A number of the European Basketball Leagues began at the weekend and two of them the German Bundesliga and the Italian League featured Kiwi internationals debuting for their respective clubs.
It was mixed news from Germany for Tai Webster and Isaac Fotu.
Webster was making his debut in the colours of Frankfurt Skyliners and his 15 points contributed to a solid 82-70 away win at Jena for the Skyliners.
Webster committed a nervy 5 turnovers, understandable in his first professional game, but more than made up for those errors as he added 4 rebounds, a couple of steals and a game high 7 assists to his points haul in 30 minutes of impressive action.
It wasn’t such good news for Fotu who, after three seasons playing in Spain, was making his debut in Germany for Ratiopharm Ulm. A costly third period lost 25-14 by Ulm, in front of a sold out home crowd, was a major contributor to a 68-72 defeat.
Fotu, like Webster, was inserted into the starting five and played 26 minutes – the Tall Blacks forward scored 6 points (3/6FG) and notched 4 rebounds.
Jillian Harmon is entering her eighth season playing in the highly regarded Italian League.
The Tall Ferns forward has transferred from defending champions Le Mura Lucca to join Napoli and marked her debut for her new club with a fine double double of 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Harmon also added 6 assists as Napoli won 64-58 at San Martino to get Napoli’s season off to a winning start.
Corey Webster has another week to wait before he makes his debut for Ironi Nahariya with the Israeli League commencing October 8th.
LACEY LOWDOWN 