GMHBA Ballarat Miners Sign Thondique
The GMHBA Ballarat Miners are excited to announce that American Gregory Thondique has signed with the club as a replacement for Kodi Augustus who was released from his contract early last week.
The Miners Elite Sub-Committee started looking at replacements late last week and Thondique came up on the radar as he recently finished his season with Angers BC in France. After consultations between Head Coach Eric Hayes, Sub-Committee Chair Nick Grylewicz and Thondique it was decided he would be the right fit not only for the team but for the Ballarat community.
Hayes is pleased that the Miners were able to sign someone and get them across in the mid-season break and believes that Thondique will be a real asset.
Hayes said that “the video footage I saw of Greg was fantastic as he ran the court really well, he was very competitive around the basket and he played a lot above the rim”.
“When I spoke to Greg he was easy to talk to and he had a good understanding of how important it was to get involved within the community and with his teammates” Hayes added.
“Greg was also very keen to join our team as he felt he could help us to improve and have more impact on the league for the rest of the season”.
On signing with the Miners Thondique stated “I am really excited to come to play for the GMHBA Ballarat Miners in Australia and look forward to joining forces with Roy Booker who I have played with in Israel”. This is an exciting combination for the Miners and when Booker was told of Thondique’s signing, he couldn’t contain himself saying “I played with Greg in Israel for 4 months and found him to be a real professional who wants to win. He is a great person who I am sure will fit in to our team and the Ballarat community”.
“His greatest strengths are his athleticism and his rebounding strength. He is a real mid-range player who likes to work hard inside the key” Booker added.
Although Thondique has never played in Australia he has lots of experience playing across the world in America, France, Israel, Belgium, Spain and Uruguay. The world these days constantly seems smaller and smaller and this is no exception with the revelation that Thondique has close family living in Melbourne. Thondique stated “I am excited for them to get the opportunity to see me play”.
Thondique is expected to be in Ballarat later this week allowing him to attend training sessions before the team heads to Bendigo on Saturday June 13. When asked what will he bring to the team Thondique replied with “I will bring an athletic way of playing which will include rebounding, running the floor and when I can I will dunk everything around the basket”
Thondique has an impressive highlight reel which can be seen on the following link.