Pic credit. Next Gen Euroleague

The Skyliners biggest German prospect at the moment is Jamie Edoka (195-G-2008) who recently turned 18 years old. He made his easyCredit BBL debut last season and played 4 games and this season so far has played only 1 BBL game. At the same time he is one of the main players and leaders of the Pro B team Skyliners Juniors and NBBL (u-19) team. That is a heavy load, but recently his games plan was heightened as he was invited to play at the well known Next Gen Euroleague. It is a tournament played every year over the course of a weekend where the worlds best young prospects play against each other. This year´s tournament was held in Ulm at the Orange academy which is where the farm team of ratiopharm Ulm train and play their Pro B games. Edoka also trains at an incredible facility in Frankfurt, but seeing something new in Ulm was refreshing. “It is really a cool campus. They have very good training facilities. They have 3 courts and 1 main one. The locker rooms are also great. Everything was run very professionally. We stayed at a top hotel, good meals and getting around was top as well. Adidas did a really good job. The atmosphere was amazing as well. It was busiest at mid day for the games”, remembered Jamie Edoka.

The young guard who likes to observe Maodo Lo video´s came to Ulm with high expectations as any young prospect would. He was having a very potent season in the Pro B and NBBL and wanted to keep the groove going at Next Gen Euroleagiue. “My goal was simple. I wanted to be able to show my abilities on a big stage and show guys my age how good I am”, stressed Jamie Edoka. One of the things that players have to deal with when playing at Next gen Euroleague is getting shuffled together with many guys and having to find team chemistry rapidly. “It is tough coming together with new guys and trying to build chemistry in such a short time. We had a new coach and had to learn new plays. I feel like at times we were able to show chemistry. We did the best that we could”, said Jamie Edoka.

pic credit: Next Gen Euroleague

The first game for Jamie Edoka was against Ratiopharm Ulm where they lost in nail bitter fashion 75-73. It was a game where his team had to fight the whole game trying to get back over the hump. “We didn´t start well. We were always down 10 points, but never stopped fighting. We got close at the end, but lost. Despite the loss we won the last 3 quarters after losing the 1 quarter so something positive came out of it”, added Jamie Edoka. Despite the loss, he had a super game of 20/5/3/1. He also shot well from the parking lot at 2/5. “I found my flow in the second half. When I´m able to find my flow, there aren´t many guys that can stop me”, stressed Jamie Edoka. In the game, he battled other big Polish prospect Teo Milicic who had a great game as well with 21 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocks. “Teo is also a really good player. He has been a bit off the radar, but he has shown his abilities really well this season. He is also a really good friend of mine and I´m really happy for his success”, commented Jamie Edoka. This season the paths of Edoka and Millicic have gone different ways. Whereas Edoka hasn´t found into the Skyliners BBL rotation, Milicic has as he began extremely hot in the Pro B at Orange Academy and was promoted on November 1st and since has played 11 BBL games and 10 Eurocup games averaging 8 and 10 minutes in each competition. Does it bother him that Milicic has made the jump quicker to the BBL than he has? Are the Skyliners simply filled with too many guards? “Not at all. I´m really so happy for Teo that he has gotten this great chance to showcase his abilities and make the most of it. I just see it now as not having received my chance yet from the Skyliners. I don´t let that get me down. It actually motivates me more to keep working harder so I can get that BBL opportunity again. My main goal is to play at the highest level”, warned Jamie Edoka.

The fast guard with the lethal drive who lists ex NBA player Carson Edwards as his toughest cover so far in his career got his first win in the second game against Cedevita 74-72. “That was another close game. This was a really good team win. We played together very well as a team and played totally unselfish”, stated Jamie Edoka. He filled the stat sheet as usual with a 12/7/5 game, but wasn´t able to find his groove from downtown shooting 1/6. “I wasn´t so happy about my game. I didn´t hit well from outside. I needed to score more. But at the end of the day, I feel I helped the team in other ways”, expressed Jamie Edoka. His three point shooting percentages at the moment are worse in the Pro B and NBBL than last year, but he isn´t letting that misfortune affect him. “Of course it is annoying when you work hard on your shot, but don´t see the results in games. I´m shooting more three´s than last season. I just need to keep working hard and get in my reps. I won´t let my percentages get me down”, warned Jamie Edoka. Is it more mental or shot selection or his mechanics that has led to his current percentages? “I think that it is a mix of shot selection and my mechanics. I believe that I take good shots and I´m working on my mechanics with many coaches. I always believe that I can make shots”, warned Jamie Edoka.

Jamie Edoka with the montrous dunk against FC Bayern Basket

He only played 10 minutes in the third game against Milan which they lost 93-68. He had to leave the game hurt and also wasn´t able to suit up for the game for 7th place against Olympiakos which they were able to win 89-77 and end the tournament in 7th place. That game had a major challenge as it was played at 9:00Am. “It was really tough to play so early. We only played with 9 guys as 3 guys including myself were out. Despite the early start time, Everybody played hard and gave their best”, stated Jamie Edoka. With one close loss, the team could have gone farther in the tournament, but all in all it was a solid showing. “I think that we could have gone further. Had we beat Milan, we could have become first. You can never totally predict how far one can go, but it happened how it happened”, said Jamie Edoka. He had many great teammates and even one he knew well with Marko Petric of Wurzburg and a coach in ex Euroleague player Dogus Balbay from whom he could learn much from. “Marko and I roomed together at the Euro U-16. He is a big strong wing that can dribble well and is very versatile. His shot making ability is his biggest strength. Coach Balbay has a lot of experience. He told us a lot about his playing career. He really knows the game. The most important thing I took from him was this phrase. You don´t have to do 1000 things once, but 1 thing a 1000 times”, stressed Jamie Edoka. His stat line after 3 games at Next Gen Euroleague was 12,0ppg, 4,3rpg and 3,3apg while shooting 27% from outside. “I´m not completely happy with how I played. I only played 2,5 games. I definitely had some good phases, but I could have done more. I can´t change anything now”, added Jamie Edoka. Were there any players that stuck out to him? “There were some players that stuck out. Obviously Teo Milicic, but there were others as well like Leonard Kroger of Paderborn, Cameron Houindo of Cedevita, Vuk Danilovic of Mega Super and another German player Felix Kiehlneker of Orange Academy”, said Jamie Edoka. It will be interesting to see where the development of Edoka and Milicic continues to go this season How much does a player like Milicic motivate him every day? “I think that we motivate each other a lot. We have competed against each other for years and see each other often. To see how he has improved so much adds that extra motivation to continue to get better”, warned Jamie Edoka. The 2 good friends will meet again in Los Angeles this weekend at the NBA allstar game for the Basketball Without Boarders Camp. “I´m really glad and thankful for the invitation. I´m looking forward to competing against and with good players from around the world. I would like to meet Lebron James”, stressed Jamie Edoka. They will gather moments to serve a lifetime.