ProA

Lakeem Jackson(ETB Wohnbau Baskets) I Want To Become A Better Leader And To Enjoy Basketball More

Lakeem Jackson is a 26 year old 196cm forward from Charlotte, North Carolina that is playing his fourth professional season and second in Germany with German Pro A team ETB Wohnbau Baskets Essen. He played his first two professional seasons with BK Iskra Svit (Slovakia-SBL). He started his basketball career in 2009 with South Carolina(NCAA) where he played a total of 120 NCAA games and as a senior played 32 games averaging 7.5ppg, 5.9rpg, 1.8apg, FGP: 56.0%, 3PT: 40.0%, FT: 33.9%. Last season he played with the Rhein Stars Koeln (Germany-ProA) playing 29 games: 12.4ppg, 7.3rpg, 2.3apg, 1.3spg, FGP: 48.3%, 3PT: 15.0%, FT: 42.5%. He spoke to German Hoops after his first game with Essen.

 

 

Lakeem welcome back to Germany. Did you become homesick to Germany just a little bit or why did you return and this time sign with the ETB Wohnbau Baskets?

I was just trying to find the right situation for me as a player. I was familiar with the ProA league so I made the decision to come here for my 4th season.

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Deandre Lansdowne(Hamburg Towers) I Still Think I Can Do Much Better And That’s The Great Thing That The Season Is Long

Deandre Lansdowne is a 26 year old 187cm guard from Albuquerque, Mexico that is playing his third professional season this season and first with the Hamburg Towers. Last season 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 German Hoops after the 99-86 win against the ETB Wohnbau Baskets.

 

 

Deandre congrats on the big 99-86 win against the ETB Wohnbau Baskets Essen. How good does it feel being on a two game winning streak?

 It is feeling pretty good, but we still have a long way to go to get to where we want to be as a team.

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Kruize Pinkins (Hebeisen White Wings) I’m Just Playing Basketball And Scoring Is Coming Along With The Flow Of The Game

Kruize Pinkins is a 23 year old 201cm forward from Marianna, Florida that is playing his second professional season with the Hebeisen White Wings. He started his basketball career at Chipola (JUCO). He then played at USF (NCAA) from 2013-2015 and as a senior played 32 games averaging 13.9ppg, 5.5rpg, 1.4apg, FGP: 52.1%, 3PT: 39.0%, FT: 65.0%. As a rookie last season with the Hebeisen White Wings he played : 29 games averaging 13.1ppg, Reb-3(9.1rpg), 1.1apg, FGP: 49.8%, 3PT: 20.8%, FT: 68.9%He spoke to German Hoops after the satisfying 74-68 win at home

 

 

 

Kruize congrats on the big 74-68 win at home. After the embarrassing 71-63 loss last weekend in Essen was the team especially focused to get back into the win column?

Yes we knew we let one slip away on the road and Essen. That was a learning point for us that we can’t take any game for granted. So we came in more focused from the start.

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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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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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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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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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Brandon Spearman (Romerstrom Gladiators Trier) I Love Leading And This Is A Long Season And Being Consistent Is Key

Brandon Spearman is a 24 year old 190cm guard that is playing his third professional season and second with the Gladiators Trier. He started his basketball career in 2010 for Dayton(NCAA) where he played 36 NCAA games. He then moved to Indian Hills CC (JUCO) and finished his last two seasons at Hawaii (NCAA) and as a senior played 26 games averaging 11.2ppg, 4.4rpg, 1.2apg, FGP: 57.8%, 3PT: 33.0%, FT: 52.8%. Last season with the Gladiators Trier (Germany-ProA) he played 37 games: 12.4ppg, 3.5rpg, 1.5apg, FGP: 41.6%, 3PT: 30.1%, FT: 61.7%. He spoke to German Hoops after the 84-46 mauling of the MLP Academics.

 

 

 

Brandon congrats on the huge 84-46 victory against the MLP Academics Heidelberg. The Romerstrom Gladiators Trier are 3-1. How good does it feel to have gotten off to such a great start.

Feels great to start off this season like this but we also we know it’s early in to the season and much more work needs to be done. So far so good.

The Romerstrom Gladiators Trier gave up 46 points. Can you remember the last time you gave up that little points in a pro or college game?

Well I can’t remember a game that I played in where very few points was given. We played good defense.

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David Sturner (Dresden Titans) It is Important That We Keep Moving Forward And Not Letting Those Losses Get Us Down

David Sturner is a 206cm power forward/center playing his second season in Germany for Pro A  team Dresden Titans He started his basketball career with Oregon State playing 13 NCAA games and then moved to S.Oregon (NAIA) and as a senior played  31 games: 14.6ppg, 9.2rpg, 1.2apg, 1.5bpg, FGP: 56.2%, 3PT: 36.4%, FT: 56.2%. He started his professional basketball career with the West Adelaide Bearcats (Australia-Central ABL) before coming to Germany. Last season for Dresden he played 27 games averaging 13.1ppg, 7.0rpg, 1.1apg, FGP: 54.7%, 3PT: 31.7%, FT: 65.4%. This season he is averaging 17,3ppg, 8,3rpg and 3,0apg. He spoke to German Hoops after the tough 92-90 loss in Ehingen.

 

 

 

David thanks for talking to German Hoops. The Dresden Titans could easily be 3-1 now, but instead are 0-4. How have you been coping with the early season nightmare?

Hey Miles, always good talking with you. It hasn’t been the start we had hoped for, but I wouldn’t call it a nightmare. We’ve had the lead in the fourth quarter of 3 out of the 4 games but have really struggled to finish strong. It’s just been hard knowing that we let those games slip away, but important that we keep moving forward and not letting those losses get us down.

Has it been more a question of just having had misfortune or do you believe that the problem lies more with in the play of the team?

Honestly it’s come down to giving the other teams second chance possessions, and not being smart with our play in the final minutes of the games. When you give up 20 offensive rebounds, or turnover the ball 20 times you can’t really blame anything on misfortune or bad luck.

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