In life one  can´t always have everything and at times one must chose because within the ramifications, and often enough one can just have one or the other or at times only one thing. For example a prime example is with women who often have to pick between career and children with both working only if the woman has a cape and super woman on her chest, or in some cases some illustrations are more severe like British soccer hero Paul Gascoigne who had to pick between the booze bottle and getting his life cleaned up and couldn´t get back on to track in life and is still battling the alcohol disease or top UK team Manchester United selling their top stars in 1995 Paul Ince, Mark Hughes and Andrei Kanchelskis and bringing in the young guns like Mr metro David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt or Gary Neville. These young guns left or retired and moved on to better things, but up until 2003 when Beckham was the first to leave, Manchester United won 10 titles. After Manchester United lost their first game in 1995, the ex-Liverpool player Alan Hansen said “you don’t win anything with kids”, a quote that he has had to live with the rest of his life. So making this change was for the good for Manchester United. Having a house cleaning in professional sports isn´t really anything uncommon, but at time sone just has to make changes for a new direction. It isn´t really any different in professional basketball and especially in the Beko BBl where the budgets of the teams range from 15 million Euro to 1 million Euro´s. beko BBL team TBB Trier is one of those teams that has a limited budget somewhere in the lower half of the teams and since Henrik Rodl cam eon board in 2010, have chosen to go the route of developing young Germans instead of buying 6 Americans and trying to gun for the Beko BBL playoffs. Granted the club hasn´t been in the playoffs since 2004 when the Boston Red Sox still had the curse of the Bambino ringing in their ears daily and ex TBB Trier guard Dru Joyce was just one year removed from being the teammate of the worlds best player at St Marys high school in Ohio, but somehow the club has survived visiting cafes in May in trier and not in other Beko BBL towns like Bamberg, Artland or Bonn. In 2007 and 2008, the club had some close calls finishing in 15^th and 17^th place and just been entrenched in no mans land. Since Rodl has arrived the club has finished in 15^th, 10^th, 14^th and 12^th place. That is nothing to cheer about, but the 1993 European championships winner with Germany has done the best that he could with his budget and just has lived and breathed basketball with shaping German players. He has made guys like Maik Zirbes, Phillip Zwiener, Bastian Doreth Andreas Seiferth and Matthias Monnighoff into better and more confident players with all except Zwiener who had already been a German national player to reaching that team. The question will always be can a team like TBB Trier that has an abundance of German players like new guys Stefan Schmidt, Anthony Canty and Andreas Wenzl be able to reach the playoffs with their mix of international players. The answer most likely is no since the Beko BBL gets more competitive each season and they don’t have the budget to make that step. However Rodl is doing a fine deed using the 6 and 6 rule to the maximum and helping the German basketball Federation by grooming the next German national players and be. Ex TBB Trier guard John Bynum so first hand how Rodl incorporated the German youth movement in Trier. “Well I think it is great because guys who normally just are practice players get game experience and play roles on a high level. By the time they get in there prime they have experience and they also can help out teams cause they learned at a young age. I think it’s great for German basketball and players who get that chance are taking advantage of it. Without Henrik starting this I think we would only be seeing national players playing at that level on a consistent basis”, stressed American John Bynum. TBB Trier never reached the Beko BBL playoffs, but could be reality in the future. “I think it is a reality because Henrik is a great coach and gets the best from his players and his players always develop during the season because of learning on the fly”, warned California native John Bynum.

The 11^th place finish of TBB Trier with a record of 15-19 may look normal since the club has been in the no mans land practically since 2004, but it rather deceiving because with three games left in the regular season the club was three wins away from the playoffs and three losses away from going down. The last month was a real battle, but the team buckled down and finished strong to breathe another season in the top German basketball league. This season as every season head coach henrik Rodl did a good job keeping a part of the team together and then adding a healthy mix of Germans and international players to help round out his new rotation. He kept Jermaine Bucknor(8,2ppg, 5,8rpg and 2,0apg) who is a 30 year old 200cm forward from Canada that played at Richmond and has good European experience having played in France and for Frankfurt and Wurzburg. His good outside shooting and versatile play inside coupled with his jovial mood and experience will aid the team. Germans Mathis Monninghoff, Andreas Seiferth and Zimbabwean Vitalis Chikoko also return to team. Monninghoff(10,2ppg, 3,4rpg) is a 21 year old 200cm swing man that started his career with Leverkusen and played 52NCAA games for Gonzaga. His shot is his big asset, but he isn´t one dimensional, but smart turns over the ball seldom and plays aggressive defense. Andreas Seiferth(5,3ppg, 3,3rpg) is a 24 year old 209cm center that made the jump to the German national team last summer. He is playing his third season in Trier after learning the trade in the Alba Berlin school. He is a guy that always works hard and has developed a cute hook shot. He is a guy that can still develop and this season will be another test to see if he can make the next step. Chikoko(10,2ppg, 7,0rpg) is a 22 year old 207cm forward that can also play center and has turned into a leading player in Trier this season. He played at BG Goettingen two seasons ago where the league  already took notice as he played 17 games averaging 6.9ppg, 4.5rpg, FGP: 57.5%, 3PT-2(50.0%), FT: 54.2%. Last season for TBB Trier he played 33 games: 6.2ppg, 2.9rpg, FGP: 60.9%, 3PT-3(50.0%), FT: 61.4%. He has unending athletic ability and can rebound and block shots, but at times his overzealous energy leads to too many fouls.

