The Road Diary: Fiston Ipassou

It was a rollercoaster week for Fiston Ipassou as he got his first taste of an NBL away trip in the loss to the Sydney Kings on Sunday.

With Anthony Drmic’s injury, Ipassou was the next man up, which he only found out after the win against Cairns on Friday night.

“It’s been a good week, I got to train against and with the main team,” he said.

“I found out after the game on Friday that I’d be travelling to Sydney.

“I’ve only been to Sydney once and I’ve never been to Qudos Bank Arena, so that was pretty cool.”

Ipassou roomed with a player who had moved from the development player list onto the main roster recently, Nick Marshall.

He took his opportunity to pick his teammates’ brain about his experiences as a development player and how to make the most of the opportunities.

“I was with Nick (Marshall),” he said.

“I was pretty happy with that as he was in my position last year (as a development player).

“He can kind of show me everything he did last year.

“I’ve been picking his brain a bit.

“I’ve been asking about using my time when I’m not with the team, what he does off the court and prepare myself for the game mentally.”

Ipassou would get some court time against the reigning NBL champions, the Sydney Kings, on Sunday.

“It was pretty fun to get on court there, because beside the NBA experience, it’s the biggest thing I’ve done yet,” he said.