TJ DiLeo

TJ DiLeo (Telekom Baskets Bonn) Seeing Improvement In The Second Half Of Last Season Gave Me Confidence Coming Into This Season

TJ DiLeo is a 27 year old 190cm guard playing his fifth professional season and second with the Telekom Baskets Bonn (Germany-BBL).Last season with the Telekom Baskets Bonn he played 36 BBL games averaging 4.2ppg, 1.4rpg, 2.4apg; He also played 16 FIBA Europe Cup games averaging 5.1ppg, 2.0rpg, 3.1apg, 1.3spg, FGP: 55.6%, 3PT: 29.4%, FT: 70.0% He played the first three professional seasons with the Giessen 46ers playing 76 Pro A games from 2013-2015 and helping the team move to the BBL in 2015. Last season for GHiessen he played 19 games averaging 5.7ppg, 2.4rpg, 2.3apg, FGP: 38.7%, 3PT: 33.3%, FT: 73.3%. He played at Temple from 2008-2013 playing a total of 126 NCAA games. In 2010, he played for the German U20 National Team in 2010 and played for the European Championships U20 in Croatia playing 9 games: 10.7ppg, 2.9rpg, 1.8apg, 1.1spg, FGP. He spoke to German Hoops about Basketball.

TJ welcome back to Germany. You are playing your fifth season in Germany and second with the Telekom Baskets Bonn. Even though you and your brother are true Americans you also have the German citizenship. Which of you guys has more of a connection to Germany? Is it you simply because you have been here 2 years longer?

Yea, I would say I have more of a connection because I have been here a few years longer, and also because I was born here.

You and your brother will be like neighbors now that he is playing in Cologne. If you had to make a prediction as to who will visit whom most in their city would you take yourself just like you would in a one on one game?

I think I will visit him more, but hopefully our schedules line up so we can see a lot of each other’s games.

How was your summer. Did the summer fly by quickly? What was your most memorable thing that you did in the summer?

Summer was great, but as always, it went by fast. I spent it at home in the states. My most memorable moment was being best man at my friend’s wedding, and getting to roast him during the speech.

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TJ DiLeo (Telekom Baskets Bonn) We All Have Good Attitudes And Know The Sacrifices It Requires To Be A successful Team.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber Post game interview with Telekom Baskets Bonn guard TJ DiLeo in Frankfurt 2017

TJ DiLeo is a 26 year old 190cm guard playing his fourth professional season and first with the Telekom Baskets Bonn (Germany-BBL). He played the first three professional seasons with the Giessen 46ers playing 76 Pro A games from 2013-2015 and helping the team move to the BBL in 2015. Last season for GHiessen he played 19 games averaging 5.7ppg, 2.4rpg, 2.3apg, FGP: 38.7%, 3PT: 33.3%, FT: 73.3%. . He played at Temple from 2008-2013 playing a total of 126 NCAA games. In 2010, he played for the German U20 National Team in 2010 and played for the European Championships U20 in Croatia playing 9 games: 10.7ppg, 2.9rpg, 1.8apg, 1.1spg, FGP. He spoke to German Hoops before the Fiba Europe Cup game against Nanterre in Bonn.

TJ congrats on the 77-76 win against Nanterre in the Fiba Europe Cup competition. How did this win really feel considering your only half way to the Fiba Europe Cup top 4?

I think this win was really good for us mentally. We realize that we still have the second leg to play, but our goal was to go to Nanterre and get a win. Nanterre is a strong team that has played very well at home, so we are happy to be heading back to Bonn next week with a one point advantage.

Nanterre were in front for the most part of the first half, but shortly before the break you took the lead and would hang on to the end. How nerve-wracking was the second half for you personally?

It wasn’t too bad. During the game you forget about the nerves. Also, I knew we have some guys that really step up in important late game situations, so I had confidence.

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TJ DiLeo (Giessen 46ers) Jordan Theodore Is An MVP Candidate Especially Because Of The Season Frankfurt Is Having

TJ DiLeo is a 25 year old 190cm guard from New Jersey that also has the German citizenship and is playing his third professional season and third for the Giessen 46ers this season. As a rookie with Giessen he played 38 games averaging 10.2ppg, 2.8rpg, 2.5apg, 1.3spg, FGP: 48.8%, 3PT: 34.4%, FT: 74.6%. Last season he played 38 games averaging 9.9ppg, 4.1rpg, 3.9apg, 1.6spg, FGP: 50.3%, 3PT: 36.6%, FT: 82.7% He played at Temple from 2008-2013 playing a total of 126 NCAA games. In 2010, he played for the German U20 National Team in 2010 and played for the European Championships U20 in Croatia playing 9 games: 10.7ppg, 2.9rpg, 1.8apg, 1.1spg, FGP. He spoke to eurobasket after the 86-61 loss to the Fraport Skyliners.

T.J thanks for talking to German Hoops. A tough 86-61 loss to the hands of the Fraport Skyliners at home snapping a 4 game winning streak In the third quarter, Giessen was trailing by 10 points and in the fourth quarter halfway through Frankfurt closed the door extending the lead by 20 points. Frankfurt wore Giessen down. Did the last weeks of crunch time wins wear the team down a bit mentally?

I don’t think it was our previous games, more Frankfurt’s style of play. They are a great team. We knew this game would be different than the last few. I actually think learning to win close games will help us in the future, because we undoubtedly will have some more this season. Unfortunately we couldn’t keep it close today

Giessen has a deep rotation and played all 12 players, but the Fraport Skyliners still wore you down. How does the style of the Fraport Skyliners wear teams down?

They are very physical and disciplined. They play hard for 40 minutes, they stick to their principles, and they eventually wear you down. Defensively, their guards are almost unscreenable, and they have great rotations from their bigs and weakside players. Offensively they play their systems very well. Their spacing is good and they have great chemistry especially with their bigs.

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