Ricardo Greer

Ricardo Greer
Player information
birthday	18th August 1977 (age 43)
place of birth	Bronx , New York , United States
size	197 cm
position	Small forward
college	Pittsburgh
Club information
society	Strasbourg IG
league	LNB Pro A
Jersey number	14th
Clubs as active
1997–2001 Pittsburgh Panthers ( NCAA ) 2001 Los Padros de Santo Domingo 2001 BK Kiev 2002 Los Diablos de La Vega 2002–2003 STB Le Havre 2003–2004 London Towers 2004 BCM Gravelines 2004–2006 Strasbourg IG 2006–2007 EB Pau-Orthez 2007 –2010 SLUC Nancy Since 2010 Strasbourg IG 00000 00000 00000 00000 0
National team
200900000	Dominican Republic

Ricardo Greer (born August 18, 1977 in the Bronx , New York ) is an American - Dominican basketball player . After studying in his native country, Greer began a professional career in Europe, where he has played in the French LNB Pro A since 2002 with a one-year break . He was once French champion with two different clubs and has received various awards and appointments in all-star teams in the league. At many points in his career he played together with his brother Jeff , who was almost two years his junior , with whom he also won the two French championship titles.

Career

Greer studied in the USA at the University of Pittsburgh , where he played from 1997 to 2001 for the university team Panthers in the Big East Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Pitt Panthers initially played negative season results during Greer's time, but under the leadership of Greer, who was named "Most Improved Player" of the Big East in 2000, Greer's fourth and final college season again achieved a positive season balance and hit up in the final game of the Big East Championship tournament, which was lost by 22 points to the Eagles of Boston College , who dominated the tournament and won no game by less than 14 points. Nevertheless, it was not enough for the Panthers to qualify for the national NCAA finals , instead they played in the National Invitation Tournament , in which they were eliminated in the second round. Greer's personal achievements had stagnated a bit in the final season despite the team success of the Panthers and he could not recommend himself for a contract in the highest endowed professional league NBA .

In the summer of 2001, he first played in the country of origin of his ancestors for Los Padros in the Distrito Nacional of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. He then signed a professional contract with BK Kiev in the Basketball Superliga Ukraine , which was dissolved after a few weeks. After initially playing for a team from La Vega in 2002 , he returned to Europe for the 2002/03 season and played in the LNB Pro A for Saint Thomas Basket from Le Havre . Here he was invited to the All-Star game of the French league as a representative of his team and was also the player with the most ball wins on average during the season. The team from STB Le Havre, which had been relegated in the previous season only because of the better direct comparison , was able to qualify at the end of the season for the first time after returning to the top division as eighth of the table for the play-offs for the French championship, where one however, eliminated in the first round against the former runner-up and later title holder Élan Béarnais. While his brother Jeff moved to Le Havre, Ricardo Greer went to the British Basketball League at the Towers from London , who were eliminated as third in the 2003/04 regular season in the semi-finals of the play-offs against eventual titleholder Sheffield Sharks . At the end of the season Greer moved across the English Channel back to France and played for the Basket Club Maritime in Gravelines , for which he played three more games in the play-offs. However, BCM Gravelines lost the final series of the championship against defending champion Élan Béarnais.

For the 2004/05 season, the two Greer brothers moved together to Illkirch-Graffenstaden Basket in Strasbourg . The team had only kept the class in 2003 by increasing the league. After the team was eliminated in the first play-off round against defending champion Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez in 2004, the balance of power had reversed in the 2004/05 season. In the first play-off round you were able to eliminate the sixth from Pau as third in the table and completely dethrone Nancy after winning the championship final over SLUC. Ricardo Greer was named " Most Valuable Player " (MVP) of the finals at the club's first championship success and impressed with his athleticism. In the following season the team played in the highest European club competition ULEB Euroleague 2005/06 , where they could only win three of 14 preliminary round games and were eliminated early. In the French championship this time they lost in the semifinals against SLUC Nancy, who in turn became runner-up. Then the two brothers parted ways at first. While Jeff moved to Israel, Ricardo went to previous competitor Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez.

