6'9" American Mike Konanec is unveiled in front of Transporter Bridge
tadea Middlesbrough Lions are pleased to unveil the much anticipated arrival of their new American player in Mike Konanec, a powerful 6’9 centre/forward who in Coach James Thomson’s opinion now completes the starting line up for the team.
The club fought off tough competition for the big man’s signature from offers in Paraguay, Mexico, Peru and others.
Konanec will go straight into the squad for the trip this weekend to Hull and the news has been met with delight from all Lions fans, officials and players alike. Lions captain; Tom Robinson said “We all knew the club was working hard on bringing a big American over and after a few problems with getting him and a previous target here, it just felt like it wasn’t going to happen. Thankfully he is here and seems like a cool guy so he should fit in well with our set up.”
Mike Konanec tadea Lions boss James Thomson and his no. 44 jersey
Konanec was a late starter in basketball, only picking up the sport in his late teens, but rapidly establishing himself as a dominating player in both high school and college in the USA. He has spent time overseas in Singapore and most recently last season as Championship winner for Uni Rebels in the Australian Basketball League. During this season, Konanec became the first player to hit a triple double, including an incredible 14 blocks in one game and this along with his rebounding was the ultimate attraction for Lions chief Thomson.
“As a team we were short on height and rebounding has been an on-off problem for us in recent games. As a unit we have done well to counter this but having Mike’s presence on court will change the whole dimension of our game. We now have a rebounding and blocking specialist and I will be looking for this addition to vastly improve our defence.” said Coach Thomson.
Mike though is not limited to rebounding and blocking, although he admits this is his passion, the Atlanta based star has a comfortable dribble, good passing ability and a strong 3-point shot to provide a number of options on offence.
When asked about signing for tadea Middlesbrough Lions, Mike was excited about the new chapter in his professional career “I am glad to be here in Middlesbrough. This is my first trip to England so that is quite exciting in itself but to be here at such an ambitious club is an honour. Coach made me feel very wanted and it was an easy decision for me to make after researching the club. I was very impressed with the set up.”
The big man has a strong basketball résumé and after the weekend, an indication as to whether his signature will lead to Lions becoming genuine title challengers may be evident.
Mike will wear the number 44 jersey and is pictured above in front of the Transporter Bridge after arriving in Middlesbrough.
Welcome to England and the Middlesbrough Lions Mike
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