By Jim Naveau – jnaveau@limanews.com
Martyce Kimbrough calls playing basketball in Spain last season one of the best years of his life, but he has something different in mind for this season.
If things come together the way he hopes, he will be playing for one of the 27 teams in the NBA’s developmental league, the G League, when its season begins in November.
Kimbrough, a 6-foot, 1-inch guard averaged 14.2 points a game in his first year in the pros for a team in Gijon, a city of 271,000 people on the northwest coast of Spain.
Kimbrough shared Division III state Player of the Year honors his senior season at Lima Central Catholic on its 2014 state champion team and was MVP of the D-III state tournament. He scored 1,650 points and made 298 three-pointers in three seasons at the University of Findlay after playing his freshman season at the University of Indianapolis.
“It was one of the best years of my life. Obviously, I had some struggles here and there but for the most part it was fine,” he said about his introduction to pro basketball.
“I have offers to go back overseas but my plan is the NBA G League. My agent has been in contact with a few teams,” he said.
Kimbrough hopes to add to his basketball resume at the NBA G League Invitational on Aug. 9 in Chicago where G League player personnel executives, coaches and scouts will be evaluating players.
“I’m looking forward to that,” he said.
Kimbrough’s three-point shooting continued to be a big part of his game in Spain. He hit 94 threes in 34 games last season.
But he said he added some things to his game that he hopes G League teams notice.
“What I liked about this season was I was forced to play a lot more point guard. Before, I could play point guard but with a lot of my teams I was more of a combo guard and played a lot of 2 guard (shooting guard).
“The higher I go, the more point guard I assume I’m going to play. I was able to showcase my passing a little more. I was forced to get into the paint more and make a play. And I think my defense got better, playing full court the whole game every game,” Kimbrough said.
European basketball has a different style than American basketball, he said.
“Whether you’re a point guard or a center everybody can pass, shoot and dribble. There’s not as much athleticism. It’s really physical. In my opinion it’s tougher than America in some ways in terms of physicality. Guys are picking you up full court and they’re allowed to be physical with you. The refs aren’t looking to make every call.”
European teams are allowed two Americans on their rosters. Gijon’s end of the season roster included players from seven countries.
Adjusting to things like not knowing the language, home sickness, different foods and the only other American on the team being a decade older were not as difficult as they might look from the outside.
“It wasn’t too bad. That’s the part where I probably surprised myself,” Kimbrough said.
“I would ask people who played overseas how was it being away from home. Some people said they weren’t homesick, others said they hated it. I adjusted pretty well. I mean, yeah, you’ve got moments where you wish you could get a home cooked meal from your mom or your grandma or somebody but I just tried to focus on making the most of it.
“I was eating food I would never, ever try in America, like squid, which turned out to be really good.”
“The best part outside of basketball, I would say is the traveling. You’re doing what you love, which is play basketball, and get paid pretty well for it and traveling. I’m seeing stuff I never even imagined, it’s so beautiful, and seeing so much history.
“Over there, they’re real big on history. Everything looks almost antique-ish. Big churches, cathedrals. It’s real cool. And you had people from America, Canada, Africa, Serbia – all these people coming together from different cultures and learning about different cultures and seeing how they view Americans.”
Kimbrough camp
Martyce Kimbrough is conducting a basketball camp at Lima Central Catholic on Aug. 5 and Aug. 6 for boys and girls in grades 3-8.
Grades 3-5 will be on the court from 9 a.m to noon and the afternoon session for grades 6-8 will run from 1-4 p.m.
The cost is $80, which can be paid in advance or at the camp. Go to martycekimbrough.com for more information.
Originally published at LCC Graduate Kimbrough Hopes G League is Next Step
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