Interview with Derwin Kitchen, Maccabi Rishon - Feb 3, 2012 (by Amir Fleischman)
Derwin Kitchen (193-G-86, agency: VVG Sports, college: Florida St.) , the premier league's MVP in January, turned Maccabi Rishon into the hottest team of the league
Derwin, after a slow start Maccabi Rishon has become a pleasant surprise with a 6-win strike. What's the reason for that?
At the beginning nobody knew each other very well. The more we played together and got to know each other, the more the team took shape and now we have better understanding of each player's role [read more]
Derwin Kitchen (193-G-86, agency: VVG Sports, college: Florida St.) , the premier league's MVP in January, turned Maccabi Rishon into the hottest team of the league
Derwin, after a slow start Maccabi Rishon has become a pleasant surprise with a 6-win strike. What's the reason for that? At the beginning nobody knew each other very well. The more we played together and got to know each other, the more the team took shape and now we have better understanding of each player's role.
The most surprising thing in your winning strike and performance is that you managed to do so without your main player, Brandon Bowman (sidelined due to an injury). How do you explain that? Bowman's injury affected us tremendously. He is our best player. We had no choice but to work harder, put an extra effort and lift ourselves every one of us in terms of ability and professional attitude.
Speaking about lifting yourself, you have personally shined in January with outstanding performance (25.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5 assists per game, 37.7 weighted index rating). How's that? My teammates believe in me, and I should admit that I took advantage of the fact that our opponents usually concentrate on Joe (Crawford) and Adrian (Uter). I had opportunities to exploit, and that's what I did.
How's the atmosphere in the team? The atmosphere is really good. We get along very well, local and foreign players alike. We play together and hang out together. There is really no bad energy here, and that helps a lot.
What is your overall impression of the level of the Israeli premier league? Having played college basketball up until not long ago, the basketball level here is good and definitely competitive.
It's your first year outside the USA as a professional basketball player. How's the experience so far? It is nothing but exciting.
And life in Israel? I love Israel. I'm originally from Florida, and the weather here reminds me of home. My friends really envy me for playing here.
Maccabi Rishon has recently reached the Israeli state cup semi-finals. What do you think your chances are of going all the way and winning the cup? We have a chance to take it, but I can assure you it will not be easy.
Basketball wise, what is your dream?
Man, I'm living my dream every day. I wanted to make a living out of basketball, and that's exactly what I do.
Chaisson Allen Leaves Galil/Gilboa, Joins Karsiyaka - Feb 3, 2012 (by David Pick)
Altshuler Saham Galil/Gilboa released it's 22-year-old American Rookie point guard Chaisson Allen of Northeastern University. The young guard who began the season as a starter, slowly saw his playing minutes decreasing when signs of on-court adjusting difficulties began to appear. Shortly after, Galil signed Chris Thomas, resulting into Allen playing spotty minutes. However, Allen still managed to post decent plus averages of 11.7ppg, 3.6rpg and 3 [read more]
Altshuler Saham Galil/Gilboa released it's 22-year-old American Rookie point guard Chaisson Allen of Northeastern University. The young guard who began the season as a starter, slowly saw his playing minutes decreasing when signs of on-court adjusting difficulties began to appear. Shortly after, Galil signed Chris Thomas, resulting into Allen playing spotty minutes. However, Allen still managed to post decent plus averages of 11.7ppg, 3.6rpg and 3.7rpg in the Domestic League, and 8.8ppg, 3.3rpg, 1.8apg during the team's Balkan League competition.
Eurobasket was told Allen is to continue his pro career in Turkey, playing for Karsiyaka.
Micov leads Cantu to 82-74 win against Maccabi - Feb 3, 2012 (by Eurobasket News )
Bennet Cantu - Maccabi T-A 82-74
Both teams had 1-1 record in Group H of the Euroleague Top 16 before this meeting. Bennet Cantu won every single quarter to beat Maccabi Electra 82-74 on Thursday night. Vladimir Micov (203-F-85, agency: Beo Basket) stepped up for the home squad with 17 points and 9 assists (valuation 24). Gianluca Basile (192-G-75) had 14 points, Giorgi Shermadini (216-C-89) (5 rebs) scored 13 and Manuchar Markoishvili (196-G-86) followed them with 11 points, plus 7 rebounds [read more]
Bennet Cantu - Maccabi T-A 82-74
Both teams had 1-1 record in Group H of the Euroleague Top 16 before this meeting. Bennet Cantu won every single quarter to beat Maccabi Electra 82-74 on Thursday night. Vladimir Micov (203-F-85, agency: Beo Basket) stepped up for the home squad with 17 points and 9 assists (valuation 24). Gianluca Basile (192-G-75) had 14 points, Giorgi Shermadini (216-C-89) (5 rebs) scored 13 and Manuchar Markoishvili (196-G-86) followed them with 11 points, plus 7 rebounds. In Maccabi, Keith Langford (193-G/F-83, college: Kansas) top-scored with 16 points (5 rebs). Their best player was Richard Hendrix (203-F/C-86, college: Alabama) with 15 points and 7 boards (valuation 27, MVP). Third scorers in defeat were Demond Mallet (186-G-78, agency: Higher Vision Sports, college: McNeese St.) and Sofoklis Schortsanitis (206-C-85) with only 8 pts each. Cantu had 10-point lead at the beginning of the last quarter and Maccabi closed the gap to four few minutes later. Richard Hendrix denied Giorgi Shermadini once more, so Cantu went to the bench for Marconato, who scored to make it 72-66. Mallet tried a triple that went in and out and instead Gianluca Basile nailed his fourth three to swing the pendulum back to Cantu, 75-68. Cantu jumped to plus 10 after that and question about the winner was resolved. Quarters: 23-20, 26-24, 17-16, 16-14. Maccabi will be the host against Cantu next week.
Copyright (c) 1998-2012 Eurobasket Inc. Disclaimer
WARNING:
Do not copy, redistribute, publish or otherwise exploit information that you download from the site !
Do not encumber, license, modify, publish, sell, transfer or transmit, or in any way exploit, any of the
content of the site, nor will you attempt to do so.
