Intervista esclusiva di Backdoor Podcast a Caleb Homesley, esterno in rampa di lancio degli Hamburg Towers, avversari di Trento nel girone A di Eurocup. Prima nella versione inglese e, nella pagina successiva, tradotte in italiano, ecco le parole di uno dei prospetti più interessanti del basket europeo.
You can hear it from his voice: Caleb Homesley is fully aware of his talent. He’s putting it at the service of Hamburg Towers, german team of Group A of Eurocup 2021/2022. We bet this is only the first step of a great career for Caleb. From Liberty to Bundesliga and Eurocup, statements of a growing champ show his knowledge of basketball and life hacks. Here’s what Homesley told us!
“What’s more important, what you acquire or who you become?”. At which point of your journey do you think you are in this moment?
What you acquire is, ultimately, what you become. The little things that you gain in your life build your experiences and create what you become. I think I’m still learning: I’m acquiring things to make steps in life. I just turned 25, I’m still pretty young. I’m just trying to learn every day different things.
You’ve been named 2020 Atlantic Sun Player of the Year. 30-4 as a record. How big is the regret to not have faced Auburn in that March Madness (cancelled due to Covid-19)? Do you think that the Tournament would have been long for Liberty?
It would have been fun. We’re not gone so far to live the regret: I think things happen for a reason. The world at that time needed to put some distances, we gotta do a step back in Covid time. We were not able to play there but off the court, when you’re not concerned about basketball, I did great steps for my growing life. I think we had a deep firepower. In previous year we were right there, 4/5 possession to go to the Sweet 16. We would have done the right step to climb that goal.
Against Turk Telekom you scored 7/10 behind the arc. Round 9 MVP. 29 points, 11 rebounds, home win. Which do you think is your best strength on basketball court? Which the one you need to improve most?
Honestly for me it’s about offense and defense. About strengths, I try to tie all things together. I think to be a 3 player: I try to pass, score and rebound. On defensive side, I’m a great communicator. I’ve been more on the ball this year than I did in the past: I need to limitate turnovers and find better other guys with right spaces and time.
How is the impact been in Hamburg? How high is the level of European competitions?
I think it’s good: Hamburg did a really good job, especially with me, to make challenges for me to improve through every game. Towers’ staff are putting me on ball more than I ever did: I’m glad they trust me so much. They’re helping me to become a better player. The level is definitely high. Game’s totally different: there’s less space, it’s more physical.
What’s the main difference between USA basketball, Eurocup and Bundesliga? Do you believe in a future return playing in USA, maybe in NBA?
In USA you got more spaces to create different things on the court. Coming over here in BL they pick you up full court, they really try to be aggressive on defense, try to trap you on different things. Eurocup is a little bit different: you need to be locked in, it’s not so much about up-and-down games. It’s more a strategy game. There are so many good players and established teams. I don’t know if that time will come, but I wanna have a shot wheter it comes. For me it’s a 5 year process since I started my college experience: whatever it takes, I’ll believe it.
