„Derrick misses his boys“

On the seventh EuroLeague gameday, the Bavarians will play against Derrick Williams in a tough road game at Fenerbahçe Istanbul (Friday, 18:45 CET/MagentaSport live). We talked to Alex King in advance: about a special reunion with last year's FCBB-Forward Williams and what to expect against the unexpectedly weak Final-Four-Candidate (Fenerbahce 1-5/FCBB 3-3).

Alex, Fenerbahçe has surprisingly just won one game, which doesn't necessarily make your task any easier, does it?

Alex King: "Of course they have pressure. Recently I saw a tweet from Bogdan Bogdanovic, their former star (now with the Sacramento Kings) where he animated the Fenerbahçe fans and I thought to myself: 'Great, right now before our game comes this motivation'. . . Fenerbahçe of course remains a top team in Europe, with one of the best coaches ever. It's definitely not going to be easy and, like Baskonia, we have to be prepared for it to get heated and physical."

Have you already talked to Derrick about his situation in Istanbul?

"Yes, he likes it there very much. But we talked less about basketball and more about how he likes the city and when we're finally going to play the new 'Call of Duty' on PlayStation. In the preseason we had a bit more contact, because at that point there were a lot of national players missing. . .“

. . ... which may also explain the surprising start of Fenerbahçe?

"I think so. You've seen the same with Real Madrid and other teams that have a lot of international players on their team. So have we. Nevertheless Fenerbahçe is a very good team, everyone knows that."

What else did Derrick say?

"He said that he missed his boys - especially our 'Gang' with Devin Booker, Robin Amaize, Marvin Ogunsipe and me. The advantage here with us in Munich is that it is all very familiar. They accepted him very well into the team in Istanbul, but the atmosphere at Bayern is probably not comparable in general."

 

^{The "Gang" after the Championship victory}

How does the "gang" keep in touch, since you all play somewhere else now?

"A lot on Instagram and WhatsApp of course and we also have our Playstation group and we still talk regularly."

What do you wish your friend Derrick for the rest of the season?

"Of course only the best, but above all that he stays healthy. Derrick is a cool Dude who has introduced himself very well to European basketball and life here, which you rarely see here."

But on Friday the friendship rests.

"Sure, it's always like that, and it was the same with Book when Khimki came. Devin is like a brother to me, but on the court you want to win for your club and everything else is then briefly irrelevant. That will be the same with Derrick now. But then we'll all be friends again."