QJ Peterson is a rookie guard playing in the Czech Republic. A scorer by nature, he's averaging 23.2 points 8 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game in the National Basketball League, the top division in the Czech Republic. Peterson graduated from Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in 2017, where he averaged 19.5 points per game over the course of his four-year career at VMI. We talked to him about his experience so far this season.
What team do you play for in the Czech Republic, and where in the country is it located? I play for Usk Praha Owls, which is located in Prague, Czech Republic. Are there any other Americans on your team? There is one other American on the team, Cadarian Raines. What's the level of play like in the NBL? (Czech Republic's top division) I think the level of play is better in the NBL than at VMI. It's a faster and more physical game.
Brose Baskets has announced their signing of former NBA player Dorell Wright. Wright comes to Germany after starting the season with Igokea of the Adriatic League.
Wright was averaging nearly 27 points per game in four games played for Igokea, which is located in Bosnia and Herzegovina, this season. The swingman is best known from his NBA days, having played with the Heat from 2004-2010, the Warriors from 2010-2012, the 76ers from 2012-2013 and the Trail Blazers from 2013-2015, putting up a career-high 16.4 points per game with the Warriors during the 2010-2011 season.
Brose Baskets will hope Wright can bring that scoring to the club, which will need him not only in the Basketball Bundesliga but in Euroleague play as well, where they have started off 1-2 in their group. A hero in last year's NCAA Tournament, Nigel Williams-Goss is this week's BOTW after stuffing the stat sheet in his team's latest game against Igokea. Williams-Goss hit 10 of this 13 shots from the field as he dropped 30 points and dished out eight dimes in Partizan's 117-104 win. He doubled his ABA Liga scoring average of 14.4 points per game and has had a strong start to his first professional season, which makes him an easy choice for Baller of the Week.
Jason Love is back in the Ukraine. The center has reportedly been picked up by Ukrainian club BC Khimik, which is the same team he played for during the second half of the 2016-2017 season. After starting the season in Turkey with TED Ankara Kolejliler, Love joined Khimik in December of 2016 and made an immediate impact, averaging 11.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in the Ukrainian Superleague and being selected to the Superleague All-Star Game. Love should help the team this eyar not only in the Superleague but also in the FIBA Europe Cup, where Khimik has started 0-1 in their group with Demir Istanbul (Turkey), Sigal Prishtina (Kosovo) and Belfius Mons-Hainaut (Belgium - Love also played here from 2013-2015).
Baller of the Week takes us to Norway, where former Harvard star Evan Harris showed us that he's more than just brains, dropping a 30 spot against Baerum Basket in the BLNO, the top division in Norway.
The 31-year-old center showed that he's still got some game with a boatload of rebounds and 5 dimes to go along with hitting 10 of his 14 shots from the floor in Nidaro's 90-81 victory. Harris played most recently in Japan, but seems to be acclimating well to Norwegian basketball...at least enough to our Baller of the Week!
Spain is next on our list! Look out for these five Americans hooping it up in Spain's ACB Liga, otherwise known as Liga Endesa.
Sylven Landesberg - Movistar Estudiantes
After a solid season with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel, Landesberg has been on fire with his new team, averaging 19.8 points in five games across all competitions for Movistar Estudiantes. The shooting guard is known for his scoring, and his great start in one of the world's best leagues has him as one to watch this season.
Gary Neal - CAI Zaragoza
Since Spain is known for having one of the best basketball leagues in the world, there are a lot of former (or future) NBA players among the ranks of Liga ACB. One of these big names is former NBA player Gary Neal. Best known for his days playing for the San Antonio Spurs (2010-2013), Neal will be playing in his first season since the 2009-2010 season when he played for Unicaja Malaga in Spain. It's a well-known fact that the sharpshooter began his pro career abroad, playing in three different countries from 2007-2010. He's off to a great start for Zaragoza, averaging 14.7 points per game to start the season.
After a long offseason, Baller of the Week is back! Our inaugural BOTW is swingman Sammy Mejia, who plays for Tofa in the Turkish Basketball Super League, the top division in Turkey.
Mejia stuffed the stat sheet for his club in their dominating 97-81 win over Darussafaka in the first game of the Turkish BSL season, shooting 7-of-10 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from three point range. The big game from the DePaul grad impressed us enough make him the first Baller of the Week for the 2017-2018 season! |