Trentonian Photo/GREGG SLABODA
While most college basketball players work on their games over the summer in hot, empty gyms or in local summer leagues, Princeton forward Hans Brase found a bigger stage to keep his skills sharp.
The rising sophomore traveled to Tallinn, Estonia, to represent Germany in FIBA’s U20 European Championship. With Brase averaging 5.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest, the German squad eventually placed 11th out of 20 teams, ahead of some traditional European basketball powers like Croatia and Serbia.
“Individually I feel good about my experience,” Brase said Sunday. “I definitely learned a lot and saw a whole different lifestyle and basketball game. Like every new experience, it had its ups and downs, but overall I think that every day I was abroad helped me in some way.”
Having advanced past the first group stage of the tournament with wins over Serbia and Georgia, the Germans looked like a serious threat to advance into the quarterfinals after beating Turkey in the second group stage. Three consecutive losses to Croatia, Montenegro and France ended that hope, but they were able to rebound and beat Croatia in the 11th-place game.
“Any time you can beat very respected teams like Turkey, Croatia, Serbia all in one tournament you are doing pretty well,” Brase said. “Of course we felt that if a few plays would have changed here and there we could have made it in the quarterfinals as well as make a run at the championship. Sadly, it didn’t happen but still 11th place is nothing to be upset about. It just shows how strong the competition is in Europe because every team that was there was top notch.”
For American basketball fans, the most high-profile name in the tournament was perhaps Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was drafted 15th overall in this year’s NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. Brase got to see more of Antetokounmpo than he probably would have liked, as the 6-foot-10 scored 20 points against Germany in the opening round.
“I remember him very well as we also played against Greece in an earlier tournament in France,” Brase said of Antetokounmpo. “He is a great player and has freaky potential. I actually got to know him pretty well as we stayed in the same hotel and we spoke a lot about the NBA and America. He is a really down to earth kid and will be very good in a few years.”
Brase holds dual-citizenship, having been born in Charlottesville, Va., to German parents before moving back to Germany until he was about 3 years old. Growing up in Clover, S.C., his parents spoke both German and English around the house, so after a brief readjustment period he didn’t have too much trouble communicating with his German teammates.
Though Brase was the only American-born player on the German team, he also wasn’t the only one to have played American college basketball. The squad also featured UConn’s Leon Tolksdorf, as well as Alexander Blessig, who was a member of the Florida Gulf Coast team that made a surprise run to the Sweet 16 last season.
“Leon and Alex were great to have because we could talk a lot about college and March Madness and everything,” Brase said. “Alex was my roommate for a lot of the trip and we spoke at length about their run to the Sweet 16 and at length about the differences with European basketball and American.”
As a freshman last season, Brase was a pleasant surprise for Princeton, averaging 5.4 points and 4.2 rebounds while starting 18 games for the Tigers. With the departure of Ivy League Player of the Year Ian Hummer, it stands to reason that he’ll need to play an even bigger role this year for Princeton. Playing against top competition in Europe has given him a more solid idea of where he stands in comparison, and what he needs to continue to work on.
“Simply playing against the high-level competition has allowed me to get more comfortable with the game and playing at such a high level,” he said. “Like always I will need to work on everything as I still have much to learn. I still need to get bigger and stronger in the weight room so I can handle the physicality and get quicker so I can guard smaller quicker players. Also, I need to continue to shoot a lot, work on my post moves, as well as work on my dribbling and passing. Essentially I need to keep working on everything.”
Looking down the line, Brase’s dual-citizenship could lead to opportunities to play professionally in Germany once he graduates. Though he has plenty of basketball to play left to play for the Tigers, the thought has definitely crossed his mind.
“Playing in Germany would also be a huge plus simply because I have a lot of family there that could watch me play for the first time,” he said. “I believe I have made a great first impression with the Germans and if I have the opportunity to play professionally be it in Germany or anywhere that would be a dream come true.”
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