BallinEurope just got the word on a couple of American ballers plying the trade in Finland, namely Emmanuel Holloway and Allen Durham of the Salon Vilpas Vikings. Sure, BiE’ll give ‘em some space!
A former Illinois State Redbird, Holloway came to Vilpas after stints with Basketbol Brno of the Czech Republic and Germany’s Pro B team Hannover. Holloway is currently enjoying a breakout season with the Vikings, leading the team in minutes (34.2), points (20.6), and steals (1.7), while also contributing 4.4 boards and 3.0 assists per game. Below runs either a very short documentary or a very long player profile on Holloway by YouTube user/Vilpas Vikings enthusiast Karupappa.
Hopefully supplying a much needed jolt to the 8-12 Vikings will be “The Hulk,” a.k.a. Durham. A product of Grace Bible College (!), Durham dominated the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association from 2009 to 2011 with a CV that includes three Division II All-Tourney Team honors, three national championship MVP awards, three Midwest regional MVP awards, three All-American nods, one national MVP, and a Pete Maravich Memorial Award in addition to leading Grace to three national championships.
Durham drew some international attention with his play at the Eurobasket Summer League in Las Vegas last summer; chief among his performances was a 16-point, 15-rebound, six-block showing in the championship game. Beginning the 2011-12 season with CS Dinamo Bucuresti, Durham he compiled a ridiculous state line of 23.3 points and 13.7 rebounds (including 5.7 offensive) per in 18 games there.
In his first two Korisliiga games, Durham hasn’t disappointed: He debuted with an insane 27-point, 19-rebound show in an overtime match against Torpan Pojat.
Vilpas is 2-0 going into 2012 behind this compelling new combination; with 20 games remaining in the Finnish schedule, the Vikings will need an injection quickly in order to advance to the season-ending tournament. BiE can’t help but meanwhile wonder, given the composition of the Korisliiga right now (i.e. mostly American) and recent trends in European national basketball, whether we might see either of these guys going for Team Finland before all’s said and done.
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