Most coaches love to come up with new terms to label a player. When I was flying around dunking on people, they loved to call me a "Tweener". A power forward in a guards body. Or a "Slasher" C.J. can stretch the floor. His size, quickiness and those point guard skills helped his team get plenty of wins this past season. What I love about his game is his great defense and the fact that he takes pride in being the guy who isn't afraid to guard the other team's best player. It was a breath of fresh air to talk hoops with a dude who loves to lock people up. Cleveland, Ohio has produced many great basketball players. Add C.J. Oldham to that long list!

"The 614"  If you ask "Bigslim" the best player in the world hails from Akron, Ohio. One of the best players in the world is also from Ohio, Columbus that is. Elijah Allen is the definition of "The Triple Threat" position. Leave him open, he is going to drain a three in your mouth. Get too close, he is going to take you off the dribble and get an easy bucket with that wonderful handle he has. Try to double him, he is going to pass right out of it to a teammate with his great court vision.

Kevin Yebo aka "KG", a 16-year-old is hooping at my after school program in the hood in Bonn, Germany and he is doing it all. He has a sweet handle, he has a smooth jumper, he is swatting peoples shots out of bounds, he is dunking on people. I pull him to the side and spit: "You know what young homey? You have the tools to get paid to do this s*it" He just looked back at me and said: "Thanks a lot Joe, I appreciate that man."  Shout out to my man Asat AKA "AJ" and the homey Mike Sharma. All of those days when I was hung over and didn't want to come and hoop and "AJ" called me cussing me out: "Ogee,where in the ???? you at, we are in front of the gym"? And me rolling 160 km screaming through my cell: "Hold tight,I'm on my way homey." It all paid off thanks guys! LOL!  Shout out to Andrej Mangold, he came and talked to my young guys when he was a pro playing in Bonn and did me a personal favor for my guys and I really appreciate that. Yebo was one of the young dudes that was LISTENING!

Welcome to an XXL-Episode with Emmanuel "Cookaman" Holloway. They say if the shoe fits, then wear it. The nickname "Cookaman" fits Mr Holloway without a doubt. Cartersville, Georgia must be very proud of this combo guard who has NBA range, can create off the dribble with the best of them and can be that vocal leader who has no problem to straight up "cook" defenders. It was truly my pleasure to be in front of 5000 fans in the AWD Arena in Hannover; Germany, as soon as he let go of another 3 from damn near half court, I was spot on screaming: "EEEEEEEE HOLLOOWAYYY"

Chris Frazier is a pure shooter. Markus Hallgrimson is the other guy who came out of that  DODDS system here in Europe that can teach anybody in the world how to shoot a basketball. Frazier walked into that gym in Würzburg, Germany as a 15 year old, cocky and confident (Not ARROGANT) like most haters thought. I knew the first time I saw him shoot a basketball, he was different. Before one of our games, I put my arm around him and whispered into his ear: "Listen, your job is to get buckets, I want you to play like Ray Allen but please, keep your teammates involved, but when I wink at you go one on one and take over the dod gam game". He looked at me with fire in his eyes and simply said,"Ok, Coach Joe, I got you." At the end of that game and 50 points later, I walked up to his dad and said,"Sir, I think your son has the potential to be a pro." As I drank my big beer that night, I thought to myself, now I know how that evil Dr. Frankenstein felt I've created a MONSTER! LOL!

Lamar Mallory has filled up the stat sheet during his pro basketball stint here in Europe and in the land down under. 20 points and 10 rebounds is normal for him. His numbers could be much higher too. He is athletic enough to pick up 10 blocks on any given night, but he is all about doing what he has to do to help his team win. One of my homeys hit me up when he was playing here in Germany a few years ago in Lich. He screamed through my cell phone, "Ogee Jumping Joe this dude Mallory is dunking on people, the same way you did". At first I thought, ok you have to be kidding me. I broke a backboard and sent glass flying in Giessen. NOBODY has dunked on people the way I have. After seeing the footage, I found out my homey was right. Lamar puts people in the rim so I did what EVERY retired pro ball player should do, I swallowed my pride and decided that everytime Lamar catches a body, I'm going to cheer and live through him. He represents Dayton,Ohio very well.

Not only did "Baby Shaq" Viktoria Krell fly thousands of miles outside of her comfort zone to live out her hoop dream in United States, she also dropped 2006 points (2nd all time at LWC in Kentucky) and snatched 1219 boards (1st all time) putting Heilbronn, Germany and womens basketball on the map.

If you put in that work, you can be a good Basketball Player. If you want to be a damn good Basketball player you work overtime. Tyseem Lyles puts in that extra work. This Brooklyn, New York native has what all great Basketball Players have, a serious work ethic. Those long hours in the gym. Last Summer payed off. He led his Team to the 1st reg north title a chance to move up to the pro B and was player of the year.

Anell Alexis is truly the son of a gun. His father Wendell Alexis is the man who won multiple championships in Berlin and is one of the best pro basketball players in the history of Germany. Those are big shoes to fill. Anell doesn't have to fit into those shoes. He has played professional basketball in Panama and here in Germany and he has made a name for himself and looks damn good doing that in his owh shoes! I love his ability to create his own shot off the dribble. He is the ultimate team player, willing to sacrafice his own stats to get to the final goal, his team winning. Don't let that fool you though, if his team needs buckets, he will get buckets! He represents New Jersey very well.

The 503 Portland, Oregon has produced not only some of the best basketball players on the westcoast, but in the world. I can easily name drop or jot down a list of big names but I have a better idea. I'll add the name Michael Holton Jr. to that list. I watched him score 39 points in the pro B in Germany and on my drive home i thought: "Wow, when he looks back at those highlights one day he may give himself a new nickname, Chef Mike, the guy who just served up a basketball 5 star hotel meal."