Buccaneer Liam Hunt feeling fit and ready for NBL1 West season after spending time playing in German league

After winning a championship, many players spent their time off celebrating and taking a well-earned break, but Geraldton Buccaneer Liam Hunt hopped on a plane to compete in the German league, fulfilling a three-year promise. Hunt had previously singed a contract to play in Germany for Baskets Vilsbiburg back in 2020 but his plans were derailed when he tore three major ligaments and shredded the main nerve in his knee. Despite the setback, the team stayed in contact with Hunt the entire time and he was finally able to fulfil the promise this off-season as the 28-year-old went over to play for the side. “We kept in touch with them since 2020, before I hurt myself, and to go back there was really good, had a lot of fun, really enjoyed it and made some lifelong friends,” Hunt said. Having the opportunity to play the different style worked in Hunt’s favour and allowed him to improve his game while helping the team. “Yeah, it was awesome, a whole different experience how they run basketball over there,” he said. “European basketball is a bit different, how they play and a lot more movement off the ball. “The bigs, they’re really strong, more built like me, which was great, it was more challenging for me to go against bigs that are my size … pretty fun to learn different parts of my game as well.” Despite the cultural differences, Hunt said that the language barrier was not an issue and he enjoyed the opportunity to travel while playing for the side. “The whole experience of Germany was awesome, from Oktoberfest to the basketball, of course, but just a whole different culture, just out of this world,” he said. “Everything is just so close, four hours I was in Vienna and another five hours I was in Prague, that’s all by train. “It’s just the whole experience over there, it’s just so worth it, I recommend anybody to do it.” The long-time Buccaneer joined a young squad and brought veteran experience to a side he said could have won the championship if not for an unlucky injury. “It was good, it was challenging, obviously younger guys not with the experience that I had, I think I was the oldest players on the team, so it was good to be a leader for those younger boys,” Hunt said. “But they’re extremely talented and I think under different circumstances, where I don’t get hurt just before play-offs, I think we had a really good crack at winning the whole thing.” After being a key player for the side all regular season, Hunt suffered an ankle injury at training before their quarterfinal series. The Geraldton local was still able to play through the pain but the team fell against Veitshochheim in the third game, eliminating them from the finals. The injury allowed Hunt to come back to Australia and rejoin the Buccaneers earlier then expected, setting up for a solid pre-season. Hunt and the Buccaneers will begin their campaign for back-to-back NBL1 West championships on the weekend when they face the Willetton Tigers on Saturday, at Activewest Stadium.