Immanuel McElroy

Richard Freudenberg Watches The Fraport Skyliners Three Point Crunch Time Party Overpower Science City Jena 69-61

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber´s first encounter with Immanuel Mcelroy in the locker room after he won the 2005 BBL cup with Rhein Energie Köln in Frankfurt

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber interviewing BBL identity figure Immanuel Mcelroy of Science City Jena after 69-61 loss in Frankfurt

The highlight for Easter for any child is too be able to go into the yard and explore and hunt for those chocolate easter eggs that are already melting in their mouth, but if you are an old school BBL basketball fan in Frankfurt the gigantic highlight on Easter Monday is entering the Fraport arena and seeing two real professional basketball dinosaurs playing together and still playing the game they love with Julius Jenkins and Immanuel Mcelroy. Which one of these BBL legends would come away with the most chocolate eggs if they would have a contest is difficult to determine, but it would definitely be a very competitive match. You obviously cant compare these two BBL veterans to future NBA legends, but their longevity, importance and play in the German BBL can be compared to the likes of the Lebron´s and Melo´s of the league. These two BBL players just keep coming back and don´t want to retire. Jenkins is 36 and Mcelroy is 37 and still going strong. Their longevity speaks for itself as combined they have played up to this season a total of 630 BBL games and 201 international club games and share 10 titles between them. The massive experience doesn´t end there as there is also Wayne Bernard who rounds out the trio as he is 35 and is only playing his 5^th BBL season but 9^th straight season in Germany and can boast 136 BBL games going into this season. Jenkins and Mcelroy have been BBL identity figures for over 10 years and it will be a sad day in German basketball when these two retire, so there were probably quite a few Skyliner fans that were hoping that this wasn´t their last appearance in Frankfurt. However the Frankfurt fans only had Immanuel Mcelroy to observe as Julius Jenkins was out with an injury and saw how Science City Jena dominated in the first half, but fell apart in the second half as a hot shooting Jenkins was dearly missed as they lost 69-61. After the defeat, Mcelroy was stretching his sore muscles and if his words of retirement were really genuine after the loss was hard to tell, but if he keeps battling guys like Quantez Robertson on a regular basis who make him go to his limit then this might have been his last game in Frankfurt. “It is always fun to play against a competitor like Robertson who does everything on the court. I respect him a lot and how he competes at both ends of the court”, stressed ex Alba Berlin guard Immanuel Mcelroy. For Quantez Robertson, it is no different in that he is only 4 years younger than Mcelroy, but has had numerous battles with the ex Braunschweig player over the years. “It is always fun to play against him, because he competes at both ends of the court. We both know each others moves well and try to trick the other one”, stressed ex Auburn star Quantez Robertson.

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Wayne Bernard (Science City Jena) Sometimes A Simple One Second Look With A Head-Nod And Jenkins And Mcelroy Immediately Know What I’m Trying To Say

Wayne Bernard is a 35 year old 190cm guard from Poway, California playing his 14^th professional season and ninth in Germany and third with Science City Jena. He started his basketball career at Davidson(NCAA) in 1999 where he played until 2003 playing a total of 99 NCAA games and as a senior played 27 games averaging 15.1ppg, 3.3rpg, 5.4apg, 1.7spg, FGP: 41.7%, 3PT: 38.1%, FT: 83.3%. He turned professional in 2003 and in his first five seasons played in Israel, Greece, Sweden, France and Finland. In 2008 he moved to Germany and has continued to play here playing three seasons with the Mitteldeutscher BC helping them move to the BBL in 2009, and then also gained further experience with Giessen, Ludwigsburg and Nurnberg. He spoke to German Hoops during the Christmas holidays before playing his 150^th BBL game against the Fraport Skyliners.

Wayne thanks for talking to German Hoops. This is your ninth season in Germany. Could one say that Germany has become your second home?

Yes it definitely is. I have really grown to love the country. Definitely a lot different from the States, and “home” will always be “home”, but Germany has treated me so well these past nine seasons and I’ve appreciated my time being here.

This is also your ninth Christmas in Germany. What have you come to appreciate most about the holiday season in Germany and if you had to choose between Weissenfels, Giessen, Ludwigsburg, Nurnberg and Jena which city have you enjoyed most in this time?

CHRISTMAS MARKETS! By far. We don’t have many of these in the US, and the ones that are there, do not compare to the how big they are in Germany. I know everybody loves the Glühwein at the Christmas markets, but my favorite thing to buy when I’m there are the “Gebackene Mandeln” (baked almonds), especially when they are warm. The city I’ve enjoyed the most during this time? Very difficult to say. But if I had to pick one, I would say Weissenfels in the year 2010. I say this because that was the first year my mother had ever been to Europe and she came to visit me. Watching her having a new experience in a new culture was like watching a child open their favorite Christmas present. It was great to see someone her age “become a happy child” again.

