Interesting transfers in Korisliiga
Interesting transfers on Monday
In many ways feels strange to write about Korisliiga, it is in the middle of summer (not that the weather looks like it – +13 degrees and raining) – it is also in the middle of national teams summer, so Korisliiga is bit off the current beaten track.
Monday the transfer news did make me smile though, and in a good way, four transfers announced in the Men’s Korisliiga and all four had something to make a good story out of.
#1 Sheriff Drammen to Korihait
First of all, I can not remember when the last Swedish player signed for a Korisliiga team – surely not in the last 5-10 years?? If anyone remembers, please do leave a comment.
Personally I do remember Sheriff from youth National team tournaments years ago, probably went to events at the U16, U18 and U20 level in the continent and saw him play.
Seem to remember that he did have a great bounce at the time and was fast – it will be interesting to see how the following years have developed/changed him as a player.
Super to see a character and player like Sheriff Drammen joining Korisliiga – really looking forward to shooting a Korihait game early in the summer.. and maybe they could even get a pre-season game against a Swedish team now.. perhaps Södertälje??
#2 Simeon Stefanovic to Kobrat
Another transfer that is ‘out of the ordinary’ – not very often we see a son of a coach joining a team he has been coaching. At 19 years old – Stefanovic of course is very much a rookie in the Men’s Korisliiga – but having played in Spain the past years.. at least I have some thoughts that he might be a very good addition to the team and league.
Really probably the type of of player that more Korisliiga teams should consider signing – instead of always going for the ‘rookie from college’ or ‘experienced veteran from European league’.
No idea of Simeon’s style of game, never seen him play – might have seen him as a young kid in Lapua when he was living there and his dad coaching..
Just like with Korihait – I am also very much looking forward to Kobrat game in the new season.
#3 Jared Billups to Pyrintö
In the age of viral news and stuff like that – it is not a bad thing to sign a player whose cousin is an ex-NBA player and current head coach ..
Naturally connections like do not say anything about his playing skills – but when exposure is limited in the league .. it does not hurt to have some angle to add bit of spice to a signing.
Billups is the ‘straight from NCAA to Finland’ type of signing – so more of the traditional kind of player that the Finnish league gets .. but hey, sometimes it is good to go the trusted route. And I do have to say that Pyrintö have been a team who have tried different kind of signings in the past – with players from New Zealand and so on.. so, would not put it past them to pull something like that out of the hat later in the summer.
#4 Jermaine Marshall to Kataja
Why is this a ‘good news’ signing??
Men’s Korisliiga in Finland does not traditionally get many returning import players (taxation is one reason for this) – so to see Marshall returning to Finland after his injury interrupted last season – this does definitely count as good news signing.
As the coaches often tell on the sidelines : ‘to have players who have played in Finland before, it does make it easier and quicker to get them on the same page with the rest of the team ..’
So – as it sounds, his rehab from the injury has gone well and he is back in full training – so looking forward to seeing a fully fit Jermaine in the league next season!
