FILER SETS NEW BAL ASSISTS RECORD

When REG point guard Adonis Filer stepped on the Dakar Arena for his first Basketball Africa League (BAL) game on March 6^th he was just happy to be part of the historic moment in his career. Little did he know that that would become a remarkable moment in the BAL history.

REG upset former African champions AS Salé 91-87 in their opener in the Sahara Conference, and Filer grabbed the limelight for a good reason.

Filer not only helped REG with his 14 points, but he also established a new BAL record with his 14 assists that previously belonged to Myck Kabongo.

On May 19^th 2021, Kabongo ignited Ferroviario de Maputo to an 88-74 win over AS Douanes in Kigali. The DR Congo international player finished contributed 20 points and a tournament-high 12 assists, but almost a year later, Filer established the record for most assists in a game.

“I am a sharer, I am a giver,” Filer said in an exclusive interview with bal.nba.com.

“I have been telling my teammates since we first met that I don’t mind not scoring a lot. Ultimately I want to win.

“During a game I never really pay attention to stats or anything like that, I just kind of try to make the plays to win.”

Filer says he did not know that his 14 assists were a BAL record until a teammate warned him of his achievement. “One of my teammates sent me a screenshot from the BAL website, saying that I had made a new record. I sent it to my parents first. I just thank God.”

Most of Filer’s assists went to Anthony Walker who finished with 21 points and 8 rebounds.

Asked to elaborate his chemistry with Walker, Filer said: “It really was our first game together. We really don’t practice that much together on the same team. He’s actually normally on the opposite team with Cleveland [Thomas Jr.], but when he is on my team I know what he does, I know how high he can jump.”

“The thing about him [Walker] is that he’s very humble. You wouldn’t expect a guy that plays with such excitement to be as quiet and as humble as he is. He is settled.”

Working under former NBA point guard Robert Pack now at the helm of REG, Filer says, is a privilege.

“It’s amazing, a guy that has been in there and done it. He made it to the NBA with hard work and dedication. I believe it’s everyone’s goal playing the game of basketball, to make it to the NBA. And, having a guy that he’s done it the way that he’s done it, it’s amazing to have to be able to learn from him. I have told him once before that: ‘I am a sponge, and I am willing to learn whatever it’s he is willing to teach.’ Having him to be here with his knowledge and his experience is amazing.”

Filer’s BAL debut came later than he expected, but he remained confident that sooner or later his BAL opportunity would come, and it did.

Filer was part of the Patriots BC team that won the 2020 Rwanda League title, but when the Patriots advanced to the BAL in Kigali, Filer was out of the team.

That decision, the Florida Atlantic University graduate said, made him hungry to just come back and be able to play in the BAL.

He joined REG and helped them win the 2021 Rwanda League title after beating Patriots in the final.

“I never hold any team accountable for what I do because basketball, at the end of the day, is a business at the professional level,” Filer insisted.

“I never really hold any grudges, but personally, I always have a bit of a fire in my stomach, and that just kind of feel a little bit for me to come back and have a chance to play in this league,” the 28-year-old explained.

Asked about REG’s potential in the BAL, Filer stressed that “this team could be limitless. I am a confident guy. So, any team that I am on, I feel like we can win. I am never prepared to lose. It could be limitless, we just need to keep working hard, we need to keep listening to what coach Pack says.”