The surprised effect on the faces of Skyliner fans as the buzzer sounded after 40 minutes in game one couldn´t have been more extreme as if former American president Bill Clinton had entered the Ballsporthalle hand in hand with superstar singer Elton John, any person enjoying the rays, chicks in skimpy clothing and the beach atmosphere of South Beach and possibly seeing singer Gloria Estefan prancing on the beach, but suddenly being met by a five foot great white shark in three feet of water or seeing David Blaine make the Paris Eiffel tower disappear in a weird kind of illusion. The Deutsche Bank Skyliners had to erase this dramatic ending to game one and keep their game faces on in game two against Alba Berlin and were as focused in the fourth quarter in their comeback return as Berlin skipper Muli Katzurin always is never ever seeming to lose composure on the sideline, as American talk show legend Oprah Winfrey had to be in her last show not breaking down in he rlast interviews with Madonna and Tom Hanks and Prince William not getting up in tabloid news in his daily life as Frankfurt took charge in the fourth quarter knotting the series at 1-1 with an incredible comeback in the fourth quarter winning 80-72. It seemed like Frankfurt may have had some problems keeping that bitter game one loss out of their heads at times in the first three quarters, but was totally forgotten in the fourth quarter. “It was difficult going into game two after what had happened in game one, but no game is easy when your fighting for a title. We just kept fighting and never gave up. I think that Alba Berlin was able to play their style in game one and we were our style in game two”, stressed Skyliner guard Dashaun Wood. “I personally didn´t think too much about the game one loss. I blocked it out and didn´t feel the pressure to have to win here”, added Kimmo Muurinen. If this was one of the biggest comebacks in Skyliner history or for some players didn´t seem to be the case, but it was a great comeback. “I have had bigger comebacks, but none in such an important game as this”, stressed Kimmo Muurinen. Roger Powell had a big smile on his face and quick reply to the greatest comeback question. “I have had way better comebacks. My best comeback was when we beat Arizona and Channing Frye to reach the Final 4 where we were down 14 points with two minutes to play and came back and won”, smiled Roger Powell.

If there is going to be a most likely Deutsche Bank Skyliner hero in any game, the best bet is fairly frequently always going to be current beko BBL MVP Dashaun Wood who had a slow first half scoring only five points on 1/6 shooting and three turnovers. He didn´t score his first free throw until 16.47 minutes had been played and his first field goal at the 18 minute mark. He scored 12 points in the fourth quarter showing that what he did is no fluke to what a Kobe has done in the millenium, Michael Jordan did in the 90s or Larry Bird did in the 80s joking with Skyliner AJ Moye before the game that he and Chicago Bull Derrick Rose had to take care of business on the road. “I figured that if Derrick Rose has to steal a game in Miami, then we have to steal a game in Berlin. We have had games like this all season long. I think having the experience with those games helped us tonight”, warned Dashaun Wood. The teammates of Wood don´t seem surprised anymore about his heroics and sometimes seems like it is a matter of course, but his teammates appreciate his actions as much as a Lebron James does the help Dwayne Wade gives him on the court. “Wood rescued us like he has so often this season. He was so valuable for us tonight”, added Skyliner forward Kimmo Muurinen. “Wood did what he does. He took over the game making great plays and getting easy buckets”, commented Skyliner American Quantez Robertson. Wood was as relaxed after the win as he ever has been in a Skyliner uniform this season and not only the importance of the game was key, but also the O2 World arena. “In the last 4-5 minutes of a game is when I feel most confident and want the ball. I wanted the ball and wanted to perform on this stage. This was the biggest win in my career even bigger than beating Rome in Italy”, stressed Dashaun Wood. Alba Berlin players were disgusted leaving the arena and a Taylor Rochestie followed a common attribute of MLB baseball players when signing autographs by walking and walking and answering questions and not stopping. “We got to be able to put the ball in the bucket in the fourth quarter. To be up 11 points and then let Frankfurt back in the game is unacceptable”, warned ex BG Goettingen guard Taylor Rochestie. “It wasn´t just Dashaun Wood in the fourth quarter. This was a team effort. Our defense got us the win”, warned Roger Powell.

