Face To Face With EJ Gallup (TBB Trier)

EJ Gallup is a 26 year old 193cm guard from Gloverville, New York. He is playing his first season as a member of TBB Trier. He is a very positive player on the court, who plays with talent and personality. Has great offensive skills and knows how to do at the defensive side. He started his basketball career at Albany (NCAA2) in 2000 and played there until 2002. He then transferred to Co.Carolina (NCAA) where he played until 2004. In his senior year, he played 29 games: 17.2ppg, 3.1rpg, 1.8apg, 1.8spg, FGP: 45.2%, 3PT: 43.4%, FT: 89.6%. He started his professional basketball career in 2006 with Albany Patrons (CBA). He then moved to Germany in the same season playing for ratiopharm Ulm (Germany-1.Bundesliga): 10 games: 4.7ppg, 2FGP: 35.3%, 3PT: 33.3%, FT: 2-3. In 2007-2008, he returned to Ulm playing 34 games: 12.2ppg, 1.8rpg, 1.3apg, 2FGP: 42.9%, 3PT: 31.6%, FT: 87.3%. He stepped away from the court from 2008-2011 before returning last summer to play for the Albany Legends (IBL, starting five): 17ppg, 4.4rpg, 3.6apg, 3PT: 56%(1). He spoke to German Hoops this summer about basketball.

Congrats on your new job with TBB Trier. After 3 years absence from the Beko BBL, how does it feel to be returning back to Germany?

It feels great, Im happy to be back in Germany, and excited to be playing for TBB Trier.

In the 2007-2008 season you played with Ratiopharm Ulm having a solid season averaging 12.2ppg, 1.8rpg, 1.3apg, 2FGP: 42.9%, 3PT: 31.6%, FT: 87.3%. Why did you leave the basketball world then?

I had a great experience in Ulm, but for me at that time I decided to go in a different direction than basketball and opened a bar and grille.

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Can The Fraport Skyliners Defense Force Bobby Brown To Shout Dont Be Cruel When They Meet The Ewe Baskets Oldenburg October 3rd?

When Dominik Bahiense De Mello comes out of the runway and enters the Fraport arena he wont go right, but left to warm up and will be wearing the untypical yellow and blue which will get some getting used to like it is not see Charlie Sheen and his womanizing ways on Two and a half men, seeing Manuel Neuer in a Bayern Munich jersey and not Schalke uniform or thinking actor Nicholas Cage could be a vampire and have been around during the American civil war as an antique picture was revealed of a man that has a scary resemblance to the Con Air man. De Mello played 6 years in Frankfurt for 6 different coaches and who could forget his strong performance in a 2005 game in the Festhalle in a loss to Bonn or his 19 point effort in a 80-81 loss to Alba Berlin in game one of the playoffs last season. It is no secret that De Mello didn´t always have an easy time playing for Murat Didin, but as new coach Gordon Herbert took the reigns in April 2010, the tide started to turn for the Bonn native. Last season, his first full season for Herbert, De Mello started many games averaging 17,2 minutes per game and 5.8ppg, 1.8rpg, 1.2apg, FGP: 50.7%, 3PT: 35.5%, FT: 76.9%. At 26 years of age, the German has matured well, but how well will he come to terms with the style, mentality and moods of head coach Predrag Krunic? “Dominik will make it in Oldenburg. I feel that he will play a good role. He will get his minutes and know how to use them best. He has so much talent and he will gain the confidence of Krunic once he shows his aggressive defense”, stressed Skyliner captain Marius Nolte. De Mello wont have it any easier in Oldenburg as he did in Frankfurt fighting for playing time as his new team went on a successful shopping spree this summer it will depend how the German shows up to play. “De Mello has a new situation and a good team. I don´tknow what his role will be, but it is up to him how he will show is talent best”, warned Skyliner sport director Kamil Novak. I think Domink will do great in that system. He just has to play his game and he will be a key piece this season. he is a solid back up and will give them a shooter and play solid defense as well”, added TBB Trier guard John Bynum. On October 3, the Fraport arena will see De Mello again and just hope that his three pointer isn´t on fire.