The club brought in TreVon Huughes(18,2ppg, 4,2rpg, 4,6apg) who is a 26 year old 184 cm point guard from Queens, New York that is playing his fourth professional season and first in Germany. He played at Wisconsin(NCAA) with NBA players like Jon Leuer, Alando Tucker and Marcus Landry. As a professional he has played in countries like Slovenia, Latvia and Lithuvania. He has shown no problems adapting to the skilled Beko BBL and can fill up the stats sheets as a combo guard and will give Rodl smiles with his defense. Jermaine Anderson(9,6ppg, 5,0rpg, 2,8apg) is a 30 year old 188cm point guard from Toronto, Canada that has played in Germany for teams like Bamberg, Tuebingen and Braunschweig. In Europe he has played in countries like Croatia, Poland, Russia and Monetnegro. His three pointer is deadly as he has shown throughout his career like shooting 48% in Greece and Croatia. He will be like an assistant coach on the court for Rodl. Laurynas Samenas(4,4ppg, 2,0rpg) is a 25 year old 192cm guard from Lituvania that is playing his first season out of his native country. Last season he played for  BC Siauliai (LKL) playing 22 games: Score-5(15.0ppg), 2.2rpg, 1.5apg, FGP: 49.6%, 3PT: 39.6%, FT: 78.4%; Baltic League: 17 games: 14.2ppg, 1.9rpg, 1.5apg, FGP: 54.4%, 3PT: 50.7%, FT: 79.1%. He is known for his shooting and defense and can give the team energy from the bench. After four seasons and 74 Beko BBL games with Bayreuth, Stefan Schmidt(4,4ppg, 3,2rpg) is searching for a new challenge in Trier. Schmidt is a 24 year old 207cm center that was born in Schwandorf. He had the chance to play behind two ex NBA players with Jared Reiner and Brandon Hunter. Schmidt never was able to make his breakthrough in Bayreuth and in Trier will come from the bench to give Seifert rest. He always works hard and this season will be very important in his development. Warren Ward(4,5ppg, 1,8rpg) is a 23 year old 196cm guard and third Canadian on the roster. He is a rookie coming from the University of Ottawa (CIS) and as a senior played  26 games: 18.8ppg, 8.0rpg, 3.8apg, 1.5spg, FGP: 49.2%, 3PT: 30.5%, FT: 81.8%. He doesn´t have an easy task having to replace Nate Linhardt. Ward is very athletic and can jump very high. He grabbed eight rebounds  a game and will help the team in many ways on offense. Andreas Wenzl(3,7ppg, 1,3rpg) is a 20 year old 201cm center that arrives to Trier as a big project. He started his career with ratiopharm Ulm and played at the 2011 and 2012 NBBL Allstar games. In the NBBL he has shown his scoring and rebounding ability, but knee problems have slowed him down. In Trier he will get a chance to get minutes with the Regionaliga team and beko BBL club. Anthony Canty is a 22 year old 183cm guard that is injured. He started his career in 2007 with  BSG Bremerhaven (Oberliga) and in 2009 to Beko BBl team Eisbaeren Bremerhaven where he played  a total of 63 games in four seasons. He is another very big German talent that could shine in Trier. His speed is his biggest asset and isn´t shy to take big shots if no one else wants to. The club brought in Marin Petric that is a 33 year old 190cm guard that has the German/Croatian citizenship. He has Beko BBL experience with Leverkusen and Duesseldorf and last season played for Murat Didin for  Duesseldorf Baskets (Germany-ProA): 39 games: 10.0ppg, 2.4rpg, 1.5apg, FGP: 47.6%, 3PT: 34.9%, FT: 67.4%.

