After the refreshing relaunch by MBC Last Season in the BEKO BBL where the team combined heart, effort and luck to a 1oth place finish and near playoff appearance, fans were looking to build on the success of last season this year, but their sophomore season back in the big show has felt more like a rough earthquake while scrambling  not to fall into the earth. The team has been struck by injuries, lost coach Bjoern Harmsen for an extended period of time due to sickness and recently announced that he will miss the remainder of the season and had to say good bye to top players Jerome Tillmann, Michael Jordan and Richard Schields who were responsible for scoring, scoring, scoring and leadership. This season has been a nasty nightmare as the club seems to have been as unlucky as Charlie Sheen where the big suits upstairs from Two And A half men no longer put up with his personal theater and drama, Cavalier fans having to explain a 13-53 season and no more Lebron James and BEKO BBL team Walter Tigers Tuebingen were last week losing to The Deutsche Bank Skyliners leading for 36 minutes and then getting pierced through their hearts with a white dagger as they lost and their playoffs hopes sunk a bit more deeper into the Ammer river. With so much misfortune happening this season to MBC, the team may have to hope for many four leaf clovers and much wolf support in the arena as top team The Deutsche Bank Skyliners arrive March 26th for a late season duel at 19:30. “Yes it has been a tough season for them and it is tough to imagine what they are going through. They still are in most games but when you have that many changes in a season I am sure it is tough to find a good chemistry and get players on the same page all the time. It also hurts confidence, but at this level, you cant hold on for things too long because you have to find a way to play the next week just as hard and you have to have short memory playing the game of basketball”, stressed TBB Trier guard John Bynum.

MBC left the BEKO BBL in 2004 and returned back in 2009. For even the most dedicated MBC fans. five years of inactivity from the highest German Basketball league may have felt like five years without your favourite beer, or for a child being able to go into a candy store, but not grab for their favourite candy. How tough must it have been for the organization and fans in 2004 to win the prestigious Fiba Europe Cup against JDA Dijon 84-68 not losing  a single game in international play and a short time later have to learn that they would have to stop their successful run in the BBL due to bankruptcy.” I remember watching the Eurocup final in 2004. I am happy that MBC is back and it is nice to see how well a job young coach Bjorn Harmsen is doing. It is a special team that is playing with a lot of emotion and energy. It is refreshing to see that 10 players are sharing minutes, scoring and rebounding”, stressed Murat Didin last season. This was a huge blow to the region and may only have been topped if a severe unusual drought had whipped away the two natural springs, the Leisslinger mineral water and Saskia Quelle where mineral water is bottled in the region. However the organization never gave up, took up playing in the Regionaliga and eventually moving up to the Second Bundesliga/PRO A and continuing to build up the team financially and through success on the court. Coach Ari Tammivaara was sort of the early architect managing a record of 72-20 until 2007.

I    In the 2008-2009 PRO A season, MBC ploughed through the league with a 26-4 record with the same easy as a bull dozer had to get through the sloppy and treacherous roads and drive ways during the New England blizzard of 1978. Even though the team was so commanding at home with a 14-1 record, it simply couldn´t get by Bayreuth that won the season series. The team had better luck against Phoenix Hagen sweeping the season series who they will meet again with changed rosters in the BBL. The team scored 90 points or more nine times and 100 points or more twice. There strongest phase was in the middle of the season going on an 14 game winning streak. They also showed that they could step it up on defense if they needed to ousting Science City Jena 61-48 and also showing their own nerves of steel grinding out close wins against The Teck Pro Braves 68-67 and 83-81 against Cuxhaven. The only real slip up that the team had was a 95-76 defeat against USC Heidelberg. Without question, MBC was the best team in the PRO A last season and rightfully deserved to return back to the BBL after a five year drought and soon after gave the fans a tasty summer gift as management announced that the club was also prepared to enter the BBL with the minimum allocated budget. “I believe what made MBC so strong is that everyone knew and ACCEPTED their role. Coach Harmson makes sure they are prepared and its up to the players to do their part. It seemed that everyone was on the same page“, stressed Bayreuth youth coach Sean Mccaw.
