If legendary sports broadcaster Marv Albert came to Ludwigsburg and yelled Kung Fu instead of Yesssssssssss, he may get more  response simply because the cities karate club  MTV 1846 e. V. Ludwigsburg has tasted numerous success in the last years being known as having the top Karate players in the country. Changing a name in the German basketball world often has to do more with a transition of a sponsor, more than with luck which is seen often in China. Changing a name doesn´t always bring luck as the feisty Napoleon lost his empire and for EnBW Ludwigsburg who are touring the German arenas this season as the Neckar Riesen and have been living in the lower places and are being thretaned of moving down to the second Bundesliga. If it was solving internal problems with jerry Green, switching players late in the season where team chemistry should be carved on the fore heads of the players or changing the coach, basketball life has been tough once again in Ludwigsburg as a new name brings no new luck. There was so much turbulence in Ludwigsburg that one could of expected them not to be in the playoff places, but being near the end for so long would have surprised even the most staunch basketball critic. After a bitter loss against TBB Trier, German point guard Konstantin Klein was asked why Ludwigsburg has struggled so much, but the German had no answer, because he was still trying to digest the loss. However TBB Trier German Mathis Monninghoff who was smiling after the win and had an answer for the woes with Neckar Riesen Ludwigsburg. “It has been a tough season for Ludwigsburg. One can´t forget that the Beko BBL not only remains strong where each team can beat each team, but gets stronger each season. Ludwigsburg has had very much misfortune this year. It isn´t the fault of John Patrick. He came late and brought in new players and it is always difficult to integrate them so late in the season. Its hard for  a young German like Lucca Staiger to lead the team in a situation like this. He is a very good player, but he can´t do it all himself”, stressed Mathis Monninghoff.

 

It has been a while since the wins for EnBW Ludwigsburg were as frequent as they have been for the Brose Baskets Bamberg in the last years. There was one season, where the team was winning, winning, winning and Who could forget the 2006-2007 EnBW Ludwigsburg  Cinderella team that started the season on a seven game winning streak, winning the first 11 of 12 games and dominating the BBL the whole season until losing in the semi finals against The Brose Baskets Bamberg who would later win the BBL title. There was something so fresh with this team as team basketball had been taught by coach Silvano Propat and his players had learned it as quickly as first graders do their a,b,c´s. However the last two seasons were a downgrade as the playoffs were missed. In the 2007-2008 season, the team reached the BBL cup final losing to The Artland Dragons, but management somehow had their differences with coach Silvano Poropat as he had to pack his bags and go. In 2008-2009, management brought in ex Bamberg player Rick Stafford as the team missed the playoffs again and were searching for an identity all season long, but never found one. After December 14^th, 2008, the team would not win more than one game at a time before losing again. It was a very disappointing and weird season as the biggest highlights were the three B wins against Berlin, Bonn and Bamberg, and then the strange 1-0 win as The Giessen 46ers were unable to get to Ludwigsburg on time as they were stuck in traffic. It also marked the last professional season of all rounder and likeable American Brandon Woudstra who decided to hang up his sneakers and return back to the States to start  a new life with his family. The 2009-2010 season marked a rebirth as a new arena was introduced, a new coach with Tolga Ongoren and many new Americans that would hopefully lead the club back to the playoffs. Many fans had to get used to watching basketball in a new state of the art arena as the club said goodbye to the old, but comfy Rundsporthalle that had been alive for 37 years. The goal last season could only be the playoffs as the club has a lot of pressure from their sponsor to perform in the new arena, but this important goal was missed as the team missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season finishing the season in 11th place with a record 17-17. In the last three seasons, the club had a dismal record of 48-54. Two years ago, the club started well last season winning seven of their first nine games including a six game winning streak, but then lost nine of 11 games. The team had the problem of being consistent and was unable to beat the big teams. Their two biggest wins of the season was against Oldenburg and BG Goettingen. The team was strong on paper, with players like Kyle Bailey, Michael King, Quadre Lollis, Kyle Visser, Michael Haynes, Domonic Jones and Richard Chaney, but coach Tolga Ongoren was unable to produce a chemistry on the court and something else was missing as well. “It seemed that winning wasn´t as important to some guys as their selves. They definitely were talented enough for the playoffs, but they lost some games that they should of won”, stressed ex Paderborn guard Steven Wright.

