Lamont Mcintosh (I guard every position from 1-3 and I take great pride in defending well)

Lamont Mcintosh is a 31 year old 190cm shooting guard from Georgia that has played nine professionals seasons. He played at Georgia State(NCAA) and started his professional basketball career in 2004 for the scottish Rocks (United Kingdom-BBL) and the Southern Crescent Lightning (WBA). In the 2005-2006 season he returned back to Europe and played for : Verviers-Pepinster (Belgium-D1): 28 games: 15.0ppg, 2.5rpg, 2.2apg, 1.0spg, 2FGP: 51.0%, 3PT: 35.0%, FT: 51.0%. He then came to Germany and played three seasons for the Artland Dragons Quakenbrueck  winning the Beko BBL cup in 2008. In 2009-2010, he played for Politekhnika-Halychyna Lviv (Ukraine-Superleague) playing 20 games: 16.1ppg, 3.1rpg, 3.2apg, 1.2spg, FGP: 46.5%, 3PT: 35.6%, FT: 73.8%. In 2010-2011, he played for Enosi Kalathosfairisis Kavalas (Greece-A1, starting five): 25 games: 7.1ppg, 2.0rpg, FGP: 51.9%, 3PT: 30.0%, FT: 80.8%. In 2011-2012 he played for AZS Koszalin (Poland-PLK): 14 games: 11.2ppg, 1.4rpg, 2.0apg, FGP: 41.0%, 3PT: 43.1%, FT: 85.2%. Last season he played for the  s.Oliver Baskets Wuerzburg (Germany-BBL): 34 games: 7.5ppg, 1.6rpg, 1.3apg, FGP: 44.4%, 3PT: 34.0%, FT: 81.3%; EuroCup: 6 games: 7.2ppg, 1.3rpg, 1.5apg, FGP: 32.0%, 3PT: 31.6%, FT: 81.8%. He spoke to German Hoops about basketball.

Its almost November and your sitting around at home looking for a job. How surprised are you that you are still in the States and not balling in Europe?

Honestly, I’m really surprised. Last season in Wuerzburg I felt I had a really solid year. I didn’t have any injuries, which was critical, especially since I had just turned 30 last season. I thought it was most significant that I participated in every meeting, practice, & game from the pre-season until the very last game of the regular season.

Is the basketball market so competitive or haven´t the right offers come around? How have you experienced this off season in terms of finding a team and weighing your offers?

It’s both. Basketball is ever expanding and clubs around the world have more leverage than ever due to the pool of players being so large. My personal challenge this off-season, has been finding the right opportunity to be in a significant role and financially beneficial.

Some years ago you were signed in November and played in the Ukraine, so you know what it is like having to wait for the perfect job. How difficult has it been staying positive. Who has been helping you most mentally and just staying focused?

Staying positive isn’t the difficult part. I’m a very faithful and optimistic person by nature. It does get frustrating however, when you’re training religiously with no real target date in sight. I am pretty self-motivated in remaining focused but I have to give credit to my close friends, family, and Frank Robinson. Frank was my teammate in Wuerzburg last season and we became pretty close. He has inspired me throughout this off-season.

Your 31 now, but still have some gas in your basketball tank. Do you have to work even harder in the off season to keep in shape and stay fit with the young bucks.

Absolutely! I have to, but I LOVE to work. I think any coach who I ever played for will echo that.  Accompany the work ethic and now understanding the importance of diet, I feel like I’m in really great shape. Then of course, there’s a sense of pride to be aging but still have the ability to compete and beat the youngsters. Lol!

Last season you played for the s.Oliver Baskets Wurzburg. Were you surprised that they didn´t want to keep you?

I was a bit surprised, but this is the business of basketball. We failed to reach our goal of making the playoffs last season and I’m sure the management, coaching staff felt they needed to make some changes to compete for that goal for this current season. I played really hard for the Baskets and I think the fans and the Coaches appreciated that.

The Fraport Skyliners need a combo guard badly. What has been your impression of the club? You played many years against them with Artland and Wurzburg.

The Skyliners are a proud basketball club. They had great success in the past winning BBL titles, deep playoff runs with my boys Derrick Allen and Jimmy McKinney. I think they’re just looking for some consistency right now and maybe some young German talent to build on. Pascal Roller was an integral piece to those previous successful Frankfurt teams, now someone else has to step up!

Do you have any memories in the seasons 2007-2009 when you played against Frankfurt and your friend Derrick Allen with the Artland Dragons?

I just remember talking a lot of trash to D.A., lol! But he played really well against us. I’m not sure of all the results, but I think we split our career series against each other.

Two strong assets in your game is your shooting and experience, but what other things would help Frankfurt or any other team now?

My abilities to lead, to communicate effectively, and my defensive prowess are other skills I possess to help a team win. I think that’s often overlooked in my game. I guard every position from 1-3 and I take great pride in defending well.

How surprised are you that the Eisbaeren Bremerhaven are 0-6? Have you been talking with Derrick Allen and keeping him upbeat?

Of course! Derrick Allen is my brother. He’s a fierce competitor and it’s eating him up. But he’s also a seasoned veteran and he knows how things can change given the right attention to detail and continued work ethic. I try to keep him uplifted and he does a good job on relying on his past success to fuel himself to remaining optimistic.

How does a normal work out day look for you on and off the court?

I usually have a morning smoothie, some water, maybe some solid fruit and then I head to the local LA Fitness. I go through my on court workout first usually. Ball handling, shooting, and some agility work. Then I go into my lift or cross-fit workout. Lastly, I do my off-court cardio. A few times a week I hit the pool & sauna for recovery. Next day, repeat.

Where will the journey of the Atlanta Falcons end this season?

I support the Atlanta Falcons, but I’m a Dallas Cowboys fan. I predict the Falcons will finish 2^nd in NFC South ahead of the Carolina Panthers but will miss the playoffs, because the 49ers & Lions will be the NFC wild card teams.

What was the last DVD movie that you saw?

“42” was the last DVD I saw. Great movie about Jackie Robinson’s baseball career.

 

Thanks Lamont for the chat.