GER - Bauermann: Sensley had too many issues off the court

HIROSHIMA (FIBA World Championship) - German national team coach Dirk Bauermann said off-the-court issues were the reason Julian Sensley was not named to the team for the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

Sensley was the final cut as the Germans trimmed their roster to 12 players late Thursday after their final warmup against Greece in the Stankovic Cup.

Bauermann said the 23-year-old Hawaii native was having problems dealing with his first time away from the United States; thoughts of not having a basketball job for next season; as well as health concerns with his new-born baby, whom he has hardly seen.

"There were just lots of things going on in his head, and he couldn't concentrate on the things he needed to," Bauermann said.

The recent University of Hawaii graduate also struggled adapting from the college game to the international one and couldn't really find his role in the team.

"He was used to being the man at Hawaii, doing everything for them," Bauermann said of the small forward, who was naturalised just before Germany's training camp in Mallorca.

But Bauermann said Sensley handled the decision well and agreed with it. And the coach expects Sensley to play an important part in Germany's future.

"We told him we're confident in his abilities and that he has a future with the team. I'm very optimistic he will come back next time and really play well for us. We would have liked to have taken him with. But there was too much going on for him," added Bauermann.

The coach earlier this summer dubbed Sensley the country's future at the small forward position

David HEIN
Exclusively for FIBA