ProB

Aaron Nelson (Dragons Rhondorf) As Much As I Like To Pass The Ball To Viktor Frankel-Maus I’m Pretty Sure He Likes Passing The Ball To Me A Lot More

Aaron Nelson is a 203cm power forward from Bloom Township, Illinois that is playing his third professional season and first in Germany with the Dragons Rhondorf. He started his basketball career with SW Illinois JC (JUCO)and then moved to S.Indiana (NCAA2) and as a senior played 29 games averaging 19.3ppg, Reb-1(12.7rpg), 2.3apg, 1.4bpg, FGP: 60.4%, FT: 63.3%. He started his professional basketball career in 2014 with Los Leones de Quilpue (Chile-Liga Nacional, starting five): Liga Americas: 3 games: 24.0ppg, 10.0rpg, 1.7apg, 1.3spg, FGP: 54.5%, FT: 80.0%; Chilean Liga Nacional: 28 games: 21.1ppg, Reb-4(11.6rpg), 2.0apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 55.2%, 3PT: 28.6%, FT: 63.7%. Last season he split time with Atletico Tabare (Uruguay-LUB): 4 games: 15.3ppg, 7.3rpg, 1.8apg, 1.0spg, in Dec.’15 moved to Salta Basket (Argentina-TNA). He spoke to German Hoops after the 81-69 victory against Nodlingen.

 

 

 

Aaron congrats on the 81-69 win against the Giants Nordlingen. How proud are you of the team that they were able to bounce back from last week´s blowout loss against Lich.

Thanks Miles. I am very proud we were able to get back on track this weekend. I felt like it was a must win game for us.

When I say how ridiculous it is to yell Blake Griffin to Chris Paul for the alley-oop dunk, it isn´t strange to yell Aaron Nelson to Viktor Frankel-Maus for the alley oop dunk. When is Viktor going to invite you for dinner after all that passing love that you show him?

Haha me and Viktor have already went and got dinner a few times. As much as I like to pass the ball to him, I’m pretty sure he likes passing the ball to me and the rest of the guys a lot more.

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David Kramer And Weissenhorn Share Three´s A Charm Disposing The Fraport Skyliners Juniors 75-65

Almost six months ago, the Weisenhorn Youngsters were battling in a do or die playoff game against the Fraport Skyliners Juniors, but on this night three pointers were flying around the BCM gym with accuracy as if the recipients of adding to their three point scoring stat could have been guys like Ray Allen or Reggie Miller something which would have been a dream for the fans, but in reality on this night, the farm team of BBL team Fraport Skyliners didn´t need these legends or any others as they had fine shooting specimens with Canadian Travis Thompson and Lithuanian Tomas Dimsa who added the most damage and at the end of the game the club had dropped 17 trey´s. The 109-93 loss sent Weissenhorn home for the summer, but many of the BBL license players still had their season prolonged with their success in the playoffs where they reached the final. Weissenhorn fought very hard and never gave up, but the Fraport Skyliners Juniors just had one of those games where everything they released found the netting as if it had been released into the ocean as the ease at which they were going in was apparent. German U-20 national player David Kramer did all he could dropping 28 points in the loss and probably didn´t forget this crazy game so easily either. Kramer returned back to an old point stomping ground, but he didn´t leave the building as a winner last season losing twice and now finally wanted to get that monkey off his back and depart as a winner. Both the Fraport Skyliners Juniors and Weissenhorn Youngsters entered the game with 1-1 records whereas Frankfurt belonged to the top defensive teams in the league, while Weissenhorn was averaging 80 points on offense and belonged to the top half of best rebounding teams. Weissenhorn was looking for revenge from last season while the Fraport Skyliners Juniors had many of their veterans from last season and biggest German talent since Dennis Schroeder so expectations were high for both sides. However Weissenhorn had their noses in front all game long and always had to succumb to Frankfurt comebacks, but their hard edged rebounding and timely shots in the fourth quarter helped them win 75-65. After the win, an exhausted David Kramer was laying on his back and must have been reliving some of his past misfortune in this adorable gym, but when he got up, he was all smiles as he had finally won there. He finally had his three is a charm as he had had misfortune the last two years in Frankfurt. “I always like coming and playing in the BCM, because I know that there will be exciting games here. After they kicked us out of the NBBL two years ago and last season out of the Pro B playoffs, we finally got revenge here. Frankfurt always has quality teams and for us to get this win today will give us a lot of self confidence for the next games”, warned Weissenhorn guard David Kramer. Nobody could question the fighting qualities of the Fraport Skyliners Juniors, but they had many phases where they lacked concentration and were torn apart under the boards. “A big problem for us so far this season has been not being able to all practice together as a team. The systems are the same, but we just need to practice more and we will get better. Rebounding was our biggest problem today and that is something where each player has to work on”, stressed ex Ehingen center Mahir Agva. “We controlled the game and were able to play our game. We rebounded very well and played good defense. We did have some lucky breaks, but that belongs to the game”, added David Kramer.

