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Messaging with ZN, I got the bug to get some more info on Elias and my wondeful, amazing, fantastic, sweet, and lovely wife who is a fluent German-speaker tracked down a ton. She summarized the important parts of two articles about Elias, one from last summer (June 2008) and the other from this January. For enquiring minds that want to know. Not a lot of really specific info on Harris, but some interesting bits. My wife wanted me to include the caveat that, despite the fact she watches GU with me, she's not really a basketball person so might not have gotten some of the technical phrasing exactly right in translation.
http://www.aktuell-sport.de/html.php...d/11164/rub/76
June 2008
His parents love bball, too. He started playing at 8 and since then he’s wanted to be in the NBA – he wants to be like Jordan and Magic. One of the biggest talents in Germany, but he still needs to train and develop to get to the NBA. He’s very goal-oriented and trains every day to learn new techniques.
He’s unstoppable driving to the basket because of his explosive leaping ability and speed. He seems much better than any other players because of those qualities. He plays center (PF??) and wing, which gives him enough open space for ‘spontaneous artwork’ at the basket. This impresses the fans and increases his confidence, though he doesn’t let his talent make him arrogant because he knows that he has a long road in front of him to get better. He’s the best player on his team. His motto is ‘live your dream and enjoy the day’. He always tries to stay cool but keep his eyes on his goals and do whatever he needs to do to reach his goals, even the NBA.
Feb 8th 2009
Harris was the player of month for the second time in January. He is also preparing to take the test to pass high school and he has already been thinking about going to college in the U.S. In Jan, he averaged 18.2 points and 10.4 rebounds a game. He’s glad of this because he wants to leave his home country when he is at the top of his game.
Until last summer, he played PF most of the time, but these days he’s been playing the wing since he has an eye towards his future. He plays the wing well. His coach says that with his athleticism, he’s also dangerous from the outside (not sure if this means 3-pt shooting or driving from the perimiter or both). Elias adapted to the speed of the smaller, faster wings well through his excellent foot-work and his very developed anticipation of what other players will do. This allows him to make simple passes using his height advantage, but he also knows how to stop drives to the basket well.
With his 2 M height, he’s definitely more of a 3. The coach of the National team (Bauermann) also realizes this. He’s a potential national team member, which is hwy Bauermann trains with him weekly in Heidelberg. He said Elias has a very developed feel for the game. Earlier, Bauermann said, he had the classic problem for a big in that he always wanted to go to the basket, but now they’re working on helping him expand his repertoire. This means that Harris is learning to react more flexibly on defense so he can stop his opponents in different ways. He needs to react faster to his opponent. Bauermann said that for Elias, it’s indispensible that he is challenged on as high a level as possible.
The next level is supposed to be a college in the U.S. Harris just signed his letter of intent with Gonzaga. The last obstacles are a language exam and the question, based on NCAA regulations, whether he would have to sit out for a year. Bauermann said he sees a good chance that Elias won’t have to sit out because he currently plays with Speyer, which doesn’t have any paid foreign players who would fall into the NCAA definition of paid professionals.
June 2008
His parents love bball, too. He started playing at 8 and since then he’s wanted to be in the NBA – he wants to be like Jordan and Magic. One of the biggest talents in Germany, but he still needs to train and develop to get to the NBA. He’s very goal-oriented and trains every day to learn new techniques.
He’s unstoppable driving to the basket because of his explosive leaping ability and speed. He seems much better than any other players because of those qualities. He plays center (PF??) and wing, which gives him enough open space for ‘spontaneous artwork’ at the basket. This impresses the fans and increases his confidence, though he doesn’t let his talent make him arrogant because he knows that he has a long road in front of him to get better. He’s the best player on his team. His motto is ‘live your dream and enjoy the day’. He always tries to stay cool but keep his eyes on his goals and do whatever he needs to do to reach his goals, even the NBA.
Feb 8th 2009
Harris was the player of month for the second time in January. He is also preparing to take the test to pass high school and he has already been thinking about going to college in the U.S. In Jan, he averaged 18.2 points and 10.4 rebounds a game. He’s glad of this because he wants to leave his home country when he is at the top of his game.
Until last summer, he played PF most of the time, but these days he’s been playing the wing since he has an eye towards his future. He plays the wing well. His coach says that with his athleticism, he’s also dangerous from the outside (not sure if this means 3-pt shooting or driving from the perimiter or both). Elias adapted to the speed of the smaller, faster wings well through his excellent foot-work and his very developed anticipation of what other players will do. This allows him to make simple passes using his height advantage, but he also knows how to stop drives to the basket well.
With his 2 M height, he’s definitely more of a 3. The coach of the National team (Bauermann) also realizes this. He’s a potential national team member, which is hwy Bauermann trains with him weekly in Heidelberg. He said Elias has a very developed feel for the game. Earlier, Bauermann said, he had the classic problem for a big in that he always wanted to go to the basket, but now they’re working on helping him expand his repertoire. This means that Harris is learning to react more flexibly on defense so he can stop his opponents in different ways. He needs to react faster to his opponent. Bauermann said that for Elias, it’s indispensible that he is challenged on as high a level as possible.
The next level is supposed to be a college in the U.S. Harris just signed his letter of intent with Gonzaga. The last obstacles are a language exam and the question, based on NCAA regulations, whether he would have to sit out for a year. Bauermann said he sees a good chance that Elias won’t have to sit out because he currently plays with Speyer, which doesn’t have any paid foreign players who would fall into the NCAA definition of paid professionals.
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