Last season, MBC played very solid and were near and around the playoff standings for the whole season and really surpassing the highest expectations. The team finished the season in 10th place with a record of 18-16 and at times played as if they were a playoff team despite having the smallest budget in the BEKO BBL The team started off quickly winning their first three games and having a 6-2 record including wins against The Telekom Baskets Bonn and The Brose Baskets Bamberg. The only problem that the club really had was that it wasn´´t always consistent. Despite their up and down play, the team had shown that it can compete with any team as they also added wins against 2009 BEKO BBL champion EWE Baskets Oldenburg and the Artland Dragons to their collection. Their biggest win of the season was against 8 time BEKO BBL champion Alba Berlin. The team had a lightening start like the Nordlingen Giants in 2008-2009, but the only difference is that they have been able to play solid all the way through, not sustain injuries and not have to count on a four man rotation. MBC had a very young team which might have had to do with their up and down play. “It is really a matter of execution. Sometimes we executed well while other times we are very sloppy. We were not always mature to balance out our game plan”, stressed ex MBC American Ade Dagunduro who is playing in Belgium this season. “Teams started to figure out how to attack them and play against them”, said Quentin Pryor. MBC was able to strengthen their offense last season. “MBC was always a defensive team, but now the team is very solid on offense”, stated Quentin Pryor. “MBC play very hard at both ends of the court and play together as a whole unit”, stressed Tuebingen guard Steven Wright.  “When you have 12 players on the same page then it is also a lot easier to win. “We were a young team and all guys seemed to connect very well. We all understood each other and they were all good guys. I like every guy”, stressed ex CSKA center Anatoly Kashirov.
Last season, MBC got off to a quick 6-2 start, but this season the opposite has occurred as the team started at 3-7 and were moping around at position 16 near the BEKO BBL cellar 3 months ago and are still there on March 26th. Nobody has to be a mathematician wiz to see that MBC seems to have a little less quality than last season. The team lost key players Ade Dagunduro, Giorgi Gamqrelidze, Anatoly Kashirov and Nikita Khartchenkov and role players Ivan Elliot and Oskar Fassler. This season, the team got Michael hakim Jordan and Jerome Tillman who were their most important players and solid role players, but they had to pack their bags during the season. Vassil Evtimov helped under the boards for a while and set the MBC arena on fire with a full court shot, but also left months ago to play in France.  “MBC is a solid team that just hasn´t come together this season”, warned Phoenix Hagen guard Quentin Pryor. Having a Ross barking the signals in the backcourt and having a Bernard scoring, MBC have little weakness at the guard position. “The MBC guard play is great. They also have good experience in the paint with Guido Grunheid, “, commented John Bynum. MBC has improved their rebounding to 33 rebounds per game which now is only 2 less than what The Deutsche Bank Skyliners average with 35 rebounds per game. “They are a very good rebounding team. They have big bodies that crash and control the glass”, warned Quentin Pryor.
With only seven wins and an average of 70 points per game, there must be some deficiency in the MBC play that doesn´t allow them to get more success so far this season? “MBC seems not to really have a main threat down low. They are also missing a go to guy that can get that important bucket when the game is close”, stressed Quentin Pryor. Despite having a 10 man rotation, MBC seems to be lacking some punch off the bench. “A weakness of MBC is their depth, but teams can´t forget that they can beat any team on any given night. MBC has fought hard like every other team in the BEKO BBL. Another weakness is chemistry, I think they havent had a lineup that they can go to and just say this is our line up, but even so they are still a team that plays hard.”, stressed John Bynum. However since the 83-52 blow out loss to The Deutsche Bank Skyliners, MBC has posted a 4-13 record including two four game losing streaks and one three game losing streak. When they do manage a win it is against weak teams like BBC Bayreuth, Phoenix Hagen or The Giessen 46ers. They also at times tend to have problems putting points on the score board as they have mustered only 60 points or less 8 times. They had horrible losses against BG Goettingen managing only 46 points or last weekend getting only 53 points in Bamberg. However they also have had some big misfortune in the last weeks as they lost 81-80 against Duesseldorf, 73-72 against Bonn, and 73-71 against TBB Trier. In total this season, MBC has lost 8 games by four or less points. Had the team won 5 or 6 of those games, the team would be scratching the playoff door now instead of the cellar door. Many teams now will have seen two completely different teams as did John Bynum as will Frankfurt. “Well we saw two different teams, we saw them early when MJ was there and we also saw them when Ross was there. They have a great shooter in Bernard, and Ross is a great pg, they have had misfortune in some close games but they still play hard and if you play them in Weissenfells it is going to be a hard fought game”, added John Bynum.
