Pops Mensah-Bonsu

Nana Papa Yaw Dwene " Pops " Mensah - Bonsu ( born September 7, 1983 in Tottenham, Greater London ) is a British professional basketball player of Ghanaian descent. After studying in the United States Mensah Bonsu - played mostly with short-term contracts in the most highly endowed U.S. professional league NBA. In addition, he played in almost all major European leagues in Italy, Spain, Russia and France. In the 2011/12 season he played almost an entire season for the Turkish club Beşiktaş Milangaz from Istanbul, with whom he also European club competition Euro Challenge for winning the first domestic double in their history, only the second title win a Turkish club team in a European competition. Mensah - Bonsu was named MVP of the Final Four Final tournament.

Career

Mensah - Bonsu joined at age 16 in 1999 in the United States and qualified as his later British National Team Captain Andrew Sullivan at the " St. Augustine College Preparatory School " in Richland (New Jersey ) for a study. While his older brother " Kojo " (born 1976 ), also a national player for England, studied at the U.S. West Coast to Washington State University and played basketball, had studied Pops on the east coast in Washington, DC at George Washington University, whose sports teams Colonials in the Atlantic 10 Conference of the NCAA are organized and was active for once the legendary basketball coach Red Auerbach. In 2005 they won the championship tournament of this Conference and in 2006 regular season. In these two years, was then also qualified for the national finals of the NCAA. After a first round defeat in 2005 was achieved in the following year the second round, where they lost to top-seeded Blue Devils of Duke University.

Although not selected in the NBA Draft, Mensah - Bonsu got pre-season NBA 2006/ 07 a contract with the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks Vice. For the final season squad he was not taken into account, but transferred to the adjacent Texas " farm team " Fort Worth Flyers of the NBA Development League (D - League). For the premiere of the all-star games in the D -League during the NBA All-Star Weekend 2007, Mensah - Bonsu, who hung up a double-double for the Flyers in the D -League in 2007, nominated for the team of the East, which he led to victory with 30 points and seven rebounds and was named MVP of the game. Then Mensah Bonsu - was recalled into the team the Dallas Mavericks, where he still completed twelve games until season's end. For the following season Mensah Bonsu - first left the U.S. and moved to the Lega Basket Serie A Italian Cup Winners' Cup Benetton Treviso. In the season 2007/ 08 he missed with 9.2 points and 8.3 rebounds a renewed double-double just barely. The season was disappointing, as the club missed the play-offs for the championship, after which Mensah Bonsu - yet completed a game with the club from Granada in the Spanish league ACB. With the two-point win at home, at the Mensah - Bonsu scored 22 points and 9 rebounds, the last match against the fourth- TAU Ceramica Vitoria-Gasteiz in the Basque, the association could just simply secure the league.

For the following season 2008/ 09 Mensah Bonsu - was obliged from Granada's league rivals and Spanish Cup winner Joventut Badalona. On the second day in the highest European club competition ULEB Euro Cup 2008/ 09 he was named MVP of this match day. After just five appearances in the championship Mensah - Bonsu to a shoulder injury and moved to the contract was terminated in December 2008. He then moved again in the D -League to Texas, where he 2009 for the Austin Toros, the farm team of the San Antonio Spurs, graduated eight games before he was brought up by the Spurs late February 2009 for three games in the NBA. In early March 2009, he was released by the Spurs and committed from league rivals Toronto Raptors, for which he marked a further 19 games this season. In the summer 2009, he took with the British National Team, which had been re-formed three years earlier for the Olympic Games 2012 in Mensah - Bonsus hometown of London, took part in their first European title fights. After three defeats in the first round against the later semi-finalists Slovenia, Spain and Serbia are retired early. For the NBA 2009/10 he was then obliged by the third Texan NBA team Houston Rockets, where he was released after four games, two weeks after the start of the season again, and was then taken up again by the Toronto Raptors. 16 appearances later, in early January 2010 was closing even when the Raptors. For the rest of the season got Mensah Bonsu - a contract with the Russian series champion PBK CSKA from Moscow, with which he won the domestic double. In the ULEB Euro League 2009/10 he usually came only brief appearances and was not used in the final victory in the match for third place at the Final Four tournament in Paris Palais Omnisports then.

After Mensah - Bonsu was for the 2010/ 11 first traded as a new entry at Caja Laboral, the new sponsors name of the Basque Association of Vitoria- Gasteiz, this club refrained from further contract negotiations, so that Mensah - Bonsu again a contract in the NBA signed, this time in the neighboring state of Texas, Louisiana at the New Orleans Hornets. This agreement also did not have any whole season; after seven inserts the Hornets released him in early January 2011. then played Mensah Bonsu - from end of February 2011 at the French giants ASVEL Villeurbanne in from the LNB Pro A. In ASVEL he was voted the best player in the Pro A of March 2011. After another shoulder injury in the play- offs at the French Championships, where ASVEL was eliminated in the semifinal series against the eventual champion SLUC Nancy Basket, missed Mensah - Bonsu the finals in 2011, where, according to the British national team again in the first round this time two wins in five games was the last stop. In the season 2011/12 he joined the ninth matchday of Türkiye Ligi Basketbol early December 2011 Beşiktaş Milangaz to, this contract also held up to the end of the season. Together with Carlos Arroyo and Zoran Erceg Mensah - Bonsu reached for the basketball team of the club the greatest success in its history, as it won a Triple Double from national and winning the title for the third European club competition Euro Challenge. While the national title successes were first respectively for Beşiktaş, success was in the Euro Challenge in the first second title win a Turkish club team in European club competition after winning the Korać Cup 1996 by Efes Pilsen Istanbul. Mensah - Bonsu came up with eight double- doubles in eleven European games, scoring the final 26 points and 20 rebounds, while his team-mate in the frontcourt Zoran Erceg 25 points and 15 rebounds contributed at 91:86 - Final victory over Élan Chalon. With the British national Mensah - Bonsu as hosts then took during the summer break in 2012 at the Olympic basketball tournament in his hometown of London in part, but again it dropped out after only a preliminary round victory in five games from an early stage.

In the season 2012/13 signed Mensah - Bonsu a contract with the dominant Israeli series champion Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, but because of a suffered in the Olympic tournament knee injury, the contract was canceled before the season starts again as the recovery not progressed fast enough. It was only in March 2013 signed Mensah Bonsu - a new contract with Cajasol from Sevilla in the Spanish ACB League, where he represented the injured Latavious Williams. After just over a month, the club left again and moved to the Italian Serie A EA7 Olimpia of Milan, but were eliminated in the Italian Championship play-offs early in the first round after seven games against defending champion Montepaschi Siena. At the start of the following season 2013/14 Mensah Bonsu - returned to Istanbul, but Beşiktaş ' local rivals and reigning champions Galatasaray SK.