Before tip off in the O2 World Arena in Berlin, there were some interesting things to notice as the Marius Nolte Lego man was around again giving support for the Skyliners, the Bamberg-Artland game was on the big screen, the one millionth spectator in the Ballsporthalle had been invited to travel with the Skyliners and the Albatros bird mascot was walking around in an arrogant way as if he knew that his team would get off to a quick start. 10,711 fans wanted to see game two and quickly saw Alba Berlin jump on Frankfurt 8-0. Alba Berlin hit their first three shots as Yassin Idbihi, Taylor Rochestie and Bryce Taylor scored. Alba Berlin was displaying a furious ball movement while Frankfurt seemed irritated by the aggressive Alba Berlin defense. Alba Berlin then extended lead to 13-2 as Rochestie scored inside and ex Skyliner Derrick Allen hit a jumper. Frankfurt is simply to good of a basketball team to not get something going on offense and slowly found their rhythm cutting the Alba Berlin lead to 20-13 as Roger Powell scored on a dunk, three pointer and put back. Jimmy Mckinney scored on the fast break. Frankfurt was aided by three missed free throws by Serb Miroslav Raduljica and got a timely three pointer by captain Pascal Roller and a steal and coast to coast sprint and basket from Jevohn Shepherd. 8 time beko BBL champion Alba Berlin led 24-18 after one quarter. “The Frankfurt defense wasn´t there at the start. Alba Berlin did a good job hitting shots and getting offensive rebounds. Roger Powell did  a good job keeping Frankfurt in the game”, stressed ex North Carolina tar heel Ademola Okulaja. Alba Berlin was shooting 47% from the field and 0% from outside while The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were shooting 44% from the field and 29% from outside. Alba Berlin had the 11-7 rebound edge and both teams had suffered three turnovers a piece.
The Deutsche Bank Skyliners kept their positive offensive flow going into the second quarter as St Louis native Jimmy Mckinney took his team on a 6-0 run with two jumpers over Taylor and a step back jumper as Frankfurt had their first lead 25-24. Immanuel Mcelroy and Kimmo Murrinen then traded shots as the score was tied 27-27. Alba Berlin then found some added energy on offense pulling away on a 10-2 run to lead 37-29. Alba Berlin was firing on offense again finding the open space and scoring as Rochestie hit a jumper, Jenkins made two jumpers and Idbihi a dunk. Alba Berlin remained in the lead As Allen scored again and Jenkins got to the free throw line as Frankfurt trailed 41-31. Frankfurt then went on a mini 4-0 run as Wood hit two free throws and Shepherd scored from the baseline as Frankfurt trailed 41-35. Alba Berlin closed out the second quarter with a 5-3 run to lead 46-38 at halftime. Wood got his first field goal of the game and Taylor Rochestie ended the second quarter with a nice one on one lay in. “Alba Berlin was doing a good job on Dashaun Wood. Frankfurt was unable to get a consistent number of other guys involved. Frankfurt was doing a good job on the offensive boards and Shepherd played well. Julius Jenkins was doing his job on offense”, added ex Alba Berlin forward Ademola Okulaja. Alba Berlin was shooting 54% from the field and 50% form the three point line while The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were shooting 38% from the field and 21% from the three point line. Frankfurt had taken over the rebounding duel 18-16 and both teams had only five turnovers.
In the third quarter, Alba Berlin continued to hold a comfortable 7-10 point lead as The Deutsche Bank Skyliners not only were unable to get some consistent stops, but also seemed not to have the basketball god on their side as they weren´t getting calls or loose balls. Rochestie got Alba Berlin on the board first scoring with a quick lay up and Quantez Robertson nailed a three pointer as the shot clock was near zero. Derrick Allen then scored on a fancy side step as he kept his famous ballerina moves in the closet for the most part of the game relying more on his jumper. Wood then scored inside as he was slowly starting to get going as Frankfurt trailed only 50-43. However Alba Berlin then went on a 10-3 run to get their biggest lead of the night 60-46. Alba Berlin was playing some fine inside/out basketball in this phase. Raduljica scored inside getting an offensive rebound and put back, Jenkins scored on a jumper getting Mckinney in the air, Allen scored on  a jumper and Rochestie scored inside on a give and go with Idbihi. Frankfurt continued to show small bursts of offense going on another mini 4-0 run as Powell scored on  a put back after getting an offensive rebound and Wood scored on a runner. Jenkins who had tripped over the thigh of Wood earlier, bumped into Wood again a sit seemed like tempers might flair, but they didn´t. Since the thigh incident, Wood had been booed each time he touched the ball. “The incident with me and Jenkins was just competitive basketball and nothing else”, stressed Dashaun Wood. Frankfurt trailed only 60-50. Frankfurt then went on a 6-0 run to trail Alba Berlin only 63-56. Dominik Bahiense de Mello scored inside as he was fed a nice inbound pass from Wood and then scored again with a left handed lay in. Wood then hit  a pull up jumper. However Alba Berlin had the last laugh finishing the third quarter with a 4-0 run to lead 67-56. Idbihi barreled down the lane dunking over Powell and he then made two free throws. “There were many fouls in this quarter and we had some bumps along the way, but I think that we still came out ok. It slowed us down, but we came refocused back on the court and controlled the rest of the game”, added Dashaun Wood. Alba Berlin was shooting 54% from the field and 29% from the parking lot while The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were shooting 43% from the field and 20% from the parking lot. Frankfurt had the slight 25-24 rebound edge and eight turnovers while Alba Berlin had nine turnovers.