MBC is led by Wayne Bernard who was the 2009 PRO A player of the year is a 29 year old 190cm combo guard from Poway, California who is playing his third season for MBC. He has displayed a knack for knocking down clutch baskets in key situations and is a player that performs at his best in pressure situations. He has superb range on his jumper, and can also drive to the hoop with slashing moves. He is also a capable ball handler. He played at Davidson(NCAA) from 2000-2003. Bernard has very much experience having played in countries like Israel, Greece, France, Sweden and Finland It doesn´´t matter where Bernard ha splayed, he has always been a scorer. in the 2008-2009 season where MBC moved up to the BEKO BBL, he played 30 games: 14.4ppg, 2.3rpg, 2.6apg, 1.2spg, FGP: 56.9%, 3PT: 43.2%, FT: 80.4%. Last season, he played 34 games: 8.6ppg, 1.9rpg, 1.7apg, Steals-5(1.5spg), FGP: 41.6%, 3PT: 33.6%, FT: 80.8%. This season, he is averaging 11,4ppg, 3,2rpg and 1,9spg. He has scored in double figures 19 times. The club brought in Ronald Ross in December for more insurance in the guard rotation. Ross is a 28 year old 193cm guard from Hobbs, New Mexico. he played for legendary coach Bobby Knight at Texas Tech from  2001-2005. He started his professional basketball career in 2005-2006 for Univer Castelletto Ticino (Italy-Lega2): released in Jan.’06: 12 games: 9.3ppg, 2.3rpg, 1.6apg, 2.2spg, 2FGP: 53.3%, 3PT: 24.0%, FT: 76.5%. In 2006-2007, he played in the States for Albuquerque Thunderbirds (D-League), left in Nov.’06, then joined Butte Daredevils (CBA, starting five): 48 games: 15.2ppg, 4.2rpg, 3.8apg, Steals-2(2.4spg), FGP: 49%, 3PT: 29.4%, FT: 74.2% 2007: Albany Patroons (USBL, starting five): 21 games: Score-3(17.4ppg), 3.0rpg, Assists-4(4.0apg), Steals-1(2.5spg), FGP: 47.6%, 3FGP: 41.4%, FT: 84.2%. In 2007-2008, he made his debut in the BEKO BBL for EnBW Ludwigsburg (Germany-1.Bundesliga, starting five): ULEB Cup: 10 games: 11.7ppg, 2.2rpg, 2.9apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 50%, 3PT: 44%, FT: 66.7%; German League: 34 games: 14.4ppg, 4.2rpg, 2.3apg, Steals-2(1.7spg), 2FGP: 52.5%, 3PT: 29.1%, FT: 77.9%. In 2008-2009, he started in Israel before returning back to Germany playing for Givat Shmuel (Israel-Premier League, starting five), Israeli League: 8 games: 14.3ppg, 3.3rpg, 1.6apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 57.7%, 3PT: 11.8%, FT: 66.7%; in Jan.’09 moved to Maccabi Haifa Heat (Israel-Premier League, starting five): 6 games: 7.2ppg, 3.0rpg, 2.7apg, 2.0spg, in Feb.’09 signed at Artland Dragons Quakenbrueck (Germany-1.Bundesliga, starting five): 12 games: 15.8ppg, 3.3rpg, 4.0apg, 2.0spg, FGP: 59.0%, 3PT: 57.1%, FT: 70.0%. Last season, he played for Artland Dragons Quakenbrueck (Germany-1.Bundesliga): EuroChallenge: 12 games: 10.8ppg, 3.2rpg, 2.1apg, FGP: 56.9%, 3PT: 18.8%, FT: 83.0%; German League: 32 games: 11.3ppg, 2.7rpg, 3.2apg, 1.2spg, FGP: 52.4%, 3PT: 27.1%, FT: 75.7%. Currently Ross is averaging 14,8ppg, 4,4rpg and 2,1apg. He has scored in double figures 14 times.