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Joe Herber´s 3 Pointers Can´t Save The Fraport Skyliners as EnBW Ludwigsburg Escape The Fraport Arena With a 85-82 Victory

With late summer temperatures gracing the city of Frankfurt, it is only seemingly that a majority of people might be enjoying post work in one of the cafes on the Fressgasse, taking a dip in the main river, playing a quick nine hole round of golf before dusk settles in or having another listen to the legendary Nirvana album Nevermind while reading an exciting John Grisham novel on the balcony, but for the Fraport Skyliners a test game was on the agenda as they gave a strong fight in the second half, but came up short as EnBW Ludwigsburg crawled out of the Fraport arena with a hard fought 85-82 in their last preseason game. “Even on a nice day like this, I want to be in the gym. And before you ask me if I want to be at a cubs game, I don´t want to talk about them”, smiled ex Telekom Baskets Bonn center John Bowler. St Louis native Jimmy Mckinney who is sporting a slick goatee also wouldn´t want to be in any other place than the place where he comes to work. “I want to be in the gym on a day like this and not enjoying the weather on the Mississippi river, because there are a lot of dead bodies in that river”, added Jimmy Mckinney. Since the game wasn´t open to the public, it was a shame that fans were unable to witness the fierce battle between 206cm 100 kilo Marius the force Nolte and 204cm 123 kilo John old school Bowler as the Chicago native seemed to have the upper hand on the German in this game. “He is always a difficult player to play against. He had a good game. I hope that I can annoy him a bit more in the regular season”, stressed Marius Nolte. Bowler finished with 14 points and four rebounds in 21 minutes which shows his effectiveness that he has shown for years in the Beko BBL. “Nolte is very physical and always plays hard. His strength is frustrating other big men and just getting into their heads”, added John Bowler.

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Waves, Basketball And Tagalong In Hawaii For Christian Standhardinger

If at first you don´t succeed, then try try again is the famous quote by WC Fields which has been heard as much in sports movies in Hollywood as Lebron James has been dreaming about when he can finally present a few of his homies an NBA ring in Cleveland, but another guy who might have this famous quote engraved somewhere in his mindset is German Christian Standhardinger. Standhardinger is a 22 year old 203 cm forward from Munich that simply will not give up with the NCAA dream. The big German kid who is a very talented player that is able to stretch the floor with his three-point accuracy as well as get to the hoop with a quick first step and a variety of finishing moves in the paint came to football country at the University of Nebraska in the fall of 2009-2010 to become a house hold name in the college basketball world in the NCAA.
Despite starting in the fall of 2009-2010 at Nebraska, it took him a while to really get started in a Nebraska uniform, because he had violated the rules of amateurism and by the time that had all been taken care of, he had missed enough games that wasn´t really helping a struggling team that was craving for that savior. The German was able to play 16 games as a freshman averaging 8.1ppg, 3.8rpg, FGP: 40.9%, 3PT: 37.5%, FT: 78.3%. However as any basketball player can be hot or cold, he also made good use to this name having stellar games like producing 25 points and grabbing 8 rebounds against Iowa State, but there were other games where he seemed to disappear on the court as if he had been caught stealing a bundle of corn from a field from his Nebraska´s girlfriends father.

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A Conversation With Marcus Smallwood (MBC)

Marcus Smallwood is a 29 year 198cm forward playing his first season with the Mitteldeutscher BC. 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 played for the Saar-Pfalz Braves (Germany-ProA) from 2008-2010 and in 2009-2010,he played 30 games: 14.5ppg, Reb-2(9.5rpg), 1.1apg, FGP: 62.8%, FT: 49.0%.Last season, he played for Cuxhaven BasCats (Germany-ProA, starting five): 9 games: 12.6ppg, 10.9rpg, 1.6apg, FGP: 51.6%, FT: 52.8%; in Dec.’10 moved to VfL Kirchheim Knights (Germany-ProA, starting five): 20 games: 15.7ppg, Reb-1(10.8rpg), Blocks-2(2.1bpg). He spoke to German Hoops over the summer about basketball.

So many players the last years have had difficulty finding jobs, because the market has been so tough. You got ajob with MBC in mid July this year. How did the off season search for a team go? Did you have many other offers besides MBC?

Well I was very fortunate to have interest from some other clubs including some outside of Germany, but to be honest when I learned I might have a chance to play for MBC that instantly became the offer I wanted the most.

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Michael Hakim Jordan: I HAVE To Win! I NEED To Win!

