The choice of having the Michael Jordan wolf like sneer or his gregarious smile is either way never really a positive experience. When he has his game face on, he can sneer and probably even scare Ratiopharm Ulm big man John Bryant and when he has his lovable smile which could probably even brighten up the darkest alley in Liverpool, which means that he is most likely undergoing a very beneficial situation on the court. However at the end of 40 minutes in the Ballsporthalle, Jordan left the court as his sneer had simply been ignored by Frankfurt as if it had lost value the same way the dollar has the last years and his usuall cheerful big smile had been replaced by a stone cold expression as if his Denver Broncos had just lost the Superbowl 55-0 as The Deutsche Bank Skyliners took apart MBC 83-52 after having lost in Berlin and in Eurochallenge play. “I had a blank stare on my face. It is just very frustrating to get spanked two weeks in a row. Basketball is a game of runs and they made two of them and we weren´t up to the challenge. There were times where they got a loose ball and easy basket or a hand on a ball leading up to a basket. You can´t allow a good team like Frankfurt so many second chances”, stressed Michael Jordan. “Jordan didn´t really have anything to smile about after this loss. But that is normal. Has we won, then he would of showed his big smile”, added Ronald Ross. Frankfurt didn´t play perfect for 40 minutes, but managed to win by 31 points. “We played great for three quarters. We had too many turnovers in the second quarter. We have to minimize our mistakes. We held them to under 60 points and anytime we do that we will always have good chances to win”, commented Skyliner guard Dashaun Wood.
Despite the cold weather in Frankfurt which has felt as cold or colder as experiencing a slay ride in a blizzard in Siberia, hanging out in a refrigerator that has +2c when its really -9c in downtown Leipzig, or challenging the local Eskimos to a fishing contest on the north pole, but the MBC Wolves seemed not be comfortable in the very much warmer Ballsporthalle as they seemed very lonely away from their dens in the lonely woods of Weissenfels. “I dont think the warmer weather really effected us. This was a great opportunity  for us to get over the hump, but Frankfurt kept the wolve sin their holes and we just couldn´t adjust”, warned ex Artland Dragon Ronald Ross.. For Michael Jordan playing in warm areas has been nothing new to him. “The heat didn´t distract us at all. Wolves like the cold, but I hav eplayed in many warm arenas. I remember when I was playing in Cologne, Marcin Gortat always kept pushing to turn down the hot lights. I love it warm”, stressed Michael Jordan.

Many were speculating just how well The Deutsche Bank Skyliners would be able to play after suffering a 78 hour torture journey to and back from their Eurochallege game in the Ukraine. Despite this ordeal, the team was able to stick it behind them. “I have traveled a lot in my life, but that was the most difficult travel in my life. We had heavy legs, but coach did a good job getting us focused and we knew what to do on the court”, stressed Canadian national player Jermaine Bucknor. Skyliner Sport director Kamil Novak could probably write a screen play about the calamity the team endured. “Everyone was looking for a place to stay. It was difficult finding any information in Prague. The buses weren´´t working and there was so much snow. I have never seen so much snow in my life. It felt like too many cars on the freeway. It was like a big traffic jam at the airport. This weather effected normal people as well as other teams like Alba Berlin. We didn´t plan this. This can always happen and one just ha sto take it the way it is”, warned Kamil Novak. Dashaun Wood had a lot of time to think and also had Tom hanks in his mind during the 78 hours. “I had a lot of time to watch movies. I also thought about the movie Terminal with Tom hanks who lives at an airport. This was the worst travel that I ever expereinced, but we stuck together as a team and it showed against MBC: We showed that we could bounce back after a tough situation”, warned Dashaun Wood. TV Langen American Nathan Drury who had beat the Frankfurt Skyliners PRO B team in a game earlier in the day would of been ready for an ordeal like that. “I would of listened to a lot of music and would of hoped that my Ipod battery would have had enough life. I remember getting stranded in san Diego for 10 hours in college. I played a lot of cards and it was very good team chemistry”, expressed TV Langen Nathan Drury.