The team also brought back German Guido Gruinheid who is a 28 year old 209cm forward from Jena. He is an in-betweener forward with the height (but not the size) of a 4 and the quickness (but not the ball handling and the shot) of a 3. A good rebounder and a hustler. He played for Alba Berlin from 2001-2005 winning three BEKO BBL titles. He then moved to Rhein Energie Koln in 2005 where he won his fourth BEKO BBL title in 2006. He got added experience playing in Holland for Hanzevast Capitals Groningen . He also has gained valuable experience playing for the German national team as he was a member playing at the 2006 World Championships in Japan and at teh 2007 European Championships in Spain. Last season for MBC, he played 34 games: 8.6ppg, 4.1rpg, 1.3apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 58.3%, 3PT: 31.1%, FT: 58.0%. This season, he is averaging 7,4ppg, 4,5rpg and 1,0apg. Radenko Pilcevic is a 24 year old 188cm guard from Serbia that is playing his second season for MBC and is the back up to Michael Jordan. He had solid stats at KK Borac Cacak in 2008-2009 playing  31 games and averaging 10.7ppg, 2.0rpg, 2.9apg, 1.5spg, FGP: 54.2%, 3PT: 31.9%, FT: 85.1%. Last season, he played 33 games averaging 7.4ppg, 1.7rpg, 3.2apg, FGP: 50.7%, 3PT: 31.7%, FT: 72.0%. This season, he is averaging 7,0ppg, 1,4rpg and 1,8apg. He has had problems with his shooting as he is struggling shooting only 31% from the field and 30% from outside.
28 year old 202 cm forward Sascha Leutloff got a second chance in the BBL after playing the last three with MBC and becoming into a solid role player. He started to play organized basketball at age 16 and developed rapidly into a promising player. He has very good speed and athletic potential, is a very good and aggressive defender, can play inside out, is an exceptional offensive rebounder, is a very good character and smart person on and off the court. In 2008-2009 in the PRO A, he averaged 9.9ppg, 6.0rpg, 1.9apg, FGP: 54.5%, 3PT: 23.7%, FT: 48.9%. He demonstrated that he was a very reliable scorer scoring in double figures in 17 games. Last season he played  38 games averaging  2.8ppg, 2.0rpg. Before coming to MBC, he played some years with Alba Berlin playing 9 BEKO BBL games and three Euroleague games and winning the BEKO BBL cup in 2006. Currently he is averaging 5,0ppg and 3,4rpg. The team kept 28 year old, 203cm forward, 230 pound Johnnie Gilbert who will be playing his fourth season with MBC. He played at Oklahoma(NCAA) and played together with Alba Berlin guard Hollis Price and was very successful winning the 12 Conf. Tournament in 01,02,03, reaching the NCAA Final Four -02 and NCAA Elite Eight -03. Before landing with MBC, Gilbert played in Chile and Finland. In the 2008-2009 PRO A season, he played 30 games averaging 13.2ppg, 9.2rpg, 1.3apg, FGP: 61.9%, FT: 59.8%. Last season, he played 20 games averaging  9.1ppg, 4.6rpg, FGP-2(68.5%), FT: 50.8%. Currently Gilbert is averaging 5,5ppg and 4,2rpg.
