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Player’s Perspective: Eric Kibi Part I

As a new addition to Fullcourt.dk we’ve given the players an opportunity to give a player’s perspective on what’s going on in the league from their point of view. First up is Eric Kibi from Randers Cimbria, who has a Major in Journalism.

What’s up everyone,

Hope the basketball community is enjoying the on-going Basketligaen playoffs. I will start by introducing myself and then speak a little bit about what I will be doing for Fullcourt.dk.

My name is Eric Kibi, I’m a 26 year old Forward from Ottawa, Canada with origins from the Democratic Republic of Congo. I just finished my fifth professional season overall and my first season here in Denmark playing for Randers Cimbria. Prior to Denmark I played three years in Germany as well as places like places like Montenegro, China, Luxembourg and also my domestic league, the National Basketball League of Canada.

Journalism Major

Prior to starting my professional basketball career I split my time in high school between Canada and a prep school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Upon my high school graduation I spent two seasons at Jacksonville Junior College in East Texas followed by a year at Arkansas Little-Rock University and another at Abilene Christian University, both Division 1 schools.

In University I was a Journalism Major, which leads me to talk about what I will be doing here at Fullcourt.dk Upon the conclusion of our season I was approached with a very interesting opportunity by Aske [Strandbygaard, editor of Basketligaen, red.] to blog about the On-Going Danish Ligaen playoffs from a Player’s perspective.

Since I’ve decided to spend another month or so in Denmark before returning home I found it very convenient to take on this opportunity. With me being a journalism major, I love to write and obviously I love the game of basketball so it’s a perfect opportunity to combine both of my passions and keep working on my portfolio for life after basketball when that time comes. I’ve also written blogs in the past for Canada Basketball and I am also in the process of writing a book but that’s a story for another blog.

The playoff run that never happened

Now back to basketball! Unfortunately our season here in Randers ended abruptly on Tuesday night with a Game 3, one point heartbreaking-loss to the defending Champions, Horsens. Game 3 was probably our best defensive game of the season and it was the type defensive effort that we had been searching for all series, unfortunately it came a little too late.

Horsens obviously dominated the first two games of the series. We had a hard time adjusting to their tempo and kept shooting ourselves in the foot with our own turnovers. All season we’ve been a very offensive oriented team so scoring has never been a problem but defence has always been our Achilles heel.

Game 3 started off very well on offence and defence which led us to have a 2 point lead at half and then a ten point lead going into the fourth quarter. Unfortunately our turnovers let Horsens back into the game and this created a thrilling finish for the fans. In my personal opinion there were some questionable calls in the end that could’ve gone either way but in the end you can never blame the referees.

We put ourselves in this situation in the first place by blowing a 10 point fourth quarter lead and eventually losing by one point after a back and forth last two minutes. Congratulations to the Horsens organization. All year it’s been impressive to see how organized and unselfish they’ve played, best of luck to them the rest of the playoffs.

Denmark is a great place

Every season I can say it never gets easier to end the season without a championship. I came to Denmark in August 2016 after losing in Game 7 of the NBL Canada Championship in Mid-June so it’s definitely tough to end this season as well on a sour note. With that being said, I’ve truly enjoyed my time here in Randers.

The organization has a very small, family atmosphere. The people in the organization have really taken care of us foreigners and made us feel welcome. Of course there were many frustrating moments during the season but I’ve built some relationships that’ll last me a life time, especially with my guy Tat Tucker.

I’m also very thankful for the opportunity to have played with a successful group of veterans like Charlie [Burgess, red.] and Bo [Colas, red.] that I was able to learn so much from. Being here just one season made me realize why so many Americans end up staying for so many years.

I can truly say that I’ve loved my time in Denmark and I would be very open to returning to Denmark next season or in the future. Hope you’ve enjoyed my first blog and I will be back with a few more throughout these playoffs before I head back to Canada.

Cheers.

Foto: Boba Keseric, Fullcourt.dk

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