Despite the cold weather, it didn´´t hamper 4,610 people from visiting the Ballsporthalle and seeing The Deutsche Bank Skyliners get off to a fast 7-0 lead with two Kimmo Muurinen free throws, an open three pointer by Quantez Robertson and a pretty mini floater by Dashaun Wood who made a quick side step in the zone and scoring. MBC had massive problems finding their rhythm as they seemed very lethargic at times in the offense getting many turnovers. Frankfurt quickly led 10-2 as Marius Nolte made a free throw and a lay in after grabbing an offensive rebound. Ronald Ross then made a pretty jumper in the lane scoring his first points as a wolf. He had come for the departed Jerome Tillman and still seemed a bit jetlagged after arriving in Frankfurt the day before. “It felt cool to play and I was excited. I wanted to play hard defense and use my strength of getting to the hole and make plays when we needed them”, said ex Texas tech guard Ronald Ross. “Ross willö help us at point guard. We couldn´t expect to much since he had just got off the plane, but he will help us”, warned MBC American Davon Roberts. Frankfurt continued finding more rhythm going on a 10-4 run to lead 20-8.
Frankfurt got buckets from Muurinen as he scored as the shot clock was down and Wood made a nifty lay in on the fast break. Frankfurt got free throws from Bucknor and Nolte and Mckinney made drooped a big three pointer. MBC kept turning the ball over and missing shots, but were giving Frankfurt pesky competition under the boards and were trying to run transition. Frankfurt led 24-10 after one quarter. “We were very focused and had fire in our eyes and got our offense going fast”, stressed Jermaine Bucknor. “We got off to a slow start and couldn´ t get it going until the second quarter”, commented Davon Roberts. The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were shooting 60% from two point range and 14% from outside while MBC was shooting 43% from two point land and 0% form outside. Both teams had 11 rebounds a piece. Frankfurt had two turnovers and MBC eight turnovers.
Basketball is a game of runs and each team has their energy player that can get hot quickly and get a team back into the game as Alba Berlin has Julius Jenkins, Phoenix Hagen Mark Dooris, Bamberg Brian Roberts and MBC has radenko Pilcevic. The diminutive 185cm Serb would become that spark plug in the second quarter as he started hitting from downtown with ease as Vinny Johnson did 20 years ago for the Detroit Pistons. After Jimmy Mckinney extended the Frankfurt lead to 26-10 with  a pull up jumper, MBC slowly got rolling as Vassil Evtimov made a nice move around Mckinney and Roller in the lane as MBC trailed 26-12. Then it was Radenko Pilcevic who made the first of four three point bombs all from almost the same spot at the top of the key. Pilcevic nailed his second three pointer and MBC trailed only 28-19. Frankfurt interrupted the MBC run with a mini 4-0 run as Muurinen hit a fade away jumper and Dominik Bahiense De Mello scored on the fast break after getting a feed from Wood who made a steal. Frankfurt led 32-19, but Frankfurt didn´t keep an eye on Pilcevic who hit two more three pointers and Roberts scored inside off the fast break as MBC suddenly trailed only 32-27. Frankfurt was making turnover after turnover and was giving Skyliner coach Gordon Herbert a massive headache. In the last minute, Quantze Robertson and Davon Roberts traded buckets as Frankfurt led 34-29. After a Pascal Roller trunover, Vassil Evtimov got an offensive rebound and MBC got a last chance as Michael Jordan made a fake on Mckinney stepped three steps to his left and drowned a big three pointer as MBC was back in the game and went into halftime behind only 34-32. “We finally played defense in the second quarter allowing only one shot”, stressed ex Bamberg guard Michael Jordan. “Our legs got heavy and we lost our heads a bit. We had nine turnovers which is way to much and they hit big shots”, said Jermaine Bucknor. After 20 minutes, The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were shooting 43% from the field and 9% from the three point line while MBC was shooting 42% from the field and 42% from the three point line. MBC had the slight 18-17 rebound edge, but 12 turnovers while Frankfurt had 11 turnovers.