Since Rodl has been coach with TBB Trier he hasn´t only made young German player development an institution, but also priding the game of the team on defense. They have belonged to the top defense teams in the Beko BBL, but just weren´t more successful because they often were unable to score more points than what they gave up. As always tBB trier will develop their game through their defense and let the offense work from there. The club lost important players with Americans Nate Linhardt and Barry Stewart, but got good players with Jermaine Anderson and TeVon Hughes. So far this season, the club is still finding each other on the court as the first results have shown. They beat Tuebingen and MBC where they defended well giving up an average 70 points, but then again had problems with new Beko BBL team SC Rasta Vechta losing 87-84, defending well in Braunschweig, but not mustering any offense losing 67-58 and were in the 81-75 loss to Oldenburg. This is a big game for the Fraport Skyliners who

In the last Six years, The Skyliners have a record of 8-7 against TBB Trier with 5-3 at home and 3-4 on the road. Frankfurt lost the last two games in Trier 74-64 in 2008 on the last day of the season where teams were jockeying for playoff places and Frankfurt ended up getting The Bayer Giants Leverkusen in the quarterfinals. In 2009-2010, TBB Trier played a very energetic and spirited game winning 78-70 despite a monster game by American Derrick Allen who registered 29 points and 10 boards. The Deutsche Bank Skyliners lost the first game of the season in Trier 71-67 as Jimmy Mckinney and Qarraan Calhoun were missing due to injury. It was your typical season opening game as both teams were nervous and missing way too many shots. The game was tied at halftime 26 all. Frankfurt had fire power in the third quarter, but went down in the fourth quarter scoring only nine points as Frankfurt had no nerves in crunch time to win. Derrick Allen had 19 points and eight rebounds and despite TBB Trier was without top scorer Chrs Copeland, the team got needed production form Jamal Shuler, Brian Brown and George Evans to conserve the win. In 2009-2010, The Deutsche Bank Skyliners lost the first game ion Trier 71-67 as Ex Skyliner Derrick Allen contributed 19 points and eight rebounds and Frankfurt won at home 71-69 winning the game with Pascal Roller free throws. Derrick Allen led Frankfurt with 17 points. In 2010-2011, Frankfurt swept the season series. They won at home 72-55 as Pascal Roller led the home team with 17 points. The return date in Trier was an exciting battle as Frankfurt clawed out a 69-61 win as they came from behind going on a 10-0 run in crunch time to prevail. Dashaun Wood led the charge with 18 points and Jimmy Mckinney added 11 points. In their first meeting in 2011-2012, TBB Trier came out with a 64-54 victory as defense played a key role. The Fraport Skyliners were led by Jon Leuer and Jimmy Mckinney with 14 points a piece. In their second meeting, the Fraport Skyliners were riding the wave of a very strong second half of the season where they had beat top teams like FC Bayern Munich, ratiopharm Ulm, Bamberg, Artland Dragons and the EWE Baskets Oldenburg and came to Trier with a lot of self confidence winning 72-52 displaying another trademark top defensive performance as ex NBA player Jermareo Davidson steered 19 points to the win and Jimmy Mckinney added 18 points. This was also the game where Eisbaeren Bremerhaven forward Jacob Burtschi was on the floor as much as Boris Becker had dived on the hallowed lawn at Wimbeldon in his career. Last season  TBB Trier swept the season series won at home against Frankfurt  78-59. At halftime everything looked ok as Frankfurt trailed by only one point, but TBB trier exploded in the third quarter winning it 25-8 leading them on to the win. American Brian Harper proved too much for Frankfurt with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Skyliner Ted Scott gave his debut netting 20 points. In the return game in Frankfurt, TBB trier won 78-70 sending the Fraport Skyliners into a do or die game with Ludwigsburg as Jermaine Bucknor and Andreas Seiferth led the way with 14 points a piece. Frankfurt was led by Quantez Robertson with 14 points and Ryan Brooks added 13 points.

TBB Trier are in 10^th place and enter the game against the Fraport Sklyiners with a two game winning streak and huge  84-79 road win in Ulm.  The Fraport Skyliners are reeling off a bitter 90-78 loss to Ludwigsburg and are riding on a two game losing streak, but sit comfortably in 13^th place in the Beko BBL standings. This will be the big battle between the Beko BBL German basketballs chools as the Fraport Skyliners are slowly becoming competitive in the question as to who is developing Germans best and most. The Fraport Skyliners will be focused in winning the game and not seeing where the most Germans are inserted. Fraport Skyliner Konstantin Klein knows what is awaiting him in Trier. “This will be a very hard game. They defend well and are always hard to beat at home. We have to be concentrated for 40 minutes. I am looking forward to playing against my German buddies Mathias Monninghoff and Andreas Seiferth”, stressed Konstantin Klein. After looking at the last box score, it is no secret what will be vital for Frankfurt coming home with a win. “Trier is a tough team. We have to rebound better and cut down on turnovers. We will have to be  ready to play”, stressed Jacob Burtschi. It also wouldn´t hurt for Frankfurt to get back to their staple. “We have to get back to defending well. It all starts there. We have to be focused for 40 minutes”, added  ex Fraport Skyliner Dawan Robinson.