Only reluctantly did the 17-year-old let his team-mate Demetrius Ward push him forward, then shouted a single timid “Paaaderboooorn” in the direction of the almost empty grandstand, in order to quickly flee among the amused teammates.
As cautious as the exceptional talent was after the easy 105: 69 (51:38) victory of the Uni Baskets against the Gladiators Trier, the young guard presented himself confidently in this ProA game, which was definitely unforgettable for him. Exactly two minutes and 23 seconds were left to play in the first quarter, Peter Hemschemeier just 34 seconds on the field when he scored two very special points with a jump shot over Rupert Hennen: the first second division points in his career, which is now four appearances. While some debutants would have been quite satisfied with such a premiere, Hemschemeier only really turned it up a little later. Since Trier was never considered to have a sense of achievement in the Maspernplatz sports center, head coach Steven Esterkamp allowed the teenager – after almost three minutes in half one – more than eleven minutes in round number two, and Hemschemeier couldn’t have used it more efficiently.
The first two points turned into a total of 13. The junior ace scored from all positions, from the brave lay-up to two threesomes, and actually did not make a single failed attempt. “Of course it is great that I succeeded, but the decisive factor was that my teammates trusted me, looked for me and found me,” said “Mister 100 percent” in an analysis in the best professional language. Eight Paderborns scored nine points or more on Saturday evening. The son of long-time Baskets playmaker Dirk Happe, who like his father once wears the number 8, was only surpassed by the once again outstanding John Bryant.
The two-time BBL-MVP contributed 24 points to the fourth win in the eighth game, but was then also particularly happy for his youngest teammate. When asked if he was surprised by Hemschemeier’s 13-point appearance, the 33-year-old gave an unexpected answer: “If I’m surprised, it’s that it took so long for Peter to play. From the players’ point of view, he could have helped us earlier, but Coach Steve wanted to let him mature a little more in training. “Now the time was ripe for the first appearance with a two-digit number of minutes and this should be followed by more. “I can’t promise that Peter will get 15 minutes every week now, but we’ll do everything we can to ensure that his development continues in such a pleasant way,” says Esterkamp.
If the career of the Paderborn young athlete of the year 2019 stalled in the meantime, it was because he had paid a little too much attention to social media and his smartphone, but that’s over. The Reismann student is fully focused and is provided with plenty of tips from a 2.11 meter high point. “You can be the most talented guy in the world – if you don’t work hard enough, you won’t get anywhere,” says Bryant, promising to keep an eye on Peter Hemschemeier.
But that certainly also applies to the 18-year-old Vincent Neugebauer, who was not able to look forward to his first points against Trier, but to the first 90 seconds on the ProA stage.
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