34 year old Michael Jordan is a 183cm guard from Philadelphia. He played at the University of Pennsylvania graduating in 2000. His first two years found him jumping around leagues in France and Spain before he found a new home in Germany with TSV Quackenbruck. In the 2002-2003 season, he helped lead Quackenbruck into the BBL with exceptional stats in 30 games, 21.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 6.9 apg. He helped turn The Artland Dragons into a playoff team in the 2004-2005 season as they lost the BBL Quarterfinal playoff series to The Opel Skyliners in five games. That season he averaged in 34 games: 11.1ppg, 3.4rpg, Ast-1(6.4apg), 1.3spg, 2.6bpg, 2FGP: 52.5%, 3FGP: 31.3%. The next season, he was released by The Artland Drgaons, but went to Rhein Energie Cologne and won the BBL championship in 2006 averaging in 33 games: 9.8ppg, 2.3rpg, Assists-4(4.1apg), 1.0spg, 2FGP: 45.3%, 3PT: 40.3%, FT: 52.2%. The next season, he went to Italy and played at Cantu where he led the league in assists and averaged in 37 games: 13.8ppg, 2.7rpg, Assists-1(5.2apg), 2.0spg, 2FGP: 54.6%, 3PT: 36.1%, FT: 74.0%. The next season, he played in Belgium for Charleroi averaging in 15 games: 9.5ppg, 1.6rpg, 3.6apg, 1.0spg, 2FGP: 56.0%, 3PT: 36.0%, FT: 90.0%;. He had injury problems and finished the season in Greece with PAOK. In 2008-2009 after a very short stay in Israel, he played a few months in Bamberg before going to the Cologne 99ers averaging 10,5ppg, 2,4rpg and leading the BBL in assists with 6,2apg. In 2009-2010, he played for Phoenix Hagen helping the team remain in the BEKO BBL. He played 16 games: 8.9ppg, 2.3rpg, Assists-5(5.3apg), FGP: 44.2%, 3PT: 32.5%, FT: 73.3%. Last season, he played for Mitteldeutscher BC Weissenfels (Germany-1.Bundesliga, starting five): 19 games: 9.3ppg, 1.9rpg, 4.3apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 50.0%, 3PT: 38.2%, FT: 80.6%; in Jan.’11 moved to LTi Giessen 46ers (Germany-1.Bundesliga, starting five): 14 games: 7.1ppg, 2.0rpg, 3.7apg, FGP: 40.4%, 3PT: 42.9%, FT: 72.7%. Michael spoke to German Hoops about basketball and his current situation.

It is September now and your still unsigned. How surprised are you about this? Is the Market even tighter now then the last few years due to the lockout?

I’m really surprised because I thought I played well enough last year to earn a job for this season. I did what I was brought in to do you know? I guess The lockout plays a role, but still it’s a bit disappointing.

What are the biggest difficulties for Michael Jordan finding a team right now? I am sure your agent is working day and night to find you a team?
Honestly, If I knew I would feel better about the situation. My agent Refiloe Lethunya is doing what he can to get me a job. Just a little difficult at the moment and neither of us know why exactly. I have a few theories though.

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Uwe Sauer(USC Heidelberg): Dirk Nowitzki Is Much More Than Just A Basketball Superstar

Uwe Sauer played at Santa Clara university where NBA superstar Steve Nash also played and enjoyed a very successful basketball career in Germany from 1985-1997 winning titles with Cologne and Bayreuth and being the youngest German playing at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984. After his playing career, he became a coach. He was assistant coach for SSV Ulm from 1997.-1999. He then coached in Tuebingen from 1999-2003. He then coached for BG Karlsruhe from the 2003-2006 season. Since then he coached clubs like the Mitteldeutscher BC, The Teckpro Braves in Kaiserslautern and recently BG Illertal-Weissenhorn. Currently he is the head coach of USC Heidelberg and talked German Hoops about many different basketball topics.

Coach you are currently preparing USC Heidelberg for the upcoming PRO A season. How much were you able to follow the 2011 European championships and were Spain and France the 2 best teams in the tournament?

Yes we are trying to get ready for the upcoming season, nevertheless as a basketball- junkie i had to watch as much as I could, of course the games of the Gteam. I think the 2 best teams played the final, but is was still sad to see the home team Lithuania not being in the Finals.

Spain were the strongest team at the tournament. It is no secret that they have a great youth program as they have had young guys playing at a high level for years. Why does the youth program work so well in forming players in Spain and not as much in Germany?
I don’t exactly know the rules in Spain, but there always have to be 2-3 Spanish players on the floor , that means their Spanish players get playing time . In Germany you can play the whole game without a German player have to play a single second. From the better basketball countries in Europe, I think we are the only country without having to play. It gets even worse with the rule in the BBL, that you got to have at least 4(?) German players on the roster. That means, the better Germans instead of playing in the 2nd league or somewhere else, they have to sit on the bench to fulfill the requirements instead of playing and develop their game.

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Jimmy McKinney Is Trigger Happy From Downtown BCM Leading The Fraport Skyliners Past SIG Strassburg 83-73

72 hours ago basketball fans were getting a scrumptious hoops smorgasboard in the 2011 Eurobasket final Spain-France as 11 current NBA players were gracing the floor and doing their magic which is as normal to them as New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady running his hurry up off, regular good loving parents taking in a broke former Superbowl champion with Chris Mcalister who blew his 55 million contract since 2004, or hackers hacking the cell phones of actress goddesses Mila Kunis or Scarlett Johansson, but the few 100 fans that made the way to the Skyliner practice facility BCM to witness the test game between the Fraport Skyliners and French first division team SIG Strassburg were in for a 2011 NBA draft pick treat. The game may not have been filled with as much glitz and gems as the 2011 Eurobasket final, but the court featured three 2011 NBA draft picks with Jon Leuer(Milwauke Bucks), Justin Harper(Cleveland Cavaliars) and Lavoy Allen(Philadelphia 76ers) which seemed like a mini smorgasboard appetizer. Despite SIG Strassburg winning the NBA draft pick battle 2-1, it was the Fraport Skyliners that were able to win for the second time against the French team within the last 4 days. He might be from the same college class with the 3 NBA draft pics, but Michael Thompson was in awe. “It was a great experience sharing the floor with the three draft picks. Harper is a great all around player and Allen has that nice mid range shot. I expect them to do big things in France”, stressed Michael Thompson. “All three NBA draft picks have big futures. I keep telling Jon Leuer that the key for him is not to play at the top level in Europe, but to get back to the NBA. If they keep working hard then they have a good chance of getting there”, added Skyliner Justin Gray. For ex BEKO BBL player Chris Oliver who is playing his first season in France, he wasn´t too much in awe about the possible future NBA flair on the court. “There is no difference if they are on the court or not. Everyone out on the court plays well. Leuer is very skilled kind of like Justin Harper, but he handles the ball better while Harper shoots the ball better. I wish all three the best of luck”, added ex Walter Tigers Tuebingen forward Chris Oliver.

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A Conversation With Sean Brooks

Sean Brooks is a 28 year old 196cm power forward from Bladensburg, Maryland. He played at Drexel from 2001 to 2005. He was CAA Regular Season Runner-Up in 2004 and All-CAA 2nd Team in 2004. In his senior year, he played 20 games averaging 12.5ppg, 6.0rpg, 2.0apg, FGP: 49.1%. He turned professional in 2005 and came to Europe to play to play in Holland for Polynom Giants Bergen Op Zoom (Holland-Eredivisie), left in Nov.’05: 1game, in Dec.’05 signed at Woon!Aris Leeuwarden (Holland-Eredivisie): 17 games: 9.2ppg, 6.1rpg, 1.3apg, 1.5spg. In 2006-2007, he came to Germany and played for ASC Theresianum Mainz (Germany-2.Bundesliga, starting five, starting five): 29 games: 16.6ppg, 8.5rpg, 1.9apg, 2FGP: 62.7%, 3FGP: 16.7%, FT: 60.0%. In 2007-2008, he played in Holland again for Omniworld Almere (Holland-Eredivisie, starting five); left in Oct.’07, in Nov.’07 moved to TV Werne (Germany-2.Regionalliga, starting five), in Dec.’07 signed at Proveo Merlins Crailsheim (Germany-ProB, starting five): 18 games: 15.6ppg, 8.5rpg, 2.4apg, 1.1spg, 2FGP: 65.2%, FT: 61.2%. He has played for The Proveo Merlins Crailsheim the last four seasons and in 2008-2009 played 29 games averaging 15.6ppg, 8.6rpg, 2.1apg, FGP: 65.0%, FT: 64.2%. In 2009-2010, he played 28 games averaging 9.6ppg, 6.6rpg, 2.0apg, FGP: 53.8%, FT: 60.6%. Last season, he fought injuries and was limited to 18 games: 5.8ppg, 3.4rpg, 1.4apg, FGP: 51.6%, FT: 51.9%. The American is currently in Germany and spoke to German Hoops and can be reached at scbrooks13@gmail.com

Sean, you are currently in Germany looking for a team. How is that going for you?

I have had interest from a couple teams but nothing has worked out yet.
It seems that in the last 2-3 years the market has been very difficult in Europe, but you always had a team. Has the NBA lockout been a huge reason for so many guys being without jobs?

I dont think the lockout has played a big part in a lot of guys not getting jobs so far. I think every year there are more and more quality players and the number of jobs are limited.

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Michael Kool-Aid Juice Thompson(Fraport Skyliners) Tiramisu Looks Really Good, Tastes Good And Is The Perfect Ally-Op Dessert Between Me And Tez

For new Skyliner Michael Thompson, jumping on a plane recently and jetting to wine country Treviso,Italy to join the Fraport Skyliners for a one week training camp must have felt as comfortable for the man that is known as the juice as if Paris Hilton had involuntarily been caught at a Mcdonalds, but finding  swank delicious caviar in her Happy meal, actor George Clooney arriving anywhere in the world and being given not one, but two sexy Miss Universe ladies for both arms and Justin Bieber not having men jeans ready for him upon arrival in his hotel room, but ladies jeans since they fit better than pieces designed for men. There are many different kind of juices, but the fact remains that wine is a juice which is a beverage made of the fermented juice of any of various kinds of grapes, usually containing from 10 to 15 percent alcohol by volume. Thompson is a rookie coming from Northwestern and has a try-out with the Fraport Skyliners and at the age of 22 still a young buck which could due to time graduate from innocent Cool-Aid juice to the disciplined and elegant taste of fabulous Italian wine.

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