Ich .. Bin .. Ein .. Berlinerrr ....

Het is Paas weekend en zo na iets van 25 jaar ben ik thuis te vinden
Iszzzz da goeddddddd  .. of sleeegte .....
Het is hoe je het bekijkt ...
Is de glas vol ... of
Is de glas leeg

Eeeehhh .. het zij zo en waar gaat het om .. vraagen  jullie , maar ikke ook af ,  waar het aftellen
al lang geleden is gedaan en het tijd loopt af.

Zo is men druk doende naar toe leven en zeker onze Oranje Lions
eehhh .... Grrrrrraaaaaaaaaaauwwwwwww  ....
eeehhh   .... Bruuuuuuuuulllll .....
Toch

Maar het elkaar niet onder doen strakjes in de Poules Des Doodszzz .. in Berlin
in Groep B ..
Zo heeft Dimitris Kontos al weer een geweldige stukje staan op de web site van
fibaeurope.com over Niels Giffy ... Der Manschaft en dat in Hoofdstad Berlin ,
waar hij geboren en getogen is en waar ik me zelf  mag noemen ook naar
Ich Bin Ein Berliner ... waar ik al 20 x op bezoek ben geweest prive en al zeker 17 x voor
een groot internationale basketball toernooi met Pinksteren in Zhelendorff.

Daarom wilde ik het onderstaande stukje met jullie mee delen en dank voor het gebruik voor
www.fibaeurope.com


The nice words and photo below is from the pen of Dimitris Kontos and is from the
web site of
www.fibaeurope.com

GIFFEY RETURNS HOME FOR EUROBASKET

German forward Niels Giffey

By Dimitris Kontos 

If Berliner Niels Giffey did not have prior commitments this weekend as a professional basketball player, he could share days' worth of invaluable insight with European fans who follow the NCAA Final Four.

The 23-year-old German international has had what can only be described as a dream college career, by any standard.

Giffey both commenced and concluded his four-year spell at UConn Huskies (University of Connecticut) by lifting an NCAA title.

In 2011, the Alba Berlin small forward was member of the championship-winning team which was led by current Charlotte Hornets star Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb, now of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Giffey struggled with injuries the two seasons that followed but, in 2014, he scored a career-high 24 points to lead his team pastMemphis Tigers in the semi-final, for Uconn to go on and beatKentucky in the title game.

Vast rowdy crowds in great arenas, mesmerising atmosphere, US media attention and perhaps more importantly earning hero status among your fellow college students are obviously experiences that any young player who wins an NCAA trophy will treasure for life.

But what degree of adjustment awaits a European young player who tasted the highest level in college basketball when he signs his first professional contract with a top club that competes in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague?

"I am still adapting even to the little things, like practising twice a day," Giffey told fibaeurope.com

"I think I am getting better and better now to adjusting to the frequent travels, longer season.

"The coaches' approach [at Alba] is so different to college, my team-mates are very different, but I think I am doing well so far and all this process is only going to make me improve."

And when it comes to what actually takes place on the court, differences between the college game and style of play in Europe are even more considerabel.

"In the Euroleague, and in the BBL (Beko Bundesliga) too, the game is a little slower in the open court, but it's much, much faster in half court," Giffey explains.

"You have more screens, more pick'n'rolls, more things happen at any one time.

"Teams are really deeper and, obviously people are more mature, so not the first open shot always goes up, you have more ball movement.

"I had to adapt to [all these things] because in college you probably had two or three good guys but you also had five inexperienced guys.

"You just cannot make mistakes in the Euroleague, there is a very small margin, otherwise you will get punished."

Giffey is not among those culpable of committing many mistakes, despite going through this adaptation progress in his rookie season as a professional.

He is averaging 7.1 points on 47.3% shooting and 2.6 rebounds for joint league leaders Alba in the Beko BBL, while he contributes 5.2 points on a superb 40.5% from three-point range in the Euroleague, together with 2.4 boards per game.

Not every step of the way has been bump-free since he returned back home in July, this time as a professional player, but the season is going more or less according to plan.

Niels Giffey will be playing in his home-town Berlin with EuroBasket 2015 co-hosts Germany

"Returning home was a lot of fun, because I knew I could play in front of friends and family and after being on a different continent for four years that was pretty special," Giffey said.

"But also it brought some pressure with it, because you want to be the hometown hero, you want things to be perfect, but not everything can always go your way.

"I think though that as a team we've had some success this year, people did not expect us to be at this level in the Euroleague and we have to be grateful for having these experiences, like competing with teams like Real Madrid who are probably Final Four candidates.

"Playing in these big Euroleague games is a great experience, especially for a young player like me."

Another huge experience awaits Giffey in September, again in his hometown, as Berlin will set the stage for EuroBasket 2015 Group B where Germany hope to overcome at least two out of Serbia, Spain, Turkey, Italy or Iceland in order to advance to the second round.

Giffey missed out on last summer's qualification campaign but he clarifies that he is now eager to play for the national team at the EuroBasket.

"[Last summer] I had the chance to go to the [NBA] Summer League and try out and I also had some personal issues that I had to take care off, so I decided I needed to take a little break to give my body a bit of rest," the young player explains.

"But this summer, I definitely, definitely (he stresses) want to play with the national team because two years ago it was a huge chance for me," Giffey adds, in reference to his debut tournament with the senior national team, EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia.

The Alba small forward has already talked with Germany head coach Chris Fleming and although he will not go into details about the role that awaits him on the EuroBasket squad, he reveals that the national team expect him to contribute to the cause primarily with his shooting ability.

Giffey knows that he is valued by Germany as an excellent long-range shooter and this assurance is already a strong motivational factor for a youngster, but there is something bigger than that.

It is the prospect of playing alongside Dirk Nowitzki, if the German legend finally does decide he will return to the national team after four years, intrigued by the idea of playing at a EuroBasket in front of the Berlin crowd.

"It's so exciting, I really want to learn from him," Giffey said with a wide smile.

"It would be really amazing for all of us, given his experience and his style of play.

"Working out with him on a daily basis and just have this experience would be amazing for me, and I think it would be great for every young guy on the national team."

"Of course it will still be a tough group, we've got the Turkish guys, the Spanish, all these good teams, it's really tough.

"[But] it's at home, so we have to fight even harder, we have to do our very best."

Door LuluHoops