Hi everybody, and welcome to Part 2 of my Monsterblog!

During the last few weeks, a lot has happened to me and I would like to share some of it with you guys. Additionally, we’ll start our #AskTheis segment and you can see at the end of the blog whether your question has made the cut. Enjoy reading!

A personal highlight was the NBA London Game against the 76ers. Everything was well-organized, so we had a really good time and I was obviously happy that we were able to win and head back to Boston on a positive note. We would have loved to explore the city a bit more and do some sightseeing, but due to practice and PR sessions our schedule was packed already. Media attention was incredible and there were a lot of celebrities at the game, notably famous football figures like Julian Draxler, Kevin de Bruyne and Sir Alex Ferguson. I was very thankful to be able to experience an event like that.

Since Christmas, we’ve done quite well in general. We had a winning streak of seven games, even though we suffered three home losses in a row after that as well. We didn’t play solid defense against the New Orleans Pelicans and against Philly, we played our worst offensive half of the entire year. But in a season with so many games, it’s easy to collect a couple of losses in a row – therefore it is even more important to pick yourself up, get better and win the next game. We’ll stay focused and try to win as many games as possible on our road trip now.

Every game and every matchup in the NBA is special to me, because there are so many stars and great players at the big positions. Specifically, playing against Karl-Anthony Towns of the Timberwolves was incredibly good. And Anthony Davis of the Pelicans is great individually and so versatile. It is obviously a huge challenge to compete against great players like that, but it is also a lot of fun! For me, playing against my former teammate Darius Miller was also very nice. I enjoyed seeing him again after almost half a year and talk a bit about our experiences since we last played together.

I get asked a lot about how the game has changed for me under Brad Stevens compared to my time at Brose Bamberg. Both Stevens and my former coach Andrea Trinchieri are real perfectionists in terms of basketball. Both live the game to the fullest and think of seemingly nothing else, 24/7. Both have a very similar approach to the game, mainly considering ball movement. Defensively, both are open to trying new things and cross-matches, like putting Al Horford on Ben Simmons and the like. Andrea tried similar things to cause problems for the opposing offense. Therefore, there hasn’t been that much change for myself. My role is very similar: play defense, provide energy, rebound, run the court, pick and roll, catch and shoot. I think I have done quite well in the NBA so far and my goal is obviously to continue to get better in every single facet of the game!

Another highlight during the last couple of weeks was the invitation by the New England Patriots. I had been meaning to watch a football game for quite a while and I was very happy that I finally managed to catch one in person. It was incredibly cold, but worth it. I’m already looking forward to the Super Bowl and rooting for the Pats of course.

Off the court, our new home provides a real challenge for us in terms of the weather. We recently had a blizzard that was announced a day before. You get emergency alerts on your phone and on every highway, there are warnings as well. And then it snowed. There were like 40cm of fresh snow. Incredible! There was some flooding in the city of Boston as well, which we luckily managed to avoid. In Germany, I had only known “hitzefrei”, which is getting time off from school on account of excessively hot weather. But here, all the schools and even the supermarkets were closed due to snow, even our practice was cancelled. We experienced temperatures like -20 degrees Celsius. I’m already looking forward to spring!

I also had a good time when my buddy Marcel Schaefer and his family visited us. He plays for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in Florida and recently came to Boston to support me at the TD Garden in person. I hope to return the favor soon. He definitely has the better weather.

And now, let’s answer some questions! I picked some of the #AskTheis questions, thanks for sending them in!

Oliver S. (Twitter): How are you handling the trash talking in the NBA? Does that have an impact on the game at all?

There is some trash talk from time to time, but so far I’m not really taking part in it, therefore it doesn’t really have an impact. Let’s see what the future holds.

James Gatter (Twitter): What made you want to leave the German league and come to play in the NBA?

It was the right time, the right team, the right city and the right coach. And of course it was always my dream to make it to the NBA. So it was pretty simple!

Kevin H (Twitter): Which food is your favorite in Boston and which restaurants do you like to visit?

At the moment, we really like to visit STRIP by Strega, a steak house. We also enjoy Davio’s which is a combination of Italian cuisine and steak house.

Philipp_auer (Instagram): What does an individual nutrition plan look like?

It is obviously very important to have a healthy and balanced diet with lots of fresh ingredients. Luckily, we have an exceptional team chef who provides us with everything we need.

That’s it for part 2 of my Monsterblog and I hope that I was able to provide you with some interesting insights again! For now, we’ll be on our road trip and soon afterwards the All-Star break awaits. Then we get to the best part of the season. I’ll keep you posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and if you have specific questions for my upcoming Monsterblog, just #AskTheis!

See you then,

Daniel