%, 3Pts: 34.4%, FT: 69.7%. He took some time to talk to German Hoops about his rookie season with MBC recently

What kind of experience was it for you to take place at the 2010 BEKO BBL Allstar game slam dunk contest? What was your feeling going into the event? Did you think that you could win?

It was great experience to participate in the Beko dunk contest that was my first dunk contest ever and I had a lot of fun. I just didn’t want to embarass myself particpating. I felt that if I made it to the final round then I would be able to win it.

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A Basketball Moment From Athens Greece With Travon Bryant

Travon Bryant is a 26 year old 206 cm forward that is a skilled combination lefty forward that has a nice shooting touch from 10-15 feet, and is strong enough to maneuver in the paint in traffic and with his back to the basket. He comes from Long Beach, California and played at The Univeristy of Missouri from 2000-2004 with skilled players like Linas Kleiza, Ricky Paulding, Jason Conley and Jimmy Mckinney. In his senior year, he played 30 games averaging 10.6ppg, 6.6rpg, 1.7apg. In his five year career, he has taken a liking to the warm climate of Greece playing there for four years. In 2004-2005, he played for Iraklis Thessaloniki playing FIBA Europe League averaging 11.6ppg, 7.7rpg, 1.0apg, 0.9spg, FGP: 52.7%, 3Pts: 25%; and playing 26 games in the Greek league averaging 10.2ppg, 6.3rpg, 1.0apg, 2FGP: 48.0%, 3FGP: 31.0%. In 2005-2006, he played for AO Kolossos Rodo playing 24 games and averaging 14.5ppg, 7.4rpg, 1.3apg, 1.1spg, 1.1bpg, 2FGP: 52.0%, 3PT: 41.0%, FT: 66.0%. After the season ended in Greece, he hopped over to Italy and helped Benetton Treviso win the Italian league title averaging 16 games: 4.6ppg, 2.6rpg.

In 2006-2007, he played in the BBL for the Deutsche Bank Skyliners playing 28 games and averaging 14.7ppg, Reb-5(7.8rpg), 1.8apg, 1.1spg, 2FGP: 54.7%, 3FGP: 28.6%, FT: 61.7%. In 2007-2008, he jumped back to Greece and played for Costa Cafe Marousi playing FIBA EuroCup averaging 15.0ppg, 6.0rpg, 1.0apg, 1.5spg, 1.0bpg, 2FGP: 55.6%, 3PT: 33.3%, FT: 53.8%; and playing 22 games in the Greek league averaging 10.3ppg, 5.1rpg, 1.0apg, 2FGP: 62.0%, 3PT: 34.0%, FT: 52.0%. He also reached the Greek final in the playoffs playing 13 games and averaging 7.2ppg, 4.9rpg, 1.2apg, 2FGP: 60.0%, 3PT: 62.0%, FT: 62.0%. Last season, he played for AEK Athens playing 24 games and averaging 11.9ppg, Reb-5(7.1rpg), 1.1apg, FGP: 53.8%, 3PT: 19.0%, FT: 75.4%.

German Hoops caught up with Travon Bryant who is currently playing for Panionios in Greece.

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Jermaine Robinson Goes from The Premier League In Israel To The German Regionaliga

Jermaine Robinson is a 28 year old 188cm guard from Philadelphia. Currently he is playing for Bernau in the Regionaliga. He played at Cleveland State with Omari Westley from 2000-2004. In his senior year, he played 29 games averaging 19.6ppg, 4.6rpg, 2.5apg. He went to Europe in 2004 to Norway to play for the Harstad Vikings playing 13 games and averaging 23,6ppg, 4,5rpg, 4,4apg, 2,7spg, 0,3bpg, but left before the end of the season and signed at Haifa/Nesher BC (Israel-Premier L. Gr. 9-12) playing 9 games averaging 6.1ppg, 1.6apg, 1.1spg, 2FGP: 47.6%, 3FGP: 31.8%. In 2006-2007, he came to Germany to play for SV Hagen-Haspe 70 (Germany-Regionalliga, starting five) playing 5 games and averaging 17.2ppg. In 2007-2008, he had his first tour of duty with SSV Lokomotive Bernau playing 10 games and averaging 19.0ppg. Last season, he played in Chile for Provincial Osorno.

In an exclusive interview for German Hoops, Jermaine talks about how he went from playing in Isarel to playing in the Regionaliga.

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Jason Boone Reviews Goettingen’s Year 2009

Who ever thought that Goettingen’s success during the 2008/09 campaign was just some sort of cinderella story that had to come to an end sooner or later has to admit that the team looks as hot as last season at the moment. The road win in Berlin (check out the highlights) must have convinced all doubters that MEG Goettingen is probably again one of those teams that should still be playing in May and maybe even June.

Head coach John Patrick had to deal with losing keyplayers like Kyle Bailey, Charles Lee and Clif Brown. But Goettingen also managed to keep important players with Chris Oliver, Ben Jacobson, Jason Boone, Robert Kulawick and John Little. They all improved a lot over the summer and helped to fill the gap. With Taylor Rochestie, Chester Frazier, Chris McNaughton and Dwayne Anderson the 41-year old Patrick found perfect additions to the roster.

Unlike the other two sensations from last season Ulm and Paderborn MEG Goettingen find themselves in a nice position at the end of 2009. They managed to win 9 of their first 14 BBL games and lead Group A of the EuroChallenge competition with a record of 3-1.

MEG Goettingen Center Jason Boone took some time to review one of the most successful years in Goettingen’s basketball history.

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Centers Come And Go In Giessen, But Jannik Freese Remains On The Court

Jannik Freese is a 23 year old 211cm center that is playing his second season with The Giessen 46ers. He spent a year in the States and went to Northwestern high school in Washington D.C. He came back to Germany and played for Oldenburger TB before going to SG FT/MTV Braunschweig where he played from 2005-2007. In 2007-2008, he played for Spot Up Medien Baskets Braunschweig (ProB) playing 26 games avergaing 11.5ppg, 7.6rpg, 1.1spg, FGP: 48.8%, 3PT: 50.0%, FT: 63.9%, and played also at New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig (1.Bundesliga): 6 games: 0.5ppg. Last season, he played 15 games for The Giessen 46ers averaging 2.4ppg, 2.3rpg; and also played at LTi Lich (ProA) playing 15 games and averaging 17.1ppg, 8.5rpg, FGP: 49.4%, 3PT: 34.6%, FT: 67.4%.

German Hoops spoke to the German about the current Giessen season.

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Brandon Woudstra talks about his retirement

Three time BBL All-Star Brandon Woudstra retired quietly this summer. I had the opportunity to do an interview with Brandon a couple of weeks ago that was published on Eurobasket. Since Eurobasket only publishes the latest 20 news and posts this interview was about to disappear. Due to the request of some readers I decided to publish the full interview on German Hoops as well.

So this is a compementary post and information to the “Brandon Woudstra retires quietly” report. Most of Brandon’s answers can be found in the report, but those who already know about it will find some additional questions and answers here.

Usually players don’t retire at the age of 29 unless severe injuries force them to. What were the main reasons for you to stop playing basketball?

The main reason was my family. We were expecting our second child and we wanted to be in a place we felt comfortable for the birth and it got to be a lot more work and stress taking a family back and forth. The summer went on and the opportunities I had to play somewhere were not where we thought was best for us at the time, so we decided to stay home for the time being.
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Will Chavis Wins ProB Player Of The Month And Is Content In Nürnberg

Will Chavis is a 28 year old 181 cm guard who comes from Philidelphia and started his basketball learning at New Hampshire in 1998-1999 averaging 9.6ppg, 2.9rpg, 3.9apg before going to Texas to play at Panola Junior College averaging 25 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals per game . This gained the interest of legendary coach Bobby Knight at Texas Tech. Knight had only the best to say about the guy he coached two years at Texas Tech.

‘Will takes pride in taking good shots, and is a great shooter. He also takes very good care of the ball. He is aggressive and quick on defense, and can anticipate or put under pressure the opposite point guard’, stressed Bobby Knight.

At Texas Tech, Chavis played together with Artland Dragon Ronald Ross and in his senior year, played 33 games averaging 7.9ppg, 2.7rpg, 2.2apg. He started his professional basketball career in 2003 going to Iceland to play for UMFN Njardvikur playing 6 games and averaging 18.3ppg; 3.1rpg; 7.8apg ( 41 assists to 11 turnovers); 2.0spg; 3pts 45.6%; FT 85.6%. The next season, he was tested by Olimpia GE Larisa (Greece-A1), but was not signed and finished the season practicing with Climamio Fortitudo Bologna (Italy-SerieA).

In 2005-2006, he started to make a name playing for Mlekarna Kunin Novi Jicin (Czech Republic-NBL, starting five) playing 5 EuroCup Challenge games averaging 15.2ppg, 2.4rpg, 4.4apg, 2FGP: 50%, 3FGP: 50% and playing 44 games in the Czech Rep. League averaging 14.6ppg, 3.4rpg, Assists-4 (5.2apg), 2FGP: 53.6%, 3PT: 40.9%, FT: 85.0%.

The next season, he went to top Dutch team Demon Astronauts Amsterdam continuing to show who well he could perform in FIBA EuroCup playing 6 games and avergaing 11.3ppg, 3.5rpg, 2.3apg, 1.0spg, 2FGP: 55.2%, 3FGP: 15%, FT: 78.3% and playing 39 games in the Dutch League and averaging 14.0ppg, 4.1rpg, 3.5apg, 1.5spg, FGP: 40.3%, FT: 87.8%, 3Pts: 40.9%.

In 2007-2008, he split time with Omonia Nicosia in Cyprus, but left after 7 games, where he averaged 10.6ppg, 2.6rpg, 1.9apg, 1.1spg, 2FGP: 36.6%, 3FGP: 27.8%, FT: 87.5%, and then moved to MBC in Jan 2008 playing 12 games and averaging 13.9ppg, 2.8rpg, 2.9apg, 1.2spg, FGP: 39.3%, 3PT: 42.9%, FT-1 ( 91.7%).

Last season, he led MBC into the BBL averaging 10.9ppg, 2.3rpg, 2.7apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 37.0%, 3PT: 43.8%, FT: 86.5% in 29 games.

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David Teague And The Gießen 46ers Are Slowly Crawling Out Of The BBL Cellar

David Teague is a 26 year old 196cm guard who is an athletic wing player who possesses an excellent perimeter shot, is a solid penetrator who can get to the basket off the dribble and is a tenacious defender who can shut down dribble penetration. He grew up in Indianapolis and went to Pike high school and at Bridgeton Academy. He played at Purdue from 2002-2007. In his senior year, he played 34 games averaging 14.3ppg, 5.0rpg, 2.0apg, FGP: 44.0%, 3Pts: 41.2%, FT: 75.4% .

In his first professional season, he played in Greece for AEL 1964 playing 23 games averaging 9.7ppg, 3.5rpg, 2FGP: 48.0%, 3PT: 32.0%, FT: 78.0%. Last season, he played in France for JA Vichy Val d’Allier Auvergne basket playing 4 EuroChallenge games: averaging 8.8ppg, 4.0rpg, 1.8spg and playing 29 games in the French League averaging 13.8ppg, 3.6rpg, 1.3spg, FGP: 42.7%, 3PT: 30.9%, FT: 73.4%.

This season, he is playing for the Gießen 46ers and is currently leading the BEKO BBL in scoring with 22,3ppg, 5,2rpg and 1,4spg. He spoke with German Hoops about the turn around in the play of The Gießen 46ers.

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Ricky Hickman Playing In Finland, But Still Keeps The BEKO BBL In The Back Of His Mind

Ricky Hickman is a 24 year old 190 cm guard from Kernersville North Carolina. He played his college basketball career at North Carolina-Greensboro from 2003-2007. In his senior year, he played 30 games averaging 14.3ppg, 3.4rpg, 2.4apg, 1.7spg, FGP: 36.5%, 3Pts: 27.8%, FT: 70.9%. In 2007-2008, he played in Romania for CS Otopeni Bucuresti playing 11 games and averaging 19.0ppg, 4.2rpg, 4.3apg, 1.8spg, 2FGP: 60.4%, 3PT: 29.8%, FT: 70.8%. In 2008-2009, he played in Germany for LTi Giessen 46ers playing 24 games and averaging 6.9ppg, 1.7rpg, 1.3apg, 1.3spg, FGP: 41.4%, 3PT: 28.6%, FT: 65.7%. This season, he is playing in Finland for Namika Lahti and is second in the league in scoring with 24,4ppg. He took some time to talk to German Hoops.

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Robert “Hollywood Globetrotter” Turner Setting Cold Finland On Fire

Robert Turner is a 27 year old 206cm center from Buena Park, California. He played at the beautiful Pepperdine University in California bekobbl from 2001-2005. His best season was 2002-2003 where he played 27 games averaging 7.0ppg, 3.1rpg, 1.4apg. In the fall of 2005, he became a member of the world famous Harlem Globetrotters and was able to tour the world and play the game he loves. In 2008, he decided to play organized basketball in Europe and went to Germany to play for the Koeln 99ers playing 34 games and averaging 9.1ppg, 3.6rpg, FGP: 60.0%, 3PT: 27.9%, FT: 65.6%. This past summer, he played in the IBL for the Phoenix Red Rock Raptors. A month ago, he signed with Lappeenranta NMKY in Finland. Through 6 games, he is averaging 19,0ppg, 7,7rpg, 1,8apg, 2,7spg and 2,3bs. He spoke to German Hoops before going to Finland.

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