Je’Kel Foster

Je’Kel Foster (medi bayreuth) Jerry Green Taught Me How To SurviveAs A Rookie In Ludwigsburg

Je Kel Foster is a 31 year old 193cm guard that is playing his ninth professional season and sixth in Germany and first with medi Bayreuth. He played at Ohio State from 2004-2006. He started his professional basketball career 2006 in Germany for EnBW Ludwigsburg (Germany-1.Bundesliga): 42 games: 13.2ppg, 3.1rpg, 2.5apg, 1.6spg, 2FGP: 45.3%, 3FGP: 34.0%, FT: 75.3%. In the 2007-2008 season he played for Paris-Levallois (France-ProA) 30 games: 14.5ppg, 3.4rpg, 2.9apg, Steals-2(2.4spg), 2FGP: 47.9%, 3PT: 39.6%, FT: 65.6%. He then returned back to Germany and played for the EWE Baskets Oldenburg from 2008-2010 helping the club win the 2009 Beko BBL title. In the 2010-2011 season he played for Vanoli-Braga Cremona (Italy-SerieA) 29 games: 12.2ppg, 3.3rpg, 2.1apg, 2.1spg, FGP: 53.6%, 3PT: 37.5%, FT: 71.8%. In the 2011-2012 season he returned back to Germany and played for : FC Bayern Muenchen (Germany-1.Bundesliga, starting five): EuroCup: 3 games: 7.3ppg, 1.7rpg, 1.3apg, 1.3spg; German League: 32 games: 13.9ppg, 3.9rpg, 2.3apg, 1.2spg, FGP: 49.5%, 3PT: 41.9%, FT: 71.4%. In the 2012-2013 season he played for Belgacom Spirou (Belgian Ethias League) 8 games: 11.3ppg, 3.0rpg, 1.8apg; Eurocup: 6 games: 7.3ppg, 1.7rpg, 1.3apg, 1.0spg, in Dec.’12 moved to ALBA Berlin (Germany-BBL) 24 games: 7.4ppg, 2.8rpg, 2.0apg, FGP: 34.7%, 3PT: 31.4%, FT: 72.1%; Euroleague: 14 games: 7.4ppg, 2.2rpg, 1.4apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 35.8%, 3PT: 41.9%, FT: 84.6%. Last season he played for JSF Nanterre (France-ProA) Euroleague: 10 games: 4.9ppg, 1.7rpg, 1.6apg; French ProA: 12 games: 6.8ppg, 1.2rpg, 2.2apg, 1.3spg, 2FGP: 54.2%, 3FGP: 36.6%, FT: 61.1%, in Feb.’14 moved to Sidigas Avellino (Italy-SerieA) 12 games: 5.3ppg, 2.2rpg, 1.2spg. He spoke to German Hoops about basketball.

Welcome back to Frankfurt. You played many times against Frankfurt with Ludwigsburg, Oldenburg, FC Bayern Munich and Alba Berlin. When you look back at those games is there one game against that you will never forget besides the loss to Frankfurt with medi bayreuth?

I have played many times against Frankfurt, but most with Oldenburg. I remember our title run 2009 where we met Frankfurt in the playoffs. It was a hard fought series, but I remember that season most against Frankfurt.

I have one game in my memory where you helped FC Bayern Munich beat Frankfurt 58-57 in Munich where you hit huge three pointers in crunch time. What memories do you have of this game where you hit two three pointers and it isn´t every day that a Jimmy Mckinney doesn´t hit a three pointer.

I also remember that game. That was a good game that came down to the last minute. Frankfurt has been a good defensive team the last years as they also kept that game low. We grinded that game out. I have played against Jimmy Mckinney so many times that it is a battle each time we play.

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Will The Fraport Skyliners Have A Solution This Time Against Je Kel Foster And FC Bayern Munich In Crunch Time?

