David Logan talks to Sportando's David Pick
Israeli power Maccabi Tel Aviv recently completed its backcourt armor with newly acquired 29-year-old American-Polish guard David Logan .
Logan, who played college hoops at the University of Indianapolis, earned both the NCAA II Player of the Year Award during his senior year and a prestigious invite to the Pre-NBA Draft Portsmouth Invitational Tournament after finishing his collegiate career as the all-time leading scorer in Indianapolis with 2,352 points.
Now, eight years after playing his pro-rookie season in Israel with Ramat Hasharon, Logan looks to relive the Holy Land chapter of his career while playing on Europe's biggest stage with Tel Aviv.
Though he played in Europe's strongest league in Spanish ACB with Caja Laboral Vitoria and later adapted into a roll player on Greek Panathinaikos' squad, Logan will embrace the spotlight of Nokia Arena and Tel Aviv's 11,000 chanting supports.
In an exclusive media appearance since signing with Maccabi, Logan tells Sportando's David Pick how he landed in Tel Aviv, why he couldn't showcase his talents in Athens, his thoughts of Maccabi's Euroleague bracket, what position he's most comfortable playing, phone call from David Blatt and what Germany's Bamberg has to do with all of this.
"Once the season ended, I held a number of conversation with Panathinaikos over the course of a few weeks but I never intended to return to Athens, regardless of who their new coach was," said Logan from his home in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Last season, Logan made the well deserved jump from Caja Laboral to PAO. Still, for the first time in his Euroleague career, the 6'1" scorer found his game heading south both in minutes played and scoring, seeing his points averages drop below double-digits.
"Things just didn't workout between me and PAO," Logan commented. "When I got the opportunity to play a significant amount of minutes and showcase my skills, I usually did a good job," he said.
That said, why didn’t coach (Zeljko) Obradovic reward you with more playing time?
"Playing behind Sarunas (Jasikevicius) and 3D (Dimitris Diamantidis) was tough. I understood they are European legends so I focused on finishing the season strong and in the best way possible. After that, I just looked to move on," said Logan with a hint of disappointment.
Talk about other offers you entertained this summer.
"I had offers from Germany's Bamberg, 2 Russians teams and 2 teams from the Ukraine. In addition, I had the option of returning to Asseco Prokom. However, I was really close to signing with Bamberg if the Maccabi deal fell apart," he said.
Despite being a free agent, Logan wasn't interested in testing NBA summer league waters. Instead, he devoted his time to physical workouts and intense training and preparing for the upcoming season. "I work out with a trainer 4 times a week doing strength and swimming pool workouts so I stay limber and in shape. I didn't have any NBA workouts this summer nor did I try to pursue any."
Prior to signing a two-year guaranteed deal with Maccabi and before team executives approached the player's representatives with an offer sheet, Logan gives a brief insight into his phone conversation with David Blatt.
"I spoke with Coach Blatt for about 20-minutes one day about 2-3 weeks before they (Maccabi) made an offer. We spoke on the previous season when I played for PAO and what kind of roll I had over there. Coach Blatt thinks I could fit in his system and I look forward to playing for him," Logan commented.
Logan, who averages nearly 2.5 assists per game throughout his career certainly proved he's capable of distributing when needed. Nevertheless, his poise, athleticism, and ball handling allow him to score in a variety of ways and shoot with zero range limit. Now that Maccabi's backcourt consists of a number of guards, Logan explained where he feels most comfortable getting his touches.
"At this point in my career, I'm really comfortable playing either spots being the point guard or the second guard/scorer. Earlier in my career, when I first played in Israel I preferred being positioned as the second guard, but now I like to play both."
Tel Aviv was recently pooled to Group B of the Euroleague first round competition along with Alba Berlin, Asseco Prokom, Elan Chalon, Montepaschi Siena and Unicaja Malaga. "I think we had a pretty good Euroleague draw. There are definitely some good teams we will have to face but I believe it should be a good test for us," said Logan.
