It is no secret that age often doesn´t play a role when it comes to doing what you love. In the entertainment business especially in music, you have had numerous groups that have decided to keep getting on stage to perform instead of sipping champagne nonstop and getting massages on resort islands. Groups like the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd or the beach Boys keep coming back each year to perform for their fans instead of sitting back and watching their grand children grow up. It is no different in professional sports either as there are always so special sports dinosaurs around who keep returning season after season even though the muscles will be striking and yelling stop, get me off the court please. Famous athletes like tennis legend Martina Navratilova was still playing professional at the age of 49, ice hockey legend Gordie Howe played until he was 52 and at the end with his sons Mark and Marty. In 1997, Howe even played a shift at age 69. In the Beko BBL there are two fine examples of timeworn players that come back each season no matter what their bodies say and keep chugging away as Chris Ensminger and Bernd Kruel do. Ensminger is turning 39 and probably will play until he is 50, because he has that there is no stopping me attitude on the court. He may even keep playing until his sons are on the court. Bernd Kruel is a 36 year old 209cm power forward that still plays like a 28 year old. There is nothing spectacular about his game now, but he continues to be consistent off the bench and can give scoring and rebounding. He is playing his 16th season in Hagen and it is always a pleasure when he plays against his ex team Frankfurt where he had the most success winning the Beko BBL title in 2004 over Bamberg and reaching the final in 2005. Kruel returned back to his old stomping ground ready with his typical “mahlzeit” phrase as a greeting and helped Phoenix Hagen win a 107-102 shootout against his old team. He didn´t have much stats, but that doesn´t mean that his presence on the court isn´t important. “Bernd is a wonder. He doesn´t have to do much on the court to be important. He always remains calm and is so smart. He is one of the top five smart players in the league. What he can´t do with his body anymore he does with his head. He gets smarter each season. I played with him here in the 90s. I wonder who will play longer him or Chris Ensminger. It was never about the money. Playing in Hagen is so important for him”, stressed Phoenix Hagen assistant coach Steven Wriedt. Basketball expert Steven Clauss coached Bernd Kruel in the 90s and has fond memories. “I coached him back in the German U-22. He was like a storch early in his career and reminded me of a Henning Harnisch. But he really bulked up through the years. Smaller players usually lose speed, but big guys usually can play longer because they don´t lose strength as quickly and that is what has kept him going”, stressed Stephan Clauss.
Mark Dorris
Will Mark Mr Fantastic Dorris Bring The Needed Fantastic To Phoenix Hagen?
Sometimes a basketball player leaves a team after one season possibly because he got a better contract offer, didn´t really like the area or organization of his ex team, or might just want a change of scenery and catch a glimpse of a new style on the court and experience a new exciting culture in a new country. In the last years, the Beko BBL has experienced some players who have returned back to a team for a second time. Ex NBA player Casey Jacobsen helped Bamberg win the 2007 Beko BBL title their first in their history, but then returned to the NBA and and then the German capital Berlin, but after only one season gave up the German capital, its history and possibly the yummy Doner and Curry wurst and returned back to the country life style of Bamberg. American Barry Stewart started his Beko BBL career in Trier, but fled t Giessen after only one season, but returned back to the relaxing Mosel city Trier this season. It could be speculated why Stewart might return back to Trier, but Giessen that is known as a university city is lifeless at night where Giessen players in the past have chosen to drive 65 kilometers south to experience the night life in Frankfurt as Giessen has little to offer. In Trier, Stewart continues to flourish under 1993 NCAA champion with North Carolinna head coach Henrik Rodl. Rodl has been known not only being able to develop young German players, but also American players and Stewart might also have missed the beautiful landscape and Porta Niagra. Another player that has returned back to a team for a second time is Mark Dorris. Dorris is a 188cm 27 year old guard from Cincinnati, Ohio and could easily fill the Us Bank arena if it was made public that Quantez Robertson and him would duel in a slam dunk contest. Dorris played at Marshall and then started his professional basketball career in the German PRO A with Cuxhaven where he dominated the league. In 2010, he played in the Beko BBL for Phoenix Hagen having a strong season, but last season fled to Ludwigsburg for a likely pay raise, but decided to return back to Hagen this season even if it took longer than usual arriving in mid November 2012. There isn´t too much to see in Hagen except for the home base of the German basketball federation, but Dorris must have had some reason for returning even if winters can be very grey and dark making one feel very far away from home. Maybe he was missing the unique coaching duo of laid back German head coach Ingo Feyer and comedic and jovial assistant coach Steven Wriedt. Phoenix Hagen has another talented roster this season, but after a big win at home against Giessen in the home opener have lost lost and lost too many teams. At times they forget to defend and were missing that winner type of player with experience and never die attitude which Dorris possesses. Dorris could be the difference between falling down to the second league or remaining in the Beko BBL. The most underrated trait of Dorris on the court could lead the team in the right direction. “People don´t see my will to win on the stat sheet. It is the only thing that matters to me and at the end of the night if we win”, warned Mark Dorris.
Mark Dorris: I Had Some Good And Bad Games And Kind Of Fizzled Out At The End
Mark Dorris is a 25 year old 188 cm guard playing in Germany in the BEKO BBL for Phoenix Hagen. He was born and raised in
Cincinnati, Ohio and visited Princeton high school. He then attended St. Catharine College for a year before transfering to Marshall where he played from 2005-2008. In his senior year, he played 30 games averaging 13.6ppg, 4.0rpg, 2.4apg, 1.8spg, FGP: 39.1%, 3Pts: 34.3%, FT: 75.9%.For Cuxhaven, he played 29 games: 18.3ppg, 4.8rpg, 3.7apg, Steals-3(2.3spg), FGP: 55.4%, 3PT: 26.7%, FT: 77.3%. He signed with BEKO BBL team Phoenix Hagen last season and played 34 games averaging 15.3ppg, 3.0rpg, 3.6apg, 1.4spg, FGP: 49.0%, 3PT: 24.4%, FT: 72.8%. Matk took some time to talk to German Hoops about basketball.
Where are you at the moment?
I am back home in Cincinnati seeing my family and friends.
Mark Dorris(Phoenix Hagen) Looking To Quickly Take A Leadership Role
Mark Dorris is a 188 cm guard playing in Germany in the BEKO BBL for Phoenix Hagen. He was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio and visited Princeton high school. He then attended St. Catharine College for a year before transfering to Marshall where he played from 2005-2008. In his senior year, he played 30 games averaging 13.6ppg, 4.0rpg, 2.4apg, 1.8spg, FGP: 39.1%, 3Pts: 34.3%, FT: 75.9%.For Cuxhaven, he played 29 games: 18.3ppg, 4.8rpg, 3.7apg, Steals-3(2.3spg), FGP: 55.4%, 3PT: 26.7%, FT: 77.3%. he recently signed with BEKO BBL team Phoenix Hagen. He took some time to talk to German Hoops about basketball.
Mark thanks for talking to eurobasket.com again. How has your summer been in the States?
1st off thanks for the interview all ways My pleasure to speak to you all.My summer has been Fantastic back home in the States spending as much of my time with my Family and my Royal Team (My Home Friends).
German Hoops 