Luis Flores

Luis Alberto Flores Matias ( born April 11, 1981 in San Pedro de Macoris ) is a Dominican basketball player. After a brief career in the NBA Flores played alongside stations in his home country in Europe. With the Dominican national Flores won the 2003 silver medal at the Pan American Games in 2003 in his home country. At club level Flores reached with the Russian club Krylia Samara Krasnye the final of the Euro Challenge 2009 /10, which was lost against German club BG 74 Göttingen.

Career

Flores grew up in Washington Heights (New York City ) in the United States and went in 1999 to study at Rutgers University in New Jersey, where already be too grew up in Manhattan compatriot Jeff Greer for the high school team Scarlet Knights in the Big East Conference of NCAA played. In this high school team, Flores was not as desired for the course and changed after he had played in the summer of 2000 for a team in his home country, at the Manhattan College back to New York City. In the Under-21 Junior World Championships in 2001 in Saitama Dominican selection with the semi-finals Flores equalized after a surprising victory against the convincingly into the tournament started Israeli youth team. Flores was at the end of the tournament 's second highest individual point scorer behind Argentina's Luis Scola. For the Dominican Republic meant the end of the fourth place at the World Championships an outstanding success in the history of their basketball association teams. At Manhattan College Flores played for the college team Jaspers after appropriate to the regulations of the NCAA one-year break from competition from 2001, three years in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference ( MAAC ) of the NCAA. At the end of the season 2001 / 02, the Jaspers were given an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament, where they lost in the first round against the Wildcats of Villanova University. Then they won two consecutive regular season and the championship tournament of the MAAC, with Luis Flores was consecutively awarded twice as the MAAC Player of the Year and twice the " Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award " for the best New York college basketball player got. In the nationwide NCAA finals, the Jaspers won by a first round defeat against eventual winners Orangemen Syracuse University in 2003 a year later their first game surprisingly against the Gators, University of Florida, then they be lost in the next round against the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest University, as Flores later NBA All-Star and Olympic gold medalist Chris Paul could not stop. Flores scored in 89 league games alone for the Jaspers in an average of 22.7 points per game over 2,000 points, with which he is team of internal scorer of all-time best list of Jaspers. Along with its 114 points for the Scarlet Knights, he came thus to 2,160 points in his NCAA career.

2003 Flores had already made ​​its debut during final competitions for the men's selection of the Dominican Republic. In the Centro Basket Championship of the Central American nations including Mexico, the national team had lost only two games against the undefeated tournament winner Puerto Rico and won the silver medal. At the Pan American Games 2003, two months later, in Santo Domingo now met Flores ' former teammate from his first college season, Jeff Greer, to choose from and you could beat Puerto Rico in front of his home crowd in the semifinals. After a final defeat against Brazil we again won a silver medal. The silver medal was the first medal win for the Dominican Republic at a basketball competition of the Pan American Games.

In the " Entry Draft, " 2004, the highest award professional league NBA Flores was selected in the second round in 2004 by the Houston Rockets. About barter with other players, among others, Vasilis Spanoulis, he eventually ended up at the Golden State Warriors. For this team, he came into the NBA in 2004/05 but only in 15 games for less than five minutes per game for the use and end of February 2005 was again traded to the Denver Nuggets, who used him in only one other game. End of August 2005 Flores was finally released by the Nuggets from contractual obligations. In November 2005, he was finally taken by the Italian first division from Roseto degli Abruzzi under contract, where already played his compatriot Jack Michael Martínez. In the season 2005/06 Lega Basket Serie A Flores was again put his qualities as a scorer with 20 points per game to the test, completed as a result of injuries but only eleven games. Roseto was able to secure the sporting league, thanks to the better direct comparison to the fourth- last place, but was for economic reasons, then no new license more. In summer 2006, Flores played again in the Dominican Republic before he got a contract for the pre-season with the New Orleans Hornets in the NBA, which was not renewed for the season. Early December 2006 Flores was committed by another Italian first division. In Bipop Carire from Reggio Emilia then he joined with a good 14 points no longer as dominant as scorer in appearance, but this team had to descend before last but one of the top division because of the poorer direct comparison despite two victories over Roseto year.

After championship games in the Dominican Republic in the summer of 2007, Flores was taken at the beginning of the season 2007/ 08 of Olympiada of Patras under contract. However, the previous year's Up in the highest Greek A1 Ethniki league had a sporty very bad season, which was to end at the end of the descent. Flores left the club at the end of the year and moved back to Italy, where he played in the second division Legadue for the club from Fabriano the season to end. However, Indesit Fabriano could only back in the league at the end of the season on the fourth to last place in the table. In the 2008 / 09 season, Flores was able to record also a success with a professional club team for the first time when he, Holon, won the national cup competition with Israeli Hapoel last year's champion. When scarce 69:68 - Final victory over Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Holon for the first title in this competition Flores was top scorer with 23 points of his team, however, as the defending champion in the first play-off round for the championship in the decisive fifth game in the against Hapoel Galil Elyon extension was eliminated.

After Hapoel Holon had in the preseason at any international competition, Flores played for the first time in the season 2009/10 for the Russian club Krylia Krasnye from Samara in the Euro Challenge 2009/10 in a European club competition. Krasnye Krylia moved with Flores as top scorer of the competition into a Final Four tournament in Göttingen. After Flores in the semifinal against Scavolini Pesaro could turn crucial free throws in the final seconds, it moved into the final against the host BG 74 Göttingen, who had already won in the second round home game against Samara be convincing. Even in the final Krasnye Krylia could not turn the tide and lost at the end with 75:83. In the 2010/11 season Flores played in the Basketball Super League Ukraine for the club from Donetsk, the first time moved in under new coach Saša Obradovic into play-off final of the Championship. There, however, they lost the former runner- BK Budiwelnyk from the capital Kiev. The Basketball America Championships 2011 at the Argentine Mar del Plata, the Dominican national team won the NBA pros Al Horford, Francisco Garcia and Charlie Villanueva and Jack Martinez Flores and the small final against Puerto Rico. With the bronze medal also scored the first medal win for the Dominican Republic in this competition.

For the 2011/12 season Flores was committed by the Spanish first division Asefa Estudiantes of Madrid. Estudiantes, who belonged to the Spanish top flight since its foundation in 1953, was very successful and acute threat this season in the ACB league relegation, as they dismissed Flores in January 2012 for disciplinary reasons. Then Flores returned for the rest of the season once again in the Ukraine, where he ran aground for Master BK Budiwelnyk in 20 games. While you could win the national cup competition in late March, would retire as the defending champion in the semifinal series of the championship against BK Asowmasch Mariupol clear in four games and finished at the end of the fourth place, while his former club BK Donetsk won his first championship. While his team-mate missed the last place in the Olympic basketball tournament in 2012 at the Olympic qualifying tournament in the decisive match against Nigeria, Flores was first reported for the year 2012/ 2013 as the new addition of Hapoel Eilat. Flores played in 2013 but so far only for clubs in Venezuela, his home country.