The team also brought back Canadian Velimir Radinovic who is a 29 year old 212cm center that also has the Serbian citizenship. He was born in Toronto, Canada and has Serbian parents. He played at Ohio state from 2000-2004. Early in his career he played for top European teams FMP Zeleznik Beograd and KK Hemofarm Vrsac. In 2007-2008, he played for Clermontois Basket Auvergne (France-ProA, starting five): 28 games: 5.6ppg, 3.9rpg, 2FGP: 57.3%, FT: 79.6%. In 2008-2009, he played for Iraklis Thessaloniki (Greece-A2): 29 games: 7.0ppg, 4.4rpg, 2FGP: 55.0%, 3PT: 33.0%, FT: 87.0%. Last season for MBC, he came late in the season and played nine games averaging 4.1rpg, FGP: 59.4%, FT: 69.2%. He won the Serbian and Montenegro Cup in 2005 for Reflex Beograd. He was a member of the Canadian national team in 2005. Currently he is averaging 6,3ppg and 4,2rpg. The team also signed Davon Roberts who is a 24 year old 197cm forward from Covina California. He played at Cal State Sacramento  before finishing at Ausa Pacific (NAIA): 35 games: 16.0ppg, 6.9rpg, 2.7apg, FGP: 38.0%, 3PT: 33.3%, FT: 62.8%. In 2008-2009, he started his basketball career for Spot Up Medien Baskets Braunschweig (Germany-ProB, starting five): 29 games: 16.5ppg, Reb-2(9.4rpg), 2.1apg, 1.7spg, Blocks-5(1.0bpg), FGP: 60.1%, 3PT: 13.3%, FT: 67.4%. Last season, he played for Chemnitz 99 (Germany-ProA): 29 games: 10.5ppg, 5.0rpg, FGP: 57.2%, 3PT: 31.4%, FT: 56.3%. Currently, he is averaging 3,9ppg and 2,2rpg The team signed Rastko Dramicanin in December for more stability under the basket. He is a 24 year old 207cm center from Serbia. he played for KK Borac Cacak from 2003-2010. Last season, he played 38 games: 12.4ppg, 5.7rpg, 1.4apg, FGP: 59.8%, 3PT: 38.7%, FT: 79.8%. Currently he is averaging 8,2ppg and 3,7rpg and has scored in double figures 5 times.

The Deutsche Bank Skyliners will travel to Weissenfels with the 79-70 loss to 8 time BEKO BBL champion Alba Berlin in the back of their heads. Frankfurt has a pretty lax rest program and with the crunch part of the regular season kicking in should be more than focused to finish the regular season as best as they can and keep that second place safe away from Alba Berlin. MBC is beaten up as a team and their biggest strength could be their home court? “It is a difficult place to play the crowd is really into it and it gets loud in the gym and it is a great crowd. We were fortunate to come out on top but were trailing most the game. They are a good team at their place”, warned John Bynum. An interesting battle could be the point guards Dashaun Wood-Ronald Ross who both are leading their respective teams in scoring. However these players may be very vital for the two teams, but at the end of the day, the one that wins will be the one that has the stronger supporting cast. “Well both players are really good and as usual, Wood does so much for the Frankfurt team this season and Ross is the same way, but at the end of the day it will come down to what the others will do on each side”, stressed John Bynum. The key for success for both teams will happen in the back court. “Frankfurt just has to let Wood be Wood and do his thing and feed off of him, he does so much for the team and when others are on it makes them difficult to beat. On defense they just have to stop the guard play and make other people beat them. MBC has to find a way to stop Wood if they want to be in the game, and on offensive they have to make shots and attack when they can”, warned John Bynum. Dashaun Wood has the speed of a road runner and it would be interesting to see if an MBC wolf can some how make life uncomfortable for the quick guard? “I dont think that any wolf could catch Wood anyway”, joked John Bynum. Frankfurt not only has to be aware of the loud MBC arena, but a MBC team that wants to stay in the league and will battle until the end. “MBC has made a lot of changes this season but they are a solid team and just have had bad luck this season, but they are still a team with a lot of fight in them”, stressed John Bynum. MBC host The Deutsche Bank Skyliners March 26th at 19:30.