The first quarter belonged to Frankfurt, the second to MBC and the third quarter belonged to The Deutsche Bank Skyliners as they came out and jumped on the more aggressive wolves from the second quarter and sent them weeping back to their dens as the gang of Gordie Herbert played a near flawless quarter. MBC got the first basket to tie the game and seemed to have the momentum again, but then lost it in an instant as ex German national player Guido Grunheid had a clear break away and missed a dunk as Frankfurt scooted out on a 10-0 run to lead again comfortably 44-34. Frankfurt was scoring in many ways getting an open three pointer by De Mello and a pull up jumper by Quantez Robertson. Wood did his typical job scoring in almost impossible ways on his penetration and drawing fouls and Muurinen was grabbing offensive rebounds. After two Evtimov free throws, Frankfurt went on another run this time 7-0. Muurinen scored a three pointer, Wood with free throws and De Mello on the fast break.
Frankfurt led 51-36 and was quickly running away with the game. MBC then made the most perfect text book play of the game as Guido Grunheid gave a perfect lob pass inside to Evtimov who made the easy lay up. Frankfurt then went on their third run of the quarter with 8-0 which was fueled by two De Mello three pointers and was highlighted by a massive in your face dunk by Super Tez Robertson over Sascha Leutlof. Frankfurt had the comfortable 61-44 lead after three quarters. “We got that fire back in our eyes, ran our offense, shot with a lot of confidence and adjusted on Pilcevic who we didn´t allow to make another four three pointers”, stated Jermaine Bucknor. “MBC had run their offense better in the second quarter and coach told us to play defense in the third quarter and we did”, said Dashaun Wood. “Frankfurt hit big transition three pointers in the third and we never got back”, said Davon Roberts.
The Deutsche Bank Skyliners kept their momentum in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter as they were able to extend their lead to 21 points 68-47. Frankfurt kept running their offense with success as Bucknor showed his versatile offensive play with a three pointer and an offensive rebound helping out on the glass and scoring and Joe Dabbert contributed with a left handed lay in. Captain Pascal Roller had been very quiet on offense until the fourth quarter where he found the hot hand as he made two three pointers.Wood showed his expertise play on defense forcing turnovers and getting steals as he fed Mckinney for  a lay up and also drew another foul. After Roller made his second three pointer for the 79-52 Frankfurt lead, the MBC wolf stomach was empty and weak. However Frankfurt finished strong until the end as Roller, Wood and Nolte got three steals in the row which led to a Wood pull up jumper basket and the American point guard who is leading the BEKO BBL in scoring saved his best for last as he took Mckinney on  a2-1 break way and fed him with a behind the back pass as Mckinney gave Frankfurt the last points of the day as MBC lost 83-52. “Frankfurt played with so much confidence and we simply got out hustled”, stressed Davon Roberts. “We stuck together as a team. 90% of basketball is mental and we shot with a lot of confidence. We played good team defense and were on the same page”, said Jermaine Bucknor.
The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were led by Dashaun Wood with 16 points, six rebounds and six assists. Dominik Bahiense De Mello added 13 points. Kimmo Muurinen produced 11 points. MBC was led by Radenko Pilcevic with 15 points. Davon Roberts added seven points and five rebounds. Wayne Bernard, Sascha Leutlof and Vassil Evtimov chipped in with six points a piece. Frankfurt finished the day with 53% shooting while MBC got worse in the second half finishing with 28% from the field. Frankfurt barely won the rebounding battle 37-36 and both teams had a high number of turnovers as MBC had 22 and Frankfurt 19.The Deutsche Bank Skyliners have started a new winning streak and when looking back at the 9-3 record, one might see three loses, but Frankfurt could of easily be 12-0 now tied with Bamberg. “We have been in every game and could of won each game. We continue to show focus, play hard and effort in each game this season. The most important thing is that we are playing at a very consistent level night in and night out”, warned Dashaun Wood. Frankfurt next face Maccabi Haifa and the team just hopes that this journey will be with less complications. “I am excited to play and am looking forward to the travel and warm weather. We have to focus and take each play by play. I hope there is no snow and we have no problems traveling”, stressed Jermaine Bucknor. Frankfurt lost the first game without AJ Moye and Roger Powell, but have Jermaine Bucknow, but Maccabi Haifa have two new additions with Drew Housman and Elishay Kadir. “They are  a tough team and we will have to find a way to beat them. We will watch film and see what we can do to beat them. This will be a very big game for us. I am looking forward to playing against Slyven Landesberg in his court. I just hope there is no snow on Monday when we leave”, joked Dashaun Wood. Macabbi Haifa greet The Deutsche Bank Skyliners on December 7th in Eurochallenge play.