EuroLeague rookie Frankamp: ‘I knew I won’t be the main guy, but I enjoy the challenge’ / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Tolga Adanali/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Tolga Adanali/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

US combo guard Conner Frankamp is having a good time in EuroLeague with his new club Zenit St. Petersburg.

Player of the Game EFF 22 Mindaugas Kuzminskas Points 15 Accuracy 5-9 Rebounds 5 Assists 1

Last night, Frankamp was the top scorer of his team with 18 points,3 assists, and with 4/6 behind the arc. That was arguably Frankamp's biggest Euroleague night because his sharpshooting skills led Zenit to keep the momentum against Efes' comeback attempts.

"I enjoy it when the fans are here and loud," Frankamp told BasketNews. "I miss playing away games with full capacity. It was a good win for us. I think we played well as a team, got up early, took control of the game, and had a good third quarter as well."

Since arriving in Europe with Bulgarian outfit Beroe, Frankamp had brilliant seasons in successive years. He was the Balkan League's steal leader in 2019 and Greek League's top scorer in 2020.

Frankamp also had a solid season at ACB with Murcia, where he reached 15.7 points (97 points per 100 possessions), 3,8 assists, and 37% 3-pointers averages.

As a rookie of EuroLeague, he was well aware that his playing role would be not the same as the previous years, but alongside the Efes game, he also scored 18 points in the UNICS game to help his team get a win. This is a solid start.

"I enjoy the challenge. It's new for me, but I'm adopting pretty well to it," Frankamp noted. "I'll keep working every day, and I'm working to get better. My role for this team is a little bit different than the role, but the team has such good players, we are good as a team. I kinda knew that I won't be the main guy. It's been fine, and I enjoy my time here."

For Frankamp, the Euroleague experience also brings a lot of new experience and motivation for him to for pushing himself to become a complete player.

Until now, he's all good to adapt himself from the transition from Sito Alonso's more free-flowing style to Xavi Pascual's meticulously administered methodology. Besides, he is looking forward to playing with Shabazz Napier again.

"Xavi really likes to focus on defense. I think I got better defense this year. Last year, Sito Alonso wanted us to run up and down, trying to score more. So they are both successful on everything, but I'm very happy for playing for Xavi.

I think we are all excited for Napier to come back. His injury was really unfortunate. He's been rehabbing and working hard to get back," Frankamp concluded.

Taking one step at a time, Frankamp is getting ready to reach higher levels as his self-confidence grows week after week. If he keeps the momentum, Zenit fans might not have too much difficulty forgetting about Kevin Pangos, after all.

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