Logan, who played college hoops at the University of Indianapolis, earned both the NCAA II Player of the Year Award during his senior year and a prestigious invite to the Pre-NBA Draft Portsmouth Invitational Tournament after finishing his collegiate career as the all-time leading scorer in Indianapolis with 2,352 points.
Now, eight years after playing his pro-rookie season in Israel with Ramat Hasharon, Logan looks to relive the Holy Land chapter of his career while playing on Europe's biggest stage with Tel Aviv.
Though he played in Europe's strongest league in Spanish ACB with Caja Laboral Vitoria and later adapted into a roll player on Greek Panathinaikos' squad, Logan will embrace the spotlight of Nokia Arena and Tel Aviv's 11,000 chanting supports.
In an exclusive media appearance since signing with Maccabi, Logan tells Sportando's David Pick how he landed in Tel Aviv, why he couldn't showcase his talents in Athens, his thoughts of Maccabi's Euroleague bracket, what position he's most comfortable playing, phone call from David Blatt and what Germany's Bamberg has to do with all of this.
"Once the season ended, I held a number of conversation with Panathinaikos over the course of a few weeks but I never intended to return to Athens, regardless of who their new coach was," said Logan from his home in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Last season, Logan made the well deserved jump from Caja Laboral to PAO. Still, for the first time in his Euroleague career, the 6'1" scorer found his game heading south both in minutes played and scoring, seeing his points averages drop below double-digits.
"Things just didn't workout between me and PAO," Logan commented. "When I got the opportunity to play a significant amount of minutes and showcase my skills, I usually did a good job," he said.
That said, why didn’t coach (Zeljko) Obradovic reward you with more playing time?
"Playing behind Sarunas (Jasikevicius) and 3D (Dimitris Diamantidis) was tough. I understood they are European legends so I focused on finishing the season strong and in the best way possible. After that, I just looked to move on," said Logan with a hint of disappointment.
Talk about other offers you entertained this summer.
"I had offers from Germany's Bamberg, 2 Russians teams and 2 teams from the Ukraine. In addition, I had the option of returning to Asseco Prokom. However, I was really close to signing with Bamberg if the Maccabi deal fell apart," he said.
Despite being a free agent, Logan wasn't interested in testing NBA summer league waters. Instead, he devoted his time to physical workouts and intense training and preparing for the upcoming season. "I work out with a trainer 4 times a week doing strength and swimming pool workouts so I stay limber and in shape. I didn't have any NBA workouts this summer nor did I try to pursue any."
Prior to signing a two-year guaranteed deal with Maccabi and before team executives approached the player's representatives with an offer sheet, Logan gives a brief insight into his phone conversation with David Blatt.
"I spoke with Coach Blatt for about 20-minutes one day about 2-3 weeks before they (Maccabi) made an offer. We spoke on the previous season when I played for PAO and what kind of roll I had over there. Coach Blatt thinks I could fit in his system and I look forward to playing for him," Logan commented.
Logan, who averages nearly 2.5 assists per game throughout his career certainly proved he's capable of distributing when needed. Nevertheless, his poise, athleticism, and ball handling allow him to score in a variety of ways and shoot with zero range limit. Now that Maccabi's backcourt consists of a number of guards, Logan explained where he feels most comfortable getting his touches.
"At this point in my career, I'm really comfortable playing either spots being the point guard or the second guard/scorer. Earlier in my career, when I first played in Israel I preferred being positioned as the second guard, but now I like to play both."
Tel Aviv was recently pooled to Group B of the Euroleague first round competition along with Alba Berlin, Asseco Prokom, Elan Chalon, Montepaschi Siena and Unicaja Malaga. "I think we had a pretty good Euroleague draw. There are definitely some good teams we will have to face but I believe it should be a good test for us," said Logan.
E. Carchia
@Sportando
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