Just a few weeks after Starlites announced the signing of import guard Trevon Reddish Rhone, the American put up a 20-point showing against Anorthosis Famagusta in the team’s opening leg of the FIBA Europe Cup qualifiers at the Ta’ Qali Pavilion.
Speaking to the press after the game on Tuesday, the former Presbyterian College player said he was ‘blessed and ‘grateful’ for the opportunity.
“Personally, I’m just really proud of the guys, proud of the team. This was big for the country overall – this country hasn’t seen anything like this. So it was a blessing and I’m grateful just to be able to, you know, play for this country and play the game like this,” Reddish Rhone said.
Reddish Rhone, who shot 62.5% while grabbing six rebounds and three steals in 32.07 minutes experienced the physicality of the European game in an impressive debut, which saw him finish second in scoring before getting fouled out late in the game.
Speaking about the level of opponents, he admitted “They’re pros for a reason”.
“This team was way more physical than probably an average college team that I’ve played,” he said.
“They’re way more organised, faster, and more athletic. I mean, they’re pros, and you know, they’re pros for a reason. They make a lot of wild threes. They’re still beatable, for sure, though, but that’s probably some of the key differences.”
Asked about his debut, the 6’4 guard said it would give him confidence for the coming games.
“This was a good first experience for me, a good first European professional basketball game,” Reddish Rhone said.
“I learned a lot from this game in terms of just keeping a cool temper. I see how they call fouls now – they call little tic-tac fouls and travels. The scrimmages prepared me as well. It’s always different from a real European game, but this was a really good experience for me.
“It’s going to give me more confidence – I’m a paid player. I get fouled a lot. I was making free throws and that opened up my game more.
“When I get deep in the paint, a lot of people like to collapse on me. I’ve got to kick the ball out and get somebody wide on the three. That’s going to open up the game for me and our team as a whole. We’ve got shooters all around the court.
“I was trying to force sometimes – that’s why I had six turnovers. But I’m going to watch film to learn from this game and get better from this game.
“We’re going to scout. They’re going to scout me. They’re going to scout our team and all. It’s a film session tomorrow. We, as a team, learn from this. It’s going to be a really good game. We’ve got to take it to them.”
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