In the world FC Bayern Munich has a reputation and is a household name in Germany, the way Heinz Ketchup is in the United States, Iberia airlines is in Spain, Ferrari is in Italy or IKEA is in Sweden. However in Germany when uttering the word FC Bayern Munich, it is Soccer and one usually affiliates the 22 German meisterschaften, 15 cup wins, the world class players that have graced the red and white jersey like Franz Beckenbauer, Karl Heinz Rummenigge, Gerd Mueller, Oliver Kahn, Lothar Matthäus, the sometime minor scandals that has given the club FC Hollywood status or the famous Uli Hoeness Wutrede at the 2007-2008 stock holders meeting where his head was as red as a bolied lobster. FC Bayern Munich and basketball in the same breath in the past was about as distant as Heidi Klum and Seal are now. However since this season, Basketball is back in the first division since their last visit in 1986-1987 and with the expertise coaching from Dirk Bauermann and ultimate Bayern fan Uli Hoeness giving the needed financial support, the organization is looking to become an FC Barcelona in the Beko BBL sometime down the road. However the route in the direction of a FC Barcelona seems to have taken a severe wrong turn and landed in Sitges(Beach resort near Barcelona) and at the moment the basketball team led by ex German national head coach Dirk Bauermann is about as far away from FC Barcelona as British tennis ace Andy Murray is from winning a Grand Slam event. The FC Bayern Munich bosses never predicted a title in their first season, but were expecting to belong to the top teams and be a force in the Beko BBL playoffs. FC Bayern Munich has been up and down in the last months and if they keep it up, may get gobbled up by the competiton and be in the Munich beer gardens in May instead of the Beko BBL arenas. “One can´t say that FC Bayern Munich is only playing bad. They had good efforts against Oldenburg and BG Goettingen. A team like Munich just can´t become  a title team from today to tomorrow. This takes a lot of development, something that Bamberg has behind them. I am sure that we will see a totally different team when the playoffs start. They just have to continue to find themselves something which has taken longer due to injuries. Every player has the ability to score 20 points or more. The team just can´t mislead themselves. I still see FC Bayern Munich as a serious title candidate”, stressed Walter Tiger Tuebingen forward Ruben Spoden.

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Je’Kel Foster Connects With The Money Ball Shot And Unseemingly Impossible Offensive Rebound Leading FC Bayern Munich Past The Fraport Skyliners 58-57

When going to the beautiful Bavarian city of Munich for a day trip, one has a bundle full of delightful options to pick from like going to the October Fest beer festival and seeing which German celebrities are drunk, experiencing if one is permitted entrance to the famous P 1 club and seeing what models are gawking at German soccer legend Oliver Kahn, hanging out that the pretty Marine place and counting how many different nationalities are taking photos in the gap of an hour, going to the Bavarian Film studios to witness how film is made in German style or just relaxing in the English garden and observing the beauty of the Chinese tower, but until recently the choice to go to a Sunday matane basketball game and see top class basketball has been more of a dream than reality. However ever since FC Bayern Munich has returned to the Beko BBL this season since the departure in 1974 when Germany won the World Cup and FC Bayern Munich soccer was starting its rise, it has become an option for basketball fans to go to games. What is nicer than to run elbows with an Uli Hoeness philosophizing about Thomas Muller against Mario Gotze, but never losing touch with the Davidson-Troutman battle underneath or sharing a Hot Dog with German soccer stars Bastian Schweinsteiger, Jerome Boateng or Holger Badstuber. Even though Basketball is slowly trying to become a house hold name in Munich, it is other things that one thinks about first before thinking about dunking home a ball in the Audi Dome. “I like Munich, because you are so close to the mountains and lakes only 30 kilomters away while in Bamberg I had to drive 300 kilometers”, joked FC Bayern Munich youth coordinator Volker Stix. For 2008 cup winner Darius Hall who is in the later stages of his basketball career, it is like night and day to Quackenbruck. “I first think of the soccer team when I hear the word Munich. It is a great place for Americans, because you have such a diverse choice of eating places and movie places. Munich really has a lot to offer to Americans”, joked Darius Hall. “I like the parks where I can spend a lot of time with the kids and the beer gardens as well”, smiled Serb power forward Alexsandar Nadjefji.

FC Bayern Munich remained undefeated at home after they followed up their big Eurocup win against Benetton Treviso five days earlier with a big, but also very fortunate 58-57 win. It was a game where the defense intensity seemed to pick up with each quarter. Sometimes playing at home and coming off a big win gives a team that extra kick to make the right plays and win that luck in the waning minutes to help propel a team to victory. “This was a classic win for us. This was a tough win and a kind of knock down grind out win. We had the better luck at the end getting those offensive rebounds. However this was win we wanted to get more”, warned FC Bayern Munich center Darius Hall.

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