Last season despite having a talented roster, one can describe the season two ways. It was a catastrophe of a season and one where one could only shake their head in disbelief about how such a collection of players could only land in 16^th place with a record of 10-24. The team was just too inconsistent and losing nine of ten games in the first half of the season didn´t help much either. They also had the misfortune of losing five games with less than four points. With a new name, the club decided to make a huge facelift saying goodbye to nine players. When reading the list of guys like Alex Harris, John Bowler, Mark Dorris, Matt Howard(2 time NCAA finaklist with Butler), Jeff Greer or a Johannes Lischka, one has to ask the question how a team like this was battling to stay in the Beko BBL for months instead of hanging around the playoff door. Management has continued to give trust to American head coach Steven key who will remain as head coach. His way of keeping his team focused in the big games at the end of the season and not moving down gave him a lot of credit. Despite the new name, the club did experience a few negative things this past summer concerning Kurt Looby and Jerry Green. Looby left to play in Puerto Rico despite not getting the clearance from the German team. The team and Looby seem to have solved their differences, but the big man wont be returning. Recently, the club and Jerry Green parted ways. Green who had been a fan favorite in Ludwigsburg for years after bringing the team much success wasn´t asked back on account of his fitness. Apparently Green still had a valid deal, but the court will solve this problem. Green had been practicing with PRO A team Kirchheim Knights.

With the team budget only reduced by 200,000, the club was still able to bring in an interesting core of players from Beko BBL players too newcomers in the Beko BBL.The club brought in five ex Beko BBL players and three newcomers. The most interesting signing has to be German national player Lucca Staiger who is hoping for his breakthrough. The club also brought back experienced Wayne Bernard who will be playing for this third Beko BBL team. Ivan Elliot remains in the Beko BBL who will bring much on court versatility. John Turek is also back after having played in Hagen a few years ago and has made a name for himself in the Dutch league. Max Weber enjoyed a strong individual season in Goettingen and could play a big role for the team with his hustle play on the court. The three newcomers are Kammron Taylor, David Weaver and Darryl Jackson. Taylor will take the role of Jerry Green at the point guard position. David Weaver is a young player who will be banging inside and could be on some highlight films this season giving a Quantez Robertson competition and Darryl Jackson brings scoring routine from lower leagues. The question will be how well he can adjust to a stronger league in Germany. The strength of the team is the Beko BBL experience that many of the new players bring as well as the new hope that the roster has. The team had little consistency in their chemistry last season and it will be the job of head coach Steven key to develop something early. The team will need to find a new type of identity. A weakness could be not having that one or two identity figures early on. The team will need to establish one or two leaders early, so when the team has a tough stretch that there will be guys that can lead the team. Guys like John Bowler and Jerry Green aren´t around anymore to bark the needed commands.

