09 October, 2018
05 May, 2019
16 Louis Olinde (BAMB)
17/10/2018
David Hein's Champions League Home Grown
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Olinde takes step forward with Bamberg teammates' respect


To help encourage the development of more young local talents, the Basketball Champions League requires its teams to register at least 5 Home Grown Players on the game score sheet (if 11 or more players listed, otherwise 4 if roster has 10 or fewer players). Many of these players are considered top level talents in their respective countries and I will be taking a look at some of them over the course of the season.

BAMBERG (Basketball Champions League) - Louis Olinde has garnered the attention of talent scouts for a couple of years now. But thanks to him gaining the respect of his coaches and teammates at Brose Bamberg, the 20-year-old is nearing a breakout season in the Basketball Champions League.

In Bamberg's BCL opener against Montakit Fuenlabrada, Olinde started and picked up 2 points on a tip-in to go with 3 rebounds and 2 chase-down blocks in 11 minutes. The small forward prospect knows he can do more. Now he is just trying to figure out how to take that next step.


Olinde arrived in Bamberg before the 2016-17 season, leaving the northern German port city of Hamburg for the first time. He was jumping from a third division club SC Rist Wedel to one of the most successful clubs in German history with nine-time German league champion Bamberg.

The 2016 calendar year was quite an eventful one for Olinde, who made his mark initially in 2016 in helping Germany win the biennial U18 Albert Schweitzer Tournament for the first time - something he lists as the biggest success in his young career. But 2016 also witnessed his biggest failure as Germany in December crashed to fourth place at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2016 with Olinde and the Germans widely-regarded as one of the top title contenders.


The U18 European Championship came after Olinde had already made his debut in the German top flight BBL. Olinde played the 2016-17 season primarily with Bamberg’s second division team Baunach Young Pikes. But he also got to practice with the stars of the main club, including the likes of Nikos Zisis and Nicolo Melli. 
And that early interaction with two hardened European veterans left a major and lasting impression on Olinde.

Olinde was playing the power forward position with Baunach, so he was thrilled that Melli showed him the ropes a bit.

"We had a great relationship. He was helping me a lot," Olinde said. "He just showed me a lot of stuff and took me under his wing in practice. And I really appreciate that."

While Melli has moved on from Bamberg, the 35-year-old Zisis is still in Freak City. And Olinde still remembers how willing the Greek star was with his time.

Nikos Zisis' willingness to talk to and help a young Louis Olinde upon his arrival at Brose Bamberg has played a major role in the Home Grown Player's development.

"Obviously he's a guy who knows so much about basketball and is so grounded and just talks to people - even me coming in at 18 years old and talking to me and respecting me," Olinde recalled. "I think that's something very special. Not everybody is like that: having so much experience but still really cares about younger guys, still cares about people around him. That is something really special and it’s a big reason why I really enjoy playing with him."

Olinde played 12 games in the German BBL league in 2016-17 and averaged 1.6 points and 1.4 rebounds. Last season those numbers jumped to 2.8 points and 1.4 rebounds in 28 games. But it was his time with the second division ProA Baunach side which gave him time to experiment with his game and learn to take more responsibility, averaging 15.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists.


This past summer, Olinde helped Germany to finish third in the FIBA U20 European Championship 2018, averaging 7.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals as Germany won their first U20 European medal


Olinde is aware the kind of production from last season with Baunach is unrealistic at the moment with Bamberg. Right now, the 2.05 meter forward is taking a different role.

"I am kind of doing the dirty work: getting a block, getting a stop on defense and just helping my teammates. Knock down open shots, space the floor, get the rebounds: just all the little things that help," he said. "I can do a lot. Some things that nobody else might want to do or nobody else can do. I just try to help the team by doing the small things."

Zisis is one of the Bamberg players who has seen Olinde over the past two seasons. But the club went through major changes in the off-season with new head coach Ainars Bagatskis coming in as well as leadership players such as Tyrese Rice, Stevan Jelovac and Cliff Alexander - none of whom knew Olinde that well before coming to the club.


"The most difficult part is getting respect from your opponents or even your teammates. If you come into an organization as a professional, it's different. People know you are playing as a professional. But if you come into an organization as a young guy, it's tough to make the transition from getting some practice experience with the first team and playing with the second team to playing only with the first time," Olinde said.

"Do people know you as a professional or as a young guy. You have to prove yourself every day in practice and then if you get the chance in games you have prove that you are not just a young guy but that you also can play basketball. It’s a thing about respect and how people see you."

Zisis and Melli are not the only people Olinde talked to in the past couple of years in terms of growing up in the game. In fact, his US-born father Wilbert Olinde played a number of years in Germany and won three German league crowns and two German cups with Göttingen in the 1980s after having captured the 1975 U.S. collegiate NCAA title playing for UCLA under the legendary coach John Wooden.


"I think people realized I am a guy that tries new things and is polite and respects people, and that helps me get respect from my teammates and coaches too. That’s something about my father that I really look up, how he approaches things and how he communicates with other people. I try to copy that. That’s kind of the way he raised me: to be respectful and never give up," Olinde said.

The younger Olinde said he feels he has the respect and faith from Coach Bagatskis. And after showing he can do things in practice, the young talent is starting to shine through in games as well.

"The coach is giving me a lot of freedom and telling me to do stuff. It just takes its time to realize what you can really do and that you can really do it at a higher level and not just at the ProA (second division) level or the youth level," Olinde said.


Olinde's NBA-level talent was on exhibit in Bamberg’s German Cup game against s.Oliver Würzburg a couple days before the BCL opener as he collected 8 points, including a three-pointer, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block and 0 turnovers in 20 minutes.

"I took some shots I wouldn’t have taken last season because I just didn't feel comfortable with it and didn’t know if I could make them. Or if my teammates and coaches were okay with me taking the shots. I feel it already but it's a process and it’s going to take some time for me to really do some stuff," Olinde said.

Louis Olinde is on the verge of showing Basketball Champions League fans just why he is considered one of the most exciting young and Home Grown players in the competition.

 

The Basketball Champions League's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA or the Basketball Champions League.

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David Hein

David Hein

Walk into the media tribune of any major basketball event and there's a good chance you will come across David Hein. Having covered dozens of FIBA events, including numerous women's and youth events, there are few players Dave doesn't know about, and few players who don't know him. His sporting curiosity means he is always looking to unearth something new and a little bit special. David Hein's Champions League Home Grown is a weekly column digging out the freshest basketball talent in the competition and assessing what the basketball landscape will look like a couple of years down the line.