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Will Barnes (SC Rist Wedel) I Feel Wiser And I Refined My Skills And Did A Lot Of Work To Better Myself As a point Guard

Will Barnes is a 28 year old 185cm point guard from Tuscaloosa, Alabama that is playing his third professional season with SC Rist Wedel. Last season he signed with German Pro B team Weissenhorn, but a serious knee injury kept him from playing. In the 22014-2015 season he played for the Hamburg Towers playing 28 games averaging 13.8ppg, 3.1rpg, 2.5apg, 1.2spg, FGP: 50.3%, 3PT: 28.8%, FT: 77.1% He started his basketball career in 2006 for Tennessee Tech (NCAA) where he played a total of 98 NCAA games. In 2012-2013 he played at  Lee (NAIA) playing 34 games: 20.0ppg, 4.1rpg, 2.6apg, FGP: 50.3%, 3PT: 41.0%, FT: 77.7%. As a rookie he played for the Finke Baskets playing 29 games: Score-3(18.8ppg), 3.5rpg, 3.4apg, FGP: 64.3%, 3PT: 37.2%, FT: 75.8%. He spoke to German Hoops after the 97-72 win over Rostock.

 

 

Will congrats on the 97-72 pounding of the Rostock Wolves. How good did it feel to get your first win with your new organization SC Rist Wedel?

Thanks Miles, it really feels great to get our first win of the season against such a good opponent. We really needed it!

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Jordan Talbert (PS Karlsruhe) Good Teams Know How To Maintain Composure And Weather The Storm And We Did That Against BG Karlsruhe

Jordan Talbert is a 25 year old 198cm forward from Little Rock, Arkansas that is playing his third professional season and first with the PS Karlsruhe Lions. He came to Germany as a rookie in 2014 and played with the Giants TSV 1861 Noerdlingen (Germany-Regionalliga) playing 26 games: 21.6ppg, 9.6rpg, 3.2apg, 2.0spg, Blocks-4(1.5bpg), FGP: 51.7%, 3PT: 28.9%, FT: 78.4%. He played his college career at Missouri SO(NCAA2) from 2010-2014 and as a senior played 31 games averaging 11.7ppg, 7.4rpg, 2.9apg, 1.1spg, 1.7bpg, FGP: 44.8%, 3PT: 37.0%, FT: 70.1%. Last season with Nordlingen he tore up the Pro B averaging 17.5ppg, Reb-1(11.0rpg), 2.4apg, 1.7spg, Blocks-5(1.5bpg), FGP: 48.5%, 3PT: 27.5%, FT: 73.4%. He spoke to German Hoops after winning the Karlsruhe derby against BG Karlsruhe 79-68.

 

 

 

 

Jordan thanks for talking to German HoopsCongrats on the 79-68 win against BG Karlsruhe in the big derby game. What did it feel like playing in your first Karlsruhe derby game?

The atmosphere was great. There was a huge build up to this game all week long. I’m glad it’s over now and we can really focus on the rest of the season and building chemistry within the team.

