Brooks: Level Of Euro Summer Hoops Rises For Hartmann

BOULDER – When Alina Hartmann touched down in Colorado last summer, she learned a couple of things very quickly about basketball in the USA: First, defense was required; second, so was communication.

As a rising young star on the European hoops scene, communicating on the court in her native German was never a problem. Playing defense was hardly a concern either, mainly because, in Hartmann's words, “In Europe everyone can shoot, get to the basket and score. But no one can defend. Yeah, having to play defense was different.”

And playing 'D' well – as well as playing the game itself – requires talking with teammates. So when Hartmann, a 6-foot wing from Bamburg, Germany, made her August arrival at the University of Colorado, she was behind on two fronts. English was as foreign to her as the concept of fighting through a screen.

“I learned English in high school, but I never really had to use it, never had to talk to American people. Sometimes on the court I didn't know what coach (Linda) Lappe wanted,” Hartmann said, identifying that as her biggest challenge among lifestyle adjustments that also included acclimating to American food, hearing Americans talk “football” and not mean soccer, and seeing American highways packed with massive SUVs, pickups and vans rather than modest Mercedes and Audis.

With Lappe habitually emphasizing defense, Hartmann was immediately cast in a catch-up mode during her freshman season. In the up-and-down world of European women's basketball and its 24-second shot clock, getting court time was never a problem for a skilled offensive player – which Hartmann is.

Running offensive sets that included three or more options and not worrying about the 24-second shot clock required patience, and balancing that with effectiveness on the other end of the court would take at least a half season's work. That cut into Hartmann's November and December minutes.

"BUT BY MIDSEASON," SAID LAPPE, “she was understanding the system, the speed and quickness required, positioning . . . I wouldn't say she was a defensive stopper, but she wasn't a liability. She's really overcome a lot.”

Added Hartmann: “I still have to work on my quickness, but I got better with the principles – how to move on the court, things like that.”

Due to competing in the 2014 U20 European Championships for most of the summer, Hartmann's relatively late arrival on campus nearly made her a stranger in the locker room for several weeks. Freshman can face difficult transitions in normal circumstances, but with Hartmann coming in late and facing a language barrier, the difficulty doubled.

“There's a ton of transition and it's always difficult for any freshman,” Lappe said. “It was exacerbated coming from a foreign country. And with her playing (in Europe) all summer, she couldn't be around our team. Then this new teammate shows up . . . but it was a credit to her and our players for how they handled it. She got to know them, they took her in and she got familiar with the campus and the environment.”

With more than one assist from freshmen roommates Brecca Thomas and Zoe Correal, Hartmann believes she “adjusted pretty well. It took time . . . it's just a different style of life. But my team helped me and my two roommates helped me on all ends. It just took time to get to know everyone else.”

It shouldn't come as a surprise, but Hartmann played soccer before she picked up basketball. Her father, Roland, was a soccer player and the oldest of his two daughters – sister Anika is 15 – began playing football with the boys in the street in front of their home in Bamburg.

Her mom, Brigit, didn't like the idea and said, “Look for another sport. So I ended up playing basketball,” Hartmann recalled. At age 8, “I enjoyed playing and never wanted to stop.”

But soccer's footwork transitioned to the court as did Hartmann's penchant for competing, which Lappe calls one of Hartmann's biggest assets: “That's one of the things I like about her; she's a competitor and wants to take the big shots.”

HARTMANN LIKELY WILL HAVE several opportunities to do plenty of that this summer. She's returned to Europe – her first trip home in 10 months – to continue play with the German U20 team. But this summer the level of competition rises; her team moves from Division B to Division A and Hartmann calls the difference in competition and talent striking.

“In the B (group) we played against teams like Portugal, Romania – the East Bloc teams, north European countries, smaller countries,” she said. “Now we're going to play Spain, Russia, Poland – the big countries that spend a lot more money in their sport systems.

“But I'm very happy with it. I feel like we've got a pretty good team; a lot of the kids were playing in the states, coming back from their freshman years. So, yeah, I'm excited about it.”

Hartmann, who has been in Germany's junior national program since 2010 (U16), averaged 8.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists last summer in helping her team to an 8-1 record and first place in the U20 Division B. Playing in 31 games (8.5 minutes) for CU, she averaged 2.5 points and one rebound in 8.5 minutes in her first college season.

But she and Lappe expect those numbers to increase in Hartmann's sophomore year. With the first-year settling in experience behind her, Hartmann and her coach think playing this summer against stiffer competition in the A Division will only elevate her game.

“Her team won the B Division last year, now they take on the big boys this year,” Lappe said. “She'll be playing against the best in the world on a daily basis. She can take what she learned at Colorado and help her German national team, and what she learns this summer will help us. Really, anytime you can compete and play for something it helps your game tremendously.”

Hartmann echoes that: “I think so, absolutely . . . we practice and play for almost the whole summer. I know exactly what coach Lappe wants me to improve on and I can work on those things all summer. So it's not like I'll be doing anything else except playing basketball.”

Sounds like a player's dream, but Lappe wants her German import to report for the fall semester reenergized. By summer's end, Hartmann will have competed for a year and a half with no significant breaks. “She'll need to get some rest,” Lappe said. “We need her to be fresh and ready to go.”

Chances are very good that Alina Hartmann will be both.

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU