Newcastle Eagles’ Damon Huffman talks to UK American Sports Fans

I spoke to Damon following the Eagles’ victory in the season opener against Glasgow Rocks.

Damon Huffman, “Anytime you win you have to be happy with the result. There are definitely things that I can improve and the team can improve too. If we want to win every game this year we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

I had hear a lot about Damon’s reputation as shooter, but suggested he was perhaps being a little cautious on that front in the season opener against Glasgow Rocks.

Damon replied, “At the start of the game I’m just trying to get a feel for the environment, the refs, the team who we’re playing. My shots will fall, I know that’s what I am and that’s what I’ve always done. I know I’ve got good scorers in Joe (Chapman) and Chuck (Smith) and guys that can score down low in Darius (Defoe) and Kareem (Maddox). I’m not really worried about my shots right now as I know as a team we can score points. When my shots start falling watch out because we’ve got a lot of guys who can put the ball up.”

On Landstede Zwolle teammate Kareem Maddox joining Newcastle Eagles too, “Any time you have guys that you know it makes things easier. Especially at point guard you want to be as comfortable as you can with the rest of your teammates. I want to know Joe’s tendencies and Chuck’s tendencies. The more I know about them, the easier I can get them the ball. I’ll know what they’re going to do when the go back door or post up.”

Damon certainly caught the eye of the Eagles’ hierarchy at the Basketball Days tournament last Christmas and he’s been coveted ever since. I wondered if this had influenced his decision to come to Newcastle.

Damon said, “When we played the Eagles last year it was a friendly game but they saw the quality of player and the things I can obviously do. One of the things I hope they can recognise is that I can complement other guys. I don’t need to score 20 points a night. I can score 5 points but help the other guys and we still win.”

Coach Fab Flournoy is delighted with the acquisition of Damon and he had a few words to say about his new point guard.

“Damon is a very smart basketball player. He’s the total opposite of Paul Gause. Paul was a fantastic player, explosive, like a keg of dynamite, probably the most talented player I’ve ever worked with. Damon can make a read, he can get everyone the basketball when they need it. He shoots the basketball very well.”

He uses what I like to call the Jedi mind trick, making you think he’s slower, that he can’t play, he can’t shoot. Then all of a sudden he just lays on the points, shoots the ball. He might be the one to watch out for this season, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a forty point game. He’s unassuming but he’s that talented.”

I’ll be catching up with all the Newcastle Eagles players throughout the season, so if you have any thing you’d like me to ask them or feature on the podcast simply send me a tweet or email the site.