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Marcellus Barksdale Celebrates First Professional Victory With TG s.Oliver Wurzburg Spanking The Fraport Skyliners Juniors 80-67

Every season brings the Pro B new players, hopes and dreams to be played out as Isaac Bonga and American Marcellus Barksdale are two key players for both Frankfurt and Wurzburg that are experiencing new horizons in their careers. The one player is 16 year Isaac Bonga who is a 203cm point guard seen as the biggest German talent since Dennis Schroeder and 23 year old 196cm guard Marcellus Barksdale. Bonga had played all last season in the BCM in the NBBL league with Eintracht Frankfurt and made his pro B debut last weekend in Karlsruhe, but finally was ready to make his home pro B debut in Frankfurt. Barksdale on the other hand had a hectic summer where he didn´t get signed until very late where the rookie who hails from Lexington, Kentucky may have been feeling lower than a jockey does when he accidently slips form his horse during the famous Kentucky Derby. Not knowing if you will even be a professional basketball player right out of college most likely made his summer feel like two summers as the waiting and waiting probably took toils on his mind. However the American finally got signed in September 21 by TG s Oliver Wurzburg, but his excitement for that professional debut was put on hold as he was prohibited from being inserted in the first game, a wipeout in Elchingen losing 105-74 as his input was more than needed as his papers hadn´t been cleared yet. The legal work was finally taken care of and he could start his professional debut in Frankfurt. The Two B´s Bonga and Barksdale played their first professional games in the BCM as the 1-0 Fraport Skyliners Juniors faced the 0-1 TG s Oliver Wurzburg and for Bonga is was a wipe out while for Barkdale, it was a ve4ry sweet start to his professional career. Barkdale helped spank the Fraport Skyliners Juniors 80-67 giving the TG s.Oliver Wurzburg their first victory of the season. The first quarter was tight, but TG s.Oliner Wurzburg took over in the second and controlled the game until the end. After the win, the Lexington Native was all smiles and content with his 13 point, eight rebound, three assists and three steals. “It felt good winning my first professional game and it always feels good winning on the road. I look forward to keep to continue to grow as a player and with my teammates and hope for many more winning games like this”, said Marcellus Barksdale. He already showed in his debut that he can play the European style even if there was one aspect that will take some time and that he knows how to juggle when to shoot and when to pass the ball. “It is hard getting used to the footwork and putting down the ball as soon as I get it, but I have been working on this and I know that basketball is the same everywhere. I just take advantage of whatever the defense gives me and then make best possible play wheather it is scoring or finding my teammates”, stated Marcellus Barksdale. TG s.Oliver Wurzburg was the better team for 40 minutes and were two main components that led them by Frankfurt. “We were more aggressive on defense and won the rebound battle. These were two things we wanted to do well going in and did. We wanted it more than Frankfurt”, stressed Marcellus Barksdale. One has to give Fraport Skyliners head coach Eric Detlev credit that his words of wisdom stick in the heads of his players, but the only problem is that they aren´t always able to execute it on the court. “We always go in with energy and having self confidence something that coach tells us, but we didn´t play with the energy we normally do to be able to keep the game close for 40 minutes. We fought under the boards, but they did a better job rebounding”, added Fraport Skyliner Junior Konstantin Schubert.

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Marcellus Barksdale (TG s.Oliver Wuerzburg) I Want To Be The Hardest Worker On The Floor And To Set An Example For My Teammates At All Times

Marcellus Barksdale is a 23 year old 196cm guard from Lexington, Kentucky that is playing his first professional season in Germany with TG s.Oliver Wuerzburg (Germany-ProB) and will start his professional career against the Fraport Skyliners Juniors. He played at IUPUI (NCAA) form 2011-2016 playing a total of 131 NCAA games. As a senior he played 31 games averaging 8.7ppg, 5.2rpg, 1.6apg, 1.6spg, FGP: 48.6%, 3PT: 28.1%, FT: 73.1%. He spoke to German Hoops before the Frankfurt contest.

 

 Marcellus thanks for talking to German Hoops You are playing your first season with TG s.Oliver Wuerzburg (Germany-ProB). You signed very late in the summer. How was your first experience with looking for clubs and finding that right situation?

 

It was a nerve wrecking process to say the least! It really tested my patience. It was a situation that was out of my control. All I could do was continually improve and work on my game so that when my moment came, I would be ready.

