He is 18 years old and one of the biggest talents of Luxembourgish basketball. Jonathan Diederich left Luxembourg at a young age to join the Urspring academy in Germany. He is now part of the U19 and Pro A team in Urspring.
Can you describe your everyday life in Germany?
A typical day starts with weigth training at 10 in the morning, individual training at 11 and 2 hours of team practice in the evening combined with video analysis. This is how every day of the week looks like for me from Monday until Friday. Because the daily routine is extremely monotonous, it is important to do other things and activities during the off-time and not to think about basketball all the time. On weekends, I mostly have two games, one with the NBBL (U19 team) and another game in the Pro A league. It is even possible with our Pro A league team that we have a long drive to a game so that it can happen that we are away for 2 days to play only one game.
Last season, my focus was on my last year of high school since most games were cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic. However, this year, I am not going to school anymore and I am living together with two of my teammates which allows me to have more time to focus on basketball, which means that I can prepare myself for my practices and games in the best possible way, that is a huge advantage.
For the people in Luxembourg that do not know you, can you shortly describe your playing style?
I am playing the small forward position. I like to shoot, drive and pass the ball so that I could describe myself as a versatile player on the court. Furthermore, I am talking a lot on the court and off the court to communicate with my teammates in order to create an atmosphere of well being and honesty for everybody involved on my team. I think it is extremely important to have a good chemistry and communication in the team and I also like to be responsible in this area.
You received more playing time in the Pro A league during the season, how would you describe your evolution so far this year?
I think that I have made a step into the right direction so far. The beginning of the season was difficult, we had a new coach with other expectations and the competition in our team was very high. I managed to show strong performances in the NBBL, the coaches saw this and I slowly started to get more minutes in the men’s team as well. When several players got injured or left the team, I took my chances and I knew that it would be extremely important to show strong performances on defense and to show the rigth mentality at every moment in order to gain the confidence of my coaches. This worked out in the end and I was also able to take over a role on the offensive end. Despite a good development in our team, we have not been able to deliver strong results this season but I was able to make a big step and this was also a good evolution for my mental toughness.
What are your next goals as a player?
First of all, I want to continue to get better as a player and grow as a human being this season. Then, of my biggest goals is to go a college in the USA. This was the reason why I went to Urspring and it is a long process that demands a lot of attention and dedication but I am getting good help from the FLBB and other people to take this important step.
Last summer, you were part of the men’s national team for the first time. What are your goals with the national team of Luxembourg?
I have been playing in the youth national teams for the past 7 years and made my first appearence in the men’s team last summer. A big goal for me is to take over a major role in the men’s national team in the future. I will have to work very hard for this goal. I really like that more and more players are trying to become professional players, this will help the level of the national team going forward.