Sometimes when the going gets hard and there seems like no light at the end of the tunnel, one still has two chances for a miracle. Either the basketball god is looking down at you and is magically touching his basketball to help you or you simply have Detroit native Dashaun Wood who will cure the team of all misery. Wood had been ok after three quarters with 11 points and six assists, but now like at the blink of the eye took over the game as if Gordon Herbert had told him in the huddle to go out and win the game please. Wood scored the first three baskets of the fourth quarter cutting the Alba Berlin lead to 67-62. All three buckets were his trade mark penetration to the hoop and finish. Alba Berlin seemed like they were paralyzed as Frankfurt had stepped up their defense and they couldn´t get any easy shots any more. Mckinney hit a jumper and Roger Powell gave Frankfurt the lead back 68-67 with a three pointer as Frankfurt had perfected a 12-0 run and the O2 World arena had gotten extremely quiet. Frankfurt continued their amazing run as Quantez Robertson scored on the fast break and Wood scored on  alay up with his left hand. Super Tez Robertson then made a free throw as Frankfurt led 73-67. “It has been like this all season long. It didn´t matter if it was under Pavicevic or the new coach, but we have had a nasty habit of letting teams get back into the game. We seem to be too relaxed. You can´t let  a team like Frankfurt get back into the game like that, because they are too good not to come back”, commented Bryce Taylor. Wood then scored another lay up as Frankfurt led 77-68. Idbihi answered with a jumper as Frankfurt led 77-70. Marius Nolte and Roger Powell sealed the win with free throws 80-72. “We made adjustments in the fourth quarter. We changed up how we guard their pick and roll. We got them to throw the ball all over the place. As soon as we found their sweet spot, they had no answer. “, stressed Dashaun Wood. “Frankfurt played hard physical defense. They did a good job clogging up the lane. I had problems picking my spots and get to the rim”, added Bryce Taylor. “We played aggressive defense, contained their shooter and allowed no second chances”, said Quantez Robertson. “We really stepped up our defense in the fourth quarter. We took our aggression to another level on defense. Sometimes things just seem to go your way”, stressed Kimmo Muurinen.
The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were led by Dashaun Wood with 23 points and seven assists. Roger Powell added 17 points and nine rebounds. Jimmy Mckinney produced 14 points and three rebounds. Alba Berlin was led by Yassin Idbihi with 17 points and six rebounds. Guards Taylor Rochestie and Julius Jenkins chipped in with 13 points a piece. Frankfurt shot only 26% from outside, but won the rebounding battle 33-31 and points in the paint 38-20. But the best strength of Frankfurt once again had to do with their will to want to win. “Even as everything was going against us, we never gave up. Our mental focus and never die attitude got us through the game”, expressed Dashaun Wood. In the playoffs, teams start to know what to await so the series continues to be a game of adjustments. “You can expect the same kind of game in game three. We have to continue to play strong defense. We can´t allow 46 points in a half again”, stated Dashaun Wood. “The series is tied 1-1. We aren´t going to cry about this loss. We will watch film, make adjustments and take away the strength of Frankfurt. We can´t let Wood waltz to the basket again. There is still a lot of basketball to be played”, warned Bryce Taylor. “Maybe I will not think about game three, but just go out and play. Playing aggressive defense will be key”, warned Kimmo Muurinen. The Deutsche Bank Skyliners host Alba Berlin in game 3, May 25th.