In the 2006/07 season Greer was able to win the cup competition "Coupe de France" with Élan Béarnais from southwest France and reached the round of the best 16 teams in the ULEB Euroleague 2006/07 , in which, however, only one of won six games. But in the championship it was only ninth place with a slightly positive season balance with 18 wins in 34 games because of the poorer direct comparison, so that the club, which was used to success in the past and had won six of nine championships between 1996 and 2004, was the first time since Introduction of the play-offs in 1985 did not qualify for the final round of the title award. The Stade Lorrain Université Club (SLUC) from Nancy , who had lost three consecutive times to changing teams the championship finals, committed to the 2007/08 season, the two Greer brothers and was actually in second place in the main round in the final of the play-offs defending Chorale Roanne with Dethrone 31 points difference and also like Strasbourg IG three years earlier celebrating their first title win in the championship. In the ULEB Euroleague 2008/09 was the first time the club participated in this competition with only two wins in ten games after the preliminary round again and in the championship they lost the play-off semi-final series against the fourth in regular time Main round first and later title holder ASVEL . After Greer had briefly belonged to the national team of the Dominican Republic in 1999, he was appointed to the final squad at the 2009 American Basketball Championship . In the second round they lost the decisive game for the semi-finals against Canada by four points. Although Greer was named the best foreign player of the LNB Pro A in the following season 2009/10 as "MVP étranger" and was invited to the league's All-Star game for the fifth time, the team from SLUC Nancy was eliminated as fifth in the main round in the first round the play-offs.

For the 2010/11 season, Ricardo Greer first signed a contract with the Croatian runner-up KK Zadar , but returned to Strasbourg IG before the start of the season, which had only just held the class as the third from last of the previous season. His brother Jeff played for BCM Gravelines, against the SLUC Nancy in the preseason in the first play-off round was eliminated. In a balanced field of participants, Strasbourg IG, like four other teams, only won twelve season victories in 30 games and was able to place it in eleventh place in the final table. In the following 2011/12 season, despite two more wins, it was only enough to improve slightly to tenth place. The two brothers were reunited in the 2012/13 season when Jeff von EnBW Ludwigsburg returned from the German basketball league to the other side of the Rhine . In addition, Louis Campbell moved from the other Württemberg club Tigers Tübingen to Alsace , where three protagonists of the first championship win in 2005 were gathered with the two Greer brothers and the former French national player Aymeric Jeanneau . As second in the main round they remained unbeaten in the play-offs and reached the championship final, which was played for the first time again as a play-off series in " best-of-five " mode instead of in a single game as before. Opponent of the final series was last year's climber JSF Nanterre , who had reached the play-offs for the first time in the club's history as the main round eight only because of the better direct comparison, but was also unbeaten in these before. In the first final game in front of a home crowd, Strasbourg IG was able to inflict the first play-off defeat on the upstart with a difference of 34 points. However, the following three finals were lost against the Paris suburb club, so that the two Greer brothers lost a joint championship final in France for the first time.

Web links

• GREER, RICARDO - Player profile on the sides of the ULEB ( English )
• Ricardo Greer - Strasbourg - Joueurs - Pro A - player profile on the websites of the French LNB ( French )
• Ricardo Greer Stats - Pittsburgh Panthers - College season stats on statsheet.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 2012–13 Men's Basketball Media Guide. (Flash animation) (No longer available online.) Big East Conference , p. 128 , archived from the original on April 5, 2013 ; accessed on June 23, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ Besok RIP YouTube , May 25, 2006, accessed on June 23, 2013 (video upload by User Tubsquent). 
3. ↑ archive.fiba.com: Players - Ricardo GREER (DOM). FIBA , accessed on June 23, 2013 (English, overview of participation in FIBA ​​competitions).