According to the sources from the courtside seats “he impressed anyone in the Wednesday night’s Zagreb CO practice – some were breathless, some were confused. On one particular play he left both teams in confusion and disbelief with his ultra quick dribble penetration to the hoop.”
On Thursday night some coaching VIPs were worried that “the body could stay without the head or vice versa on this occasion. He is a Porch’ right now for them, and ironically what they need right now is just a Ford.”
Although he was too quick for anyone on his first trip to the floor from the bench and he got the cut above his right eye, Ford was relatively impressive in his first Euroleague appearance for Zagreb CO posting as much as 10 assists in 13 minutes of action, making his U.S. teammate PF Josh Heytvelt main beneficiary of those passes.
He displayed solid dose of leadership, court intelligence combined with his reported quickness.
Heytvelt had a career Euroleague night finishing up with 25 points and 12 boards. After going 0-4 from three-point land in the first half and almost being booed by the crowd Heytvelt managed to pick up his shooting touch from the long distance and score 7-9 three-point goals in the 2nd half, many of those coming from almost from the front seats and with opponent’s hand at him.
C Mario Kasun added 15 points and 11 boards, while SG Kruno Simon had 16 points and 12 boards.
During the 4th quarter, Ford sealed the win with the two spectacular passes – first coming in the open floor for the spectacular Heytvelt one-handed uncontested tomahawk dunk and the second one in the last minute of play with an alley-oop pass to C Mario Kasun for the thunder dunk to break Bamberg’s halfcourt zone and seal 86-74 victory. You could feel that one coming up in the stands.
On Sunday, with all eyes on Ford, Zagreb CO will face Radnicki Nis in the 9th round of the regional Adriatic League with hopes of reaching over .500 winning record mark for the first time this season.
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