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It´s Worth It To Observe The Allen Ballerina Moves And Mcelroy Smerk As Much As Possible With Braunschweig Before It´s Forever Gone

Much has happened in the past five years since the 10,7 time that Derrick Allen achieved on a Frankfurt track as he came one possession from winning his first BBL league title with Frankfurt being denied in Bamberg, playing two seasons for top German team Alba Berlin where he got to know the perks of head coach Luka Pavicevic and why Gordon Herbert is his twin in work ethic and played with the road runner equivalent in basketball point guard Dashaun Wood and then left Germany for the first time in eight years moving over the boarder to Belgium to present his slick ballerina moves and returned back to Germany last season to Bremerhaven where he played for the Eisbaeren which in English is a polar bear something that he would never see back home in Alabama, but could visit in the zoo there. This season Allen who can be called a German basketball country trotter as he also played with BG Karlsruhe and Leverkusen at the start of his career is playing in Braunschweig. Allen was 29 years old when he posted the time of 10,7 seconds in the 100 meter category in preseason and back then I was joking that the Alabama native could be a dark horse Usain Bolt opponent in the 2012 London Olympics. He probably has lost a few tenth of a second on a 100 meter sprint, but when the 203cm forward is off to the races in transition then he can still get up the floor with the best of them even now in 2014. Just how Frankfurt Skyliner legend Pascal Roller perfected the fast break three pointer or Boston Celtic legend Kevin Mchale the fade away jumper, Derrick Allen has perfected his dancing in the zone that resembles a ballerina going work that has made numerous defenders get as dizzy as patrons getting onto the Drop of fear ride at Wonderland Park in Texas. He may not out dance the world famous ballerina dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, but on the basketball court in Germany it has done damage since 10 years. Allen has used his ballerina moves to near perfection and it is something he learned through the years, that one could almost warrant a patent for the Derrick Allen ballerina move in 2009. “All the post moves that I use, I got from watching different big men, while I was growing up. I think, I used them so much is because most of the post guys I go against are 10-20 kilo’s heavier than me. So I got to use my quickness, and fakes too keep the defenders off balance, but I hope I will be able to use those moves more this season”, stressed Allen. The 34 year old American had his lowest scoring season last season, but is still a pest to defend on the court and seems to be getting better by age. “His game is so unorthodox and he just out works his opponent on every play wheather it’s a loose ball, rebound or steal. He is always first to the ball”, said ex Maccabii Tel Aviv guard Ricky Hickman. However it isn’t his sprinting in the open court or his ballerina dancing that has kept him active at the age of 34, but his unbelievable relentless work ethic that has kept him on the court and not on the couch on the weekends watching NBA basketball in the States. He didn’t start to work hard when he started getting older, but has been doing it since the start as his dedication and focus to the game of basketball is immaculate as he is the real definition of a professional. Because of his hard work, his stats haven’t suffered with age, but continued to stay consistent which has enabled him to get interest from clubs each off season. Last season with Bremerhaven, he played 34 games: 11.1ppg, 4.8rpg, 1.4apg, FGP: 48.5%, FT: 69.5%. This season with Braunschweig he comes from the bench backing up American Tim Abromaitis and is averaging 8,0ppg and 3,2rpg and as always has a superb percentage from the field at 55,6%. After being in the top 10 in scoring for many years in the Beko BBL and even being the league scoring champion in 2007 with Leverkusen, Allen doesn’t have to put up 16 and 8 stats each weekend. His experience, work ethic and advice that he can give the kids is more than worth his pay check. He hasn´t slown down as this season he is averaging 10,0ppg and 4,3rpg while shooting 59% from the field. His highlights this season have been scoring in double figures 12 times with two double doubles and a season high 25 points against Oldenburg. It will be interesting to see how much longer he will play, because from the fitness level, he could probably play until he was 50, but after a certain point family becomes the first priority for a player with age. The side kick of Allen who is playing his 11 year in Germany is Immanuel Mcelroy. Mcelroy like Allen gives the club important experience and is a mentor for the young players. Mcelroy like Allen is from the south from Texas, around the same age of 35 only four months older, played a season at Alba Berlin, but has won 5 titles in Germany to 0 with Allen. Mcelroy won 2 cups with Cologne and one league title and won a cup and league title with Alba Berlin. Like Allen, Imac as he is called may be 34, but still belongs to the top defenders in the league and is always good for filling the stat sheets. He is playing his fourth season with Braunschweig and last season played 33 games: 10.9ppg, 3.8rpg, 3.2apg, FGP: 56.1%, 3PT: 31.7%, FT: 77.1%. This season Mcelroy is averaging 7,4ppg, 3,4rpg and 3,1apg. He has scored in double figures eight times and best scoring game was 20 points. Another difference to Mcelroy and Allen is that he started a family when he was already in college and doesn´t seem to slow down with age and kids. Seeing these two guys play together on a team is a gem and should be cherished as long as possible, because one never knows when the ballerina moves and famous Imac smerk wont be on the court anymore.

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