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Brandon Lockhart(ScanPlus Baskets) I’ve Always Been A Fan Of Passing More Than Scoring

Brandon Lockhart is a 26 year old 185cm guard from St Louis, Missouri that is playing his third professional season and first with the ScanPlus Baskets Elchingen (Germany-ProB). Last season he played for the Giants TSV 1861 Noerdlingen (Germany-Pro B) playing 29 games averaging 16.8ppg, 4.1rpg, 5.7apg, 2.5spg, FGP: 49.6%, 3PT: 26.8%, FT: 81.1% As a rookie he played for BK Levicki Patrioti (Slovakia-Extraliga) playing 34 games: Score-5(16.7ppg), 3.8rpg, Assists-5(4.3apg), Steals-1(3.0spg), FGP: 50.2%, 3PT: 28.5%, FT: 78.9%. He played at Drury (NCAA2) from 2009-2013 and as a senior played 35 games averaging 12.5ppg, 3.9rpg, 6.1apg, 2.9spg, FGP: 50.9%, 3PT: 48.3%, FT: 77.1%. He spoke to German Hoops after the season opening 105-74 win against Wurzburg.

 

 

 

Brandon congrats on the overpowering 105-74 win against Wurzburg. After the preseason and all the hard work did you expect to come out with such a good result before the game started?

Danke Miles! Starting the season with a win is all we really had in mind. I do not think any of us believed the game would have a result as such.

Wurzburg had the narrow 22-19 lead after one quarter, but in the second quarter the ScanPlus baskets got their offense going with 33 points and gave up only 8 points to have the overwhelming 52-30 lead at the break. What did head coach Dario Jerkic want the team do change up in the second frame?

We were lacking focus on the defensive side of the ball and allowed them a bunch of second chances. So in the 2nd quarter, we wanted to make it harder for them to score and really focus on grabbing rebounds when they missed.

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K.K. Simmons (Licher Basket Baeren) I Have So Much Confidence In My Ability To Score And Make Plays But I Will Continue To Work On Becoming More Efficient.

K.K Simmons is a 23 year old 190cm combo guard from Marietta, Georgia that is playing his first professional season with German Pro B team Licher Basket Baeren. He played at three schools with NC-Wilmington (NCAA), Kent St. (NCAA) and Pikeville (NAIA). Last season he finished his college basketball career with Pikeville (NAIA) playing 31 games and averaging 16.4ppg, 1.9rpg, 2.6apg, FGP: 46.1%, 3PT: 39.2%, FT: 78.5%. Simmons is an amazing shooter and shot 48% from outside in his junior season at Pikeville, but can also mix it up getting to the hole. In his first season with Pikeville, he played 25 games averaging 20.8ppg, 2.2rpg, 2.0apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 45.3%, 3PT: 48.9%, FT: 78.4%. He spoke to German Hoops after giving his debut as a professional fort he Licher Basket Baeren beating the Bayer Giants Leverkusen 99-93.

 

 

Karriem congrats on the big 99-93 victory over the Bayer Giants Leverkusen. Top scorer of the game and a win to go along with it. Was this the perfect start to your professional season?

Getting a good tough win, against a great team, on the road is definitely a great way to start off my professional career! I’m so proud of what my teammates and I have accomplished.

What kind of a feeling was it playing in the legendary Smid arena that housed Germany´s best team in the 90´s with the Bayer Giants Leverkusen?

It was an amazing feeling. The gym was very nice. Also, the feeling of the atmosphere and energy in the gym was top notch. I really respect what they have going on over there. I had a lot of fun.