However the season came totally different for the Schwaben team. They did have a super start crushing Frankfurt in the home opener and embarrassing ratiopharm Ulm, but instead of keeping that trend the team then lost 10 of their next 12 games and didn´t necessarily have a Christmas with nice memories of the first few basketball months. They just seemed to have a nasty combination of misfortune and inconsistent play. The ylost by 30 points at MBC, gave up 100 points to Bonn, lost at home against Giessen and even when they played well against TBB Trier, couldn´t get anything going on offense scoring only 60 points. Despite getting  a big 79-75 win in Wurzburg, management decided to let go of Steven Key and replace him with an unlikely fireman John Patrick. Patrick not known for coming to teams in mid season, but moreover building teams with lower budgets to winners as he showed with BG Goettingen leading them into the BBL playoffs in three of his four years and winning the Eurochallenge as well as leading Wurzburg into the playoffs as a new team in the league and upsetting Alba Belrin in the playoffs. He also had numerous success in Japan leading Toyta Alvark to titles. He is a coach that likes the pressure basketball and knows how to motivate his players to get the fullest out of them. He also made some changes as Americans Kammron Taylor and David Weaver had to depart. He brought in Americans Marquis Blakely who has brought scoring punch who has valuable experience having been in pre season for the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers. Patrick also brough in Eric Coleman who played together with his ex players Ben Jacobson and John Little at Northern Iowa and finished sixth alltime in scoring and always brought up consistent stats in the Ukraine. He also brought in guard Lawrence Westbrook who got injured and missed the rest of the season. The last component that Patrick brought in was Derrick Zimmerman who is a crafty athletic point guard that can fill up the stats. He played at Bamberg back in the 2006-2007 season and even played two NBA games for the New Jersey Nets. “He is our floor general and he is cat quick. He is very long for a point guard at 190cm and his arms are 210cm. You can´t take the ball from him and he has a great eye for the floor. He is a great ball handler. He is so athletic and is like a human highlight reel”, expressed John Patrick. After losing the first two games under Patrick, the team then seemed to find their stride winning three games in a row but against teams in the middle of the standings. However since then they have a 4-7 record. They demonstrated that they could stay with teams like ratiopharm Ulm losing by six points and keeping Alba Berlin at bay on the road before losing gas in the fourth quarter and losing by 13 points.

 

The Fraport Skyliners have nice memories of the last 14 games against EnBW Ludwigsburg having a 9-6 record. They have a 4-1 record in the Ballsporthalle. One player who has fond memories of playing EnBW Ludwigsburg is ex Skyliner Derrick Allen who was the top scorer of Frankfurt in four of the last six games including a 37 point performance in a 96-87 win in 2008. In 2008-2009, The Deutsche Bank Skyliners split the season series 1-1 winning 68-64 at home getting 19 points from Aubrey Reese and losing the last game of the season 71-62 on the road getting 18 points from Derrick Allen. In 2010-2011 The Deutsche Bank Skyliners beat EnBW Ludwigsburg 74-67 in a low scoring affair. Frankfurt was led by Roger Powell with 16 points and six rebounds while current beko BBL top scorer Dashaun Wood chipped in with 13 points and eight assists. EnBW Ludwigsburg was led by Alex Harris with 18 points and ex Telekom Baskets Bonn center John Bowler was tough with 13 points and nine rebounds. In the last game of the season in Ludwigsburg, the Skyliners whipped EnBW Ludwigsburg 94-79 as ex NBA player Roger Powell had his best game as a Skyliner pouring in 28 points and Dashaun Wood added a double double with 19 points and 10 assists. Last season, the teams split the season series. The Fraport Skyliners played a horrible game in Ludwigsburg where nothing went their way losing 82-57, but won at home 76-72 as Jermario Davidson led the team with 21 points and Michael Thompson chipped in with 17 points. In the first game this season, the Fraport Skyliners stunk up the building losing 74-56. They only managed 23 points in the first half. Despite scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter, it was too late. Frankfurt was led by Quantez Robertson with 16 points and Johnathan Jones added 11 points. The season now comes down to one game. Do or die in the Fraport arena on Saturday. Frankfurt has the destiny in their hands and just need to win to stay in the Beko BBL. It could be the last game of Quantez Robertson and the last thing that he wants to do is go out losing his last game and not being able to help the team stay in the league. “We will have to fight for 40 minutes. It will be a hard fought game where we have to execute on defense first and limit them too one shot. The biggets game of my career was game five in Bamberg, but this game is up there with that”, expressed Quantez Robertson. Moments after the loss to TBB Trier, Ryan Brooks was disappointed by the loss, but his confidence was already set for the do or die game. “We have to go out and fight and play as hard as we can. We know what we can do right and wrong, but I am sure the results will be in our hands”, warned Ryan Brooks.

