How form Hawks star dodged Bullet
MVP talk ‘an honour’ for Conger but taming Taipans his first priority
PROBABLE league MVP Demitrius Conger smiles about his NBL sliding door moment now.
The form small forward had just completed his contract with Antwerp Giants in Belgium and had two clubs in Australia after his services: Brisbane and Illawarra.
Through his agent, the Bullets and Hawks both organised phone interviews with the 27year-old New Yorker.
Conger spoke with Andrej Lemanis of the Bullets and Rob Beveridge of the Hawks, and was positive about his prospects with both clubs following the conversations, which occurred in the middle of the night for him in the USA.
“I had calls with both teams. I thought they both went well but I woke up the next morning and was told Brisbane had decided to go in another direction,” he recalled this week.
“They were not that interested, something along those lines and I never knew I was in a position to turn down jobs (laughs).”
The NBL’s newest club, Brisbane, went for Perrin Bu- ford, an athletic forward who has similar attributes to Conger but is a few years younger.
Conger is too humble to say it but it all turned out well for the St. Bonaventure graduate as he is in the MVP conversation and his Hawks can still make the finals while the Bullets were eliminated from playoff contention weeks ago.
“My agent thought Illawarra would be a better fit for me basketball-wise,” Conger said.
“I guess I got lucky and it all goes back to the saying: ‘everything happens for a reason.’”
Cairns Post NBL columnist Corey “Homicide” Williams yesterday selected Conger as the likely MVP of the 2017-18 NBL campaign with a month to go.
He leads the league with al- most 20 points, grabs almost six rebounds and hands out three assists a game.
“Sometimes you think about things like the MVP but that is more social media and people talking about that,” Conger said.
“At this time, the most important thing for me is this team making the playoffs and that starts on Sunday against Cairns.
“It is an honour to be in the conversation but we need to keep winning as a team.”
Hawks coach Rob Beveridge knows Conger will be key tomorrow against Cairns.
“Everyone’s now talking about Meech (Conger) as an MVP (candidate),” Beveridge said. “For us to be successful, we need everybody to step up.”
I GUESS I GOT LUCKY AND IT ALL GOES BACK TO THE SAYING: ‘EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON’ HAWKS STAR DEMITRIUS CONGER