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It´s Another Normal Day At The Office For Aaron Nelson As He And The Dragons Rhondorf Destroy BG Karlsruhe 87-70

The last time that fans could depart the always loud Dragons Dome with a smile on their faces and still enough time to spare to get home and watch the ZDF Sportstudio to catch the football scores was Janaury 2nd, 2016 as Rhondorf had smacked around Rent4Office 83-65 which was only one of two wins in a season to forget as the club stunk up the Pro A and crawled back to the Pro B with their heads in bags as the embarrassment was difficult to hide. The last home game was a little more than six months ago where the Dragons lost a nail bitter to the RheinStars Cologne 78-76, but except for a tournament three weeks ago where they faced off against Pro B team AstroStars Bochum and BBL team Telekom Baskets Bonn, basketball had been missed in the Dragons Dome as the long summer seemed to drag on and on like a caterpillar does going through life. The 2016-2017 season finally started again as the Dragons Rhondorf hosted last season´s best regular season team BG Karlsruhe who totally underachieved in the playoffs getting spanked and got swept by the Dresden Titans. The club lost some serious fire power in Rouven Roessler and double double input with Marcus Smallwood and all-rounder Hayden Lescault, but kept American routine veteran Jeremy Black and added the top scorer Ricky Easterling of the Pro B the last two seasons. It was already evident that Rhondorf head coach Matthias Sonnenschein had done his homework in the off season as his trio of imports Aaron the beast Nelson, Canadian Mike Lucier and American William Trawick had found a healthy chemistry already in pre-season, something that was lacking last season with their American imports. It was the battle of the top Pro B team of last season BG Karlsruhe against ex Pro A team Dragons Rhondorf and the home team was able to finally win a home game again after waiting almost 9 months after their last win destroying BG Karlsruhe 87-70. After the game two thirds of the import trio of Aaron Nelson, Mike Lucier and Will Trawick were stretching as they combined for 54 of the team 87 points, but Canadian Mike Lucier quickly noted that the victory could be chalked up to a total team effort. “We played well together and you can see we have team chemistry. The secret to this early working team chemistry is that we have character guys that all get along and want to succeed. We all moved well off the ball, had strong cuts and guys got open and we hit our shots. We did a pretty good job on defense, but it could have been better. We played with good intensity and everyone knows when to switch and we communicated well”, added Dragons Rhondorf forward Mike Luicer. BG Karlsruhe had a tough time finding a healthy team rhythm and had to play catch up basketball all night long and just had no remedy how to slow down the Rhondorf offense. After the game, Baltimore native Ricky Easterling was reserved and low key about the loss, but knew that there is more to a season than just one game. “We came in here wanting to win, but faced a tough Rhondorf team. We were too hesitant on defense and had bad rotations and no communication. The season is long. We have to look at this game again and correct our mistakes”, stressed BG Karlsruhe guard Ricky Easterling. “It was a team effort and we played well at all times during our highs and lows. Our chemistry is working well and everyone knows their roles and how they work”, warned Dragons Rhondorf forward Aaron Nelson.

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Jeremy Black (BG Karlsruhe) At This Point In My Career I´m Still Improving And Striving To Get Better

Jeremy Black is a 30 year old 203cm forward from Tampa, Florida that is playing his sixth season for BG Karlsruhe. He played at Tampa (NCAA2) from 2004-2008 and in his senior year played 30 games: 18.7ppg, 11.0rpg, 1.6apg, 1.1bpg, 1.5spg, FG: 49.3%, 3Pts: 30.8%, FT: 72.1%. He turned professional in 2008 and since then has always played in Germany except two seasons ago where he played for AB Contern (Luxembourg-Total League) 4 games: 12.8ppg, 10.3rpg, 1.8apg, in Nov.’14 moved to BCKE Wallabies (Switzerland-LNB). He also played two seasons for Science City Jena. Last season with BG Karlsruhe he played 21 games averaging 11.4ppg, 8.3rpg, 1.3apg, FGP: 56.2%, 3PT: 17.6%, FT: 61.5%. He spoke to German Hoops before the season opener in Rhondorf against the Dragons.

 

 

 

Thanks Jeremy for talking to German Hoopos. You are playing your sixth season for BG Karlsruhe. What is missing most in Karlsruhe that could almost substitute it with Tampa as home?

Karlsruhe is my new home base. I can always go back home but what I miss most is my family and the food!

Except for a short stay in Luxemburg two seasons ago, you seem to always come back to Karlsruhe. What is most appealing about the organization and city that makes you want to return?

Yeah, Karlsruhe is and always will be special to me. I came here not expecting much but I got way more than I can bargain for. The city is awesome besides the never ending construction. The people who I’ve came in contact with while being here have been nothing short of amazing.

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