It was 10 to midnight a few days before Christmas as the Fraport Skyliners were reeling and begging for a win almost as badly as a delusional fan was for getting socked in the face recently when he heckled for many the GOAT Lebron James. But now 3 weeks later, the Fraport Skyliners have strung along a sweet 3 game home winning streak in their own living room and currently basketball life is looking a lot better for now. Granted they may only be in 16th place, but already have 2 wins more than last placed Braunschweig who really look weak at the moment. Even 2 or 3 Dennis Schroeder clones wouldn’t be able to get them out of the bottom of the swamp. The club has been plagued with injuries all season long and have been lacking that extra added scoring punch, but not anymore. In every home win during the streak, Frankfurt was aided by one of their newly signed players. The club had proclaimed for a while in December that new guys would come, but the waiting was long. Finally American Marcus Lewis was hauled in and he more than exceeded expectations ripping the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg apart for 26 points and followed with a solid 16 points against Rostock. In their third win, it was another new player with Isaiah Washington (185-G-1998, college: LBSU, agency: Players Group) who supplied 14 points and did all of his damage in the first half. In crunch-time it was then German national player Joshua Obiesie who countered with 11 clutch points and led Frankfurt to the win. So who is Isaiah Washnigton?
Isaiah Washington was born on July 20,1998 in Harlem, New York. He first had a ball in his hand at age 2. In junior high, he and a couple of friends called themselves the Jelly Fam and they quickly got a huge following on social media because of how they produced pretty finger tip roll lay ups. He later would trade mark the name. He began his career at St Raymond high school averaging 26,0ppg and 6,0apg and also played AAU at New Heights. He scored a crazy 54 points against Cardinal Hayes high school and was the all-time leading scorer at his high school. In 2017 he was the number-one rated point guard from the state of New York and 13th nationally according to Scout.com and was also rated as the top player in the empire state in 2017.He had a solid NCAA career from 2017-2021 getting added experience at 3 schools playing a total of 104 NCAA games. He saw all areas of the United States being in the center with the University of Minnesota where he was for 2 years and he also played at Iona on the east coast and on the west coast at Long Beach State University. He has some masterful performances in his 4 years in the NCAA like his incredible 26 points with Minnesota in a bitter 76-73 loss to Michigan where future NBA players Moritz Wagner, Jordon Poole and Duncan Robinson saw what he was truly capable of doing as a freshman or as a junior with Iona as he drilled 25 points against Monmouth and 24 points against Canisius. In another game against Canisius he registered only the third triple double in Iona history with 14/11/10 stats. His best 2 seasons were his last 2 with Iona College (NCAA) averaging 11.4ppg, 5.1rpg, 4.0apg, 1.7spg, FGP: 46.1%, 3PT: 33.1%, FT: 80.3% and at Long Beach State University (NCAA) averaging 13.5ppg, 4.9rpg, 4.8apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 49.2%, 3PT: 28.8%, FT: 77.3%: He played his rookie season overseas with KK Lovcen Cetinje (Montenegro-Erste Liga) averaging 7.6ppg, 4.1rpg, 6.0apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 48.0%, 3PT: 40.0%, FT: 72.2%; and in the Adriatic League averaged 16.8ppg, 6.2rpg, 5.2apg, 1.8spg, FGP: 53.3%, 3PT: 31.7%, FT: 81.6%. It wasn’t the greatest rookie season in a lower league, but he came refocused into year 2 and exploded with Spisski Rytieri Nova Ves (Slovakia-Nike SBL) averaging 24.2ppg, 5.3rpg, 6.6apg, 1.7spg, 2FGP: 54.1%, 3FGP: 34.3%, FT: 80.2%. His best game was at the same his most wild game as he achieved a triple double with 37 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a 105-102 triple OT win over Lucenec where he logged 55 minutes. He had another triple double against Inter Bratislava with 24/10/11 stats and had 34 points against Komarno and 30 points against Handlova.
On January 8th, the Fraport Skyliners announced the arrival of Isaiah Washington before the game against 2010 Eurochallenge winner BG Goettingen. He was a vital factor in the Fraport Skyliners win over BG Goettingen. I reach Fraport Skyliner legend Quantez Robertson 4 hours after the win as he was rounding out his Sunday night watching NFL football. I had never heard of Isaiah Washington, but that’s probably because I’m watching too little basketball video’s on You Tube. ‘I had heard of Isaiah. He has this movement going with the Jelly Fam and has million of followers on Instagram’, stated Quantez Robertson. Washington had already been in Frankfurt last week and had had some walk throughs after the Alba Berlin game and had had 2 full practices. It didn’t take Tez long to get his first impression of the jelly Fam founder as he played with him for the first time in practice. ‘He is a very composed player and really understands the game. It will take some time to find things out and get used to his teammates’, added Quantez Robertson. He is a point guard that is very crafty and has the ability to get to the hole. Plus he is a very solid pick and roll player. In his first game against BG Goettingen he tallied 14 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists in 23 minutes. He did all his scoring damage in the first half. ‘His quick start did surprise me a bit. He did a good job making plays for himself and others. You obviously want him to do good in that first game, but still him being in a new league and new team, you just don’t expect it. He did a really good job on offense and pressured well on defense’, stressed Quantez Robertson. He is a player that can fill the stat sheet and has produced triple doubles at the NCAA and pro level. He is definitely a player that will woo fans at both ends of the court. ‘I think that his biggest strength on offense is the pick and roll. He has a real good sense of gravity and keeps guys on hip and gets to the rim. He is a strong kid with good size and knows how to control his body. He is also a hard nosed defender that doesn’t back down from anyone and is aggressive. He was in foul trouble against Goettingen, but I feel once he gets used to the refs and league, his fouls will go down and he will show that he is a good defender’, warned Quantez Robertson.
He already proved against BG Goettingen that he can be a potent American scoring duo with JJ Frazier, but imagine what kind of trio they will be when injured Marcus Lewis is back in the line-up. ‘It will be cool to see them play together on the court. They both can create for themselves and others. That ability will help both out, because teams won’t be able to key on both of them’, warned Quantez Robertson. Tez is really excited about what else his new teammate will bring to the table in the next game against Crailsheim especially on the defensive end against their pesky guards. ‘He is a tough defender and plays hard. He doesn’t show too much emotion. He is a real competitor and will always make it difficult for the opponent’, stressed Quantez Robertson. When you have millions of followers on social media and played in Montenegro and Slovakia, you just have to have a chip on his shoulder. Despite having a very solid easyCredit BBL debut, Quantez Robertson doesn’t believe it was a fluke. ‘He definitely has a chip on his shoulder. After playing in a lower league in Slovakia, he wants to prove to everyone and himself that he can play at a high level. I believe that he will do that’, warned Quantez Robertson. One thing is for sure, practices will never be dull. Even if Quantez Robertson is 38 years old, he may still learn something new from the Jelly fam with the finger tip roll even if I would rather see him dunk again for good old sake.
Tags : ISAIAH WASHINGTON, FRAPORT SKYLINERS FRANKFURT, GERMAN BASKETBALL
