Welcome to the world of Ricky Easterling. This man has perfected a lost art in the pro basketball world. His jumper from 15 to 17 feet out is automatic. He can shoot threes too, but why pretend to be Curry when you can stop on a dime and hit that midrange jay? I've watched Americans come and go. Some were not built for the pressure and stress that comes with being "The Man" on a team here in Europe. Americans have been sent home for not being able to get buckets in crunch time. Truth be told, a few Americans have been sent home because they were homesick. Mr. Easterling has been getting buckets in crunch time for at least a decade. He is a down to earth humble dude and he can score twenty points in his sleep. It's something about those lefty's that makes them tough to guard and to guard Easterling is truly a nightmare.

Anybody that knows anything about streetball knows that the battles that have gone down in streetball tournaments in New York City will also go down in history. I bet when circus clowns were making fun of a chubby kid named Levi Levine back in the days, they thought they were doing stand up comedy. Little did they know, that little chubby kid was going to grow up, turn that baby fat into ripped muscles, use those same corny ass jokes as fuel to light his own fire, play pro basketball overseas, and travel all over the world. Mr. Levine, I love your handle but what I'm much more impressed with, is your basketball mind. Anybody who can be a player and a coach on a pro level, I'll always respect. I couldn´t do it. I would take 40 shots, not play defense and cuss out anybody who wasn't rebounding if I got to chunking up bricks! LOL!

Jordan Talbert hoops on a even keel. I have the upmost respect for players that can keep their cool when the pressure start's to build up in a pro hoop war. Nothing seems to rattle this great player from Little Rock, Arkansas. He has that very high skill set to go and get paid in another country outside of Germany, but he has fit in very well here. In my pro hoop days, I cursed out teammates, refs, coaches, fans and anybody else who needed a verbal beating, so I salute Mr. Talbert today for doing pro hoops overseas the right way!

Fewer then 2% of NCAA Division 1 athletes go on to be pro's. I wonder what is the percentage of athletes that have gone on to play pro basketball that come from Eupora, Mississippi? Well Quentin Pryor held his own as a pro along way from home. We battled against each other in Wally's All Star game. I felt like I was chasing around Rip Hamilton. Pryor wasn't taking any plays off and O.G. Big Slim was doing his best to catch a dunk and breath at the same time. So today, I salute Mr Pryor, he had his Plan B in check after the cheering stopped.

For the 20th anniversary of the No Plan B Podcast we have a classic retro game going on. We will listen into the first conversation on a podcast between our hosts Joe Asberry and Rene Weimann. Back in the days in 2019 Joe was a guest on Rene's GO VERTICAL RAW podcast - The podcast for sports performance coaching and everything outside of the box of professional sports conditioning. Joe told his whole story, how he overcame his criminal past and made it to a professional basketball player in Asia and in Europe. 

More GO VERTICAL RAW episodes here: https://sportznation.com/en/go-vertical-raw-podcast

There is a long list of great players that have come out of  Baltimore Maryland. Add Mr. Wallace to that long list. He has one hell of a motor, he can shoot the threeball, he can create for his teammates and he doesn't take plays off. Devante Wallace loves to play basketball. When you love something and you get paid to do it, that's the best of both worlds!

This week we sat down to talk about a lot of recent things that happened. 2020 was very intense so far. R.I.P. George Floyd. In today's episode, I had to touch on a very serious topic. I have very good friends who are police officers and they do their job well. They protect and serve. I hope the judge throws the book at the officer's involved in causing Mr. Floyd's death. On a lighter note of course I turn back into a goofball and let my partner Rene know how much I appreciate him, as we take a ride down memory lane to Oakland, California and Tokyo, Japan.

They say home is where the heart is. Try to imagine this for a second. 85 people shot and killed in a weekend. 18 murders in 24 hours. You can best believe Mr. Williams has heart.It's not easy to stay focused when you grow up in a city that has no mercy. As he continues on his pro hoop journey in Europe, shout out to Chicago, Illinois. I hope that things will somehow sort themselves out. I've been in evil streets myself before, so to see A-Dub navigate through them and get to live out his pro hoop dream after the long conversations a few years ago makes this episode much bigger than basketball!

.As I sat there at the pro showcase in Germany, drinking a huge beer and thinking to myself, "remember when you were in these dudes shoes?" The American, 7000 miles away from home chasing a dream?. I had a conversation with Arron Williams that night that touched my soul. Rumors were flying that ,"A-Dub had a bad attitude. He was uncoachable. I won't name names but I told a few people," I speak his language, the problem is, you goofy's are AFRAID of him. He will play great for me, trust me" and that he did. The last thing I said to A-Dub was this, "Homey. Listen. I know and feel your pain. Some coaches have hidden agenda's and are selfish. I want you to WIN. I proved to every punk ass coach who didn't believe in me, that I had what it took to get paid to hoop. YOU have what it takes to get paid to play this game. I could care less what anyone else thinks or says". Funny how time flies.

They say everything is big in Texas. One thing is for sure, Montrael Scott has big game. This Dallas,Texas native led the German Pro B in Assists this past season. In the words of his teammate and baller for real Anell Alexis, " Trael has big time game OG, but he is also a great teammate." All real ballers know the respect of your peers and teammates means a lot in the pro basketball world in Europe. Scott's future looks very bright on this side of the pond!