Johann Grünloh (18) is on a roll. On Wednesday, national basketball coach Gordon Herbert (64) nominated the giant talent (2.11 meters) from Rasta Vechta for the national team for the first time. “Everyone here is very happy for Johann,” says club boss Stefan Niemeyer (63). “So far he has always made good use of the opportunities that have come his way. Now comes another one that he absolutely deserves.”
But the European Championship qualification with the DBB is not the only…
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For the top game on Sunday (5 p.m., WELT TV) between the surprise newcomer and Alba Berlin, four scouts from the NBA are coming to the town of 34,000 in Lower Saxony to take a closer look at Grünloh live – including the draw Angeles Lakers, the club of superstar Lebron James (39)!
Lebron club hot for Rasta talent!
In addition, scouts from the Broolyn Nets, New Orleans Pelicans and Charlotte Hornets have reserved seats in the sold-out Rasta Dome (3,140 seats). Particularly spicy: Hornets scout Yassin Idbihi (40) played for Alba from 2010 to 2013 – now he is examining the opponent’s greatest talent.
On June 26th and 27th, the annual award ceremony for college and young players for the NBA (“Draft”) will take place at the Barclays Center in New York. It remains to be seen whether Grünloh can be put on the list this year. Because: Each player only has one chance to be drafted by a club. Anyone who didn’t take the contract will have to fight their way through as a free agent later.
The last German to be drafted as one of the first ten players was 2021 World Cup hero Franz Wagner (22/Orlando Magic). Gold colleague Justus Hollatz (22/Anadolu Efes Istanbul), on the other hand, withdrew twice at the last minute. He only wanted to take the risk if an NBA club had expressed binding interest in advance…
Nerves are on edge Ulm star kicks opponents in the back
Source: Image February 7, 2024
Grünloh (favorite club Dallas Mavericks) thinks similarly. The first priority for him this spring is the Abitur (advanced courses: History & Geography) at the Antonianum in Vechta: “First of all, I want to finish the season, do my Abitur and continue to establish myself in the Bundesliga. The BBL is in the foreground. I’m not thinking about the NBA at the moment.”
What makes Grünloh tick is also shown by the fact that he does not have an external player agent. He is planning his sporting future with Rasta’s sports director Gerrit Kersten-Thiele (43)! He praises: “Johann shows us a top work attitude every day.”
This is also reflected in the numbers: Grünloh scored an average of 7.2 points per game in his first season in the Easycredit BBL. However, his greatest strength is collecting rebounds (5.2 rebounds) and defending his own basket (1.2 blocks). For comparison: Dirk Nowitzki (45) played with Würzburg in the second division when he was 18. World Cup star Dennis Schröder (30) scored 2.6 points in the first league in Braunschweig at the same age.
2024-02-08 17:00:27
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