The team is led by John Turek who is a 29 year old power forward/center from Council Bluffs, Iowa. He is a very effective front court player, who improved his performing year after year and seems now ready for the higher level. Bangs well inside, can score from outside and defends hard. Hesn’ t so athletic, but knows how to do and where to stay in almost any moment of the game. Great attitude and team mentality. He played at Nebraska(NCAA) from 2001-2005. In his first four seasons, he played twice in Holland and in Belgium and Poland. In 2009-2010, he played for Phoenix Hagen (Germany-1.Bundesliga, starting five): 28 games: 12.4ppg, Reb-5(6.6rpg), 1.0apg, Blocks-1(1.4bpg), FGP: 52.8%, 3PT: 36.4%, FT: 61.8%. Last season, he played for  Trefl Sopot (Poland) winning the cup and playing 48 games: 14.1ppg, 7.4rpg, FGP: 58.0%, 3PT: 33.3%, FT: 62.5%. The last new addition that will be making his Beko BBL debut will be Darryl Jackson. Jackson is a 26 year old 189 cm guard from Oregon that also has the Malta citzenship. He played at Warner Pacific(NAIA) before turning professional in 2008. In his first three seasons, he made a name for himself in Romania. He got experience playing eight Eurochallenge games. Last season, he played for  InterCollege Etha Engomis (Cyprus-Division A): Greek League: 13 games: 10.0ppg; EuroCup Qualifications: 2 games: 6.0ppg, 1.5apg; EuroChallenge: 5 games: 11.4ppg, 3.0rpg, 1.2spg, FGP: 50.0%, 3PT: 33.3%, FT: 76.5%, in May’12 joined Sokhumi Tbilisi (Georgia-Superleague, starting five): 5 games: 13.2ppg, 2.6rpg, 3.4apg, FGP: 59.3%, 3PT: 34.8%, FT: 83.3%. He won the super cup and league title in Cyprus last season.

Wayne Bernard who was the 2009 PRO A player of the year is a 31 year old 190cm combo guard from Poway, California who is playing his first season for the Neckar Riesen Ludwigsburg. 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 has played, 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%. In 2009-2010 for MBC, he played 34 games: 8.6ppg, 1.9rpg, 1.7apg, Steals-5(1.5spg), FGP: 41.6%, 3PT: 33.6%, FT: 80.8%. In 2010-2011 for MBC, he played 34 games: 11.1ppg, 3.1rpg, 1.8apg, 1.3spg, FGP: 46.9%, 3PT: 33.3%, FT: 85.7%. Last season for the LTi Giessen 46ers, he played 34 games: 9.5ppg, 2.6rpg, 1.9apg, Steals-5(1.4spg), FGP: 48.6%, 3PT: 35.0%, FT: 85.2%. The team also added Ivan Elliot who is a 25 year old 203cm power forward/center from San Francisco, California that played at UCSB. He is a very versatile on the offensive end, able to shoot the 3-pointer with confidence, slash to the basket, and play underneath the basket with his physical strength and overall skills, is the ultimate team player who always gives everything he has in every practice and game, highly motivated and willing to do the extra work to become the best player. He has experience having played for SK Valmiera (Latvia) as a rookie and two years ago for MBC. In 2010-2011 for the s. Oliver Baskets Wurzburg, he played 30 games: 10.6ppg, 6.0rpg, FGP: 59.3%, 3PT: 41.0%, FT: 77.8%. Last season for the  s Oliver Baskets Wuerzburg (Germany-1.Bundesliga) he played  34 games: 8.6ppg, 4.7rpg, FGP: 43.1%, 3PT: 32.5%, FT: 74.0%

The team also brought in Americans Lucca Staiger and Max Weber. Staiger is a 24 year old 195cm shooting guard that was born in Ulm. He started his basketball career with TSG Ehingen in 2003. He once scored 106 points in a youth game at age 16. He played at Iowa State from 2007 until January 2010 where he moved to Alba Berlin. At Iowa State, he played a total of 49 NCAA games. In his senior year, he played  17 games: 9.4ppg, 1.8rpg, 1.5apg, FGP: 42.5%, 3PT: 42.5%, FT: 75.0%,. He played for Alba Berlin from 2010-2012, but never really got a chance to get sufficient minutes. He played a total of 69 NCAA games. Last season for Alba Berlin, he played  German League: 21 games: 2.2ppg; EuroCup: 8 games: 0.9ppg; Euroleague Qualifying Round: 2 games: 7.5ppg, also played at ALBA Berlin II (ProB): 8 games: 14.5ppg, 5.4rpg, 5.5apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 40.0%, 3PT: 27.9%, FT: 83.3%. Staiger played at the World Championships in Turkey -10: 4 games: 7.3ppg, 1.0rpg, FGP: 66.7%, 3PT: 37.5% and European Championships in Lithuania -11: 6 games: 2.7ppg, 1.2apg. This past summer, Staiger played eight games at the 2012 European qualification games averaging 9,9ppg, 1,9rpg and 1,4apg.

Max Weber also has joined the team. Weber is a Weber who is a 201cm small forward and be only 27, but he has much experience having played in Peru and winning a Beko BBL title with Bamberg in 2005 at the age of 20. He started his basketball career with BBC Bayreuth (2.Bundesliga) in 2003 and then played for GHP Bamberg and TSV Troester II Breitengussbach from 2004-2oo6. He then played for TV Langen (2.Bundesliga) and the Deutsche Bank Skyliners from 2006-2009. He played a total of 19beko BBL games and seven Eurochallenge games. In 2009-2010, he played for the  LTi Giessen 46ers playing 28 games: 2.6ppg, 1.4rpg. In 2010-2011, he played for the Saar-Pfalz Braves (ProA, starting five): 27 games: 11.5ppg, 3.3rpg, 2.2apg, 1.2spg, FGP: 46.6%, 3PT: 27.0%, FT: 60.0%. He was a member of the German U-16, U-18, and U-20 national teams and played at World University Championships in Bangkoki n 2007. Last season for BG Goettingen, he played EuroChallenge: 6 games: 4.5ppg, 2.7rpg, 1.2apg; German League: 33 games: 6.4ppg, 2.3rpg, 1.6apg, FGP: 48.4%, 3PT: 27.1%, FT: 59.6%. The club also has The club also has big german/Albanian talent Besnik Bekteshi who is a 19 year old 188cm guard. In 2009-2010, he played for BSG Ludwigsburg (Germany-Regionalliga): 19 games: 12.6ppg, played also for BBA Ludwigsburg (NBBL): 11 games: 16.0ppg, 4.0rpg, 2.4apg, 3.7spg. He made an early name for himself in the summer of 2010 at the European Championships U17 in Hamburg (Germany) -10: 8 games: 15.5ppg, 4.8rpg, 2.9apg, Steals-4(2.3spg), FGP: 47.1%, 3PT: 40.7%, FT-3(87.0%). He won  a bronze at the 2010 Albert Schweitezr tournament in Mannheim. He played at the European Championships U18 in Wroclaw (Poland) -11: 8 games: 9.1ppg, 1.8rpg, 1.4apg, Steals-5(2.4spg), FGP: 48.6%, 3PT: 41.7%, FT-3(87.5%). Last season he played for  EnBW Ludwigsburg (1.Bundesliga): 2 games: 1.5ppg; had also a license to play for VfL Kirchheim Knights (Germany-ProA): 33 games: 4.9ppg, 1.9rpg. The team also kept Tim Koch who is a 23 year old 196cm forward that has been in the Ludwigsburg system since 2006. He has only been able to play a total of 32 Beko BBL games as he has moved between BSG Ludwigsburg(Regionaliga) and Kirchheim Knights(PRO A). The team also has young German talent Johnathan Maier who is a 19 year old 211cm center. Last season he played for  EnBW Ludwigsburg (1.Bundesliga): 2 games: 1.0ppg, 1.0rpg; had also a license to play for VfL Kirchheim Knights (ProA): 15 games: 2.3ppg, 1.3rpg.