Observing amazing and exciting Beko BBL player battles each weekend is as frequent as Boston Red Sox Mike Napoli finding some kind of  nasty bug in his long ZZ Top like beard, Boston Red sox pitcher and Alabama native Jake Peavy having to hear daily comments about him purchasing a Boston Duck boat for his estate in Alabama or Canadian Popstar Justin Bieber being in the Tabloids these days. During any game there is always interesting duels on the floor that could get the goose bumps going crazy with some like a Quantez Robertson vs Warren Ward matchup that will have to wait until the second half of the season or a John Bryant vs Maik Zirbes battle where the only thing missing could be Floyd Mayweather junior actually having the tenacity to swap his gloves for a basketball and tangle with one of these players. This weekend in Frankfurt saw two teams go head to head with many talented player sand ex Skyliners, but what do you get when you have a Canadian that could probably win a shooting contest at Rucker park anytime and a German American who played at New Mexico(NCAA) averaged 44% from the parking lot in his last three seasons there and could probably hit a basket at the bottom if he was standing on top of Chaco canyon. You get ex NBA player Andrew Rautins who is leading the Beko BBL in scoring against Chad Topper who  went from walk-on to scoring 1,000 points and becoming one of the top 3-point shooter in MWC history at New Mexico and played 106 ACB games for CAI Zaragoza.while with ArtlandTopper is averaging nearly 20 minutes a game and is a touch under 40% from downtown. These guys can light up the Frankfurt Messeturm even on the most foggy day if they had to, but their first matter of business was doing what they do best and that is score and help their teams win in the Fraport arena and that task came easier to Syracuse alumnist Andrew Rautins the best as he led the Fraport Skyliners to the 89-74 victory while Chad Topper had a more quiet day at the office with his best moment drawing a foul behind the three point line against German Kevin Bright and ending the day with six points. After the game, a soft spoken Rautins had only the most utmost respect for Topper. “Chad didn´t get the looks today that he usually does and he is always shooting over 40% so you have to keep an eye on him. He has had a great career in Europe and I am sure he will be successful this season in Germany”, stressed Andrew Rautins. There may be some critics who see Topper as one dimensional, but he can do so much more on the court. “Chad is a good friend of mine and what I really like about his game is that he always wants to shoot the ball and I always think that he will make the shot. I believe that he has become such a better defender than when I trained with him in Arizona three years ago. You might think that he is just a shooter, but he can do so much more like defend and rebound”, added Standford alumnist Lawrence Hill. Sometimes one has to ask who Jacob Burtschi doesn´t know, but long after the Frankfurt win, the Oklahoma native had a quick greeting for Topper on his way to the bus and had his two cents for the American. “Chad is a good buddy of mine. I played against him in college and we were teammates in Spain. We spent some time together last night and it is always great seeing him. He can just flat out shoot and does a good job getting  a team out of rhythm”, stressed Jacob Burtschi.

Where would the Fraport Skyliners have been against the Artland Dragons without the Rautins and Barthel show? Well they probably would have been captured in the substitute Dragons road cage trying to free themselves from the brutal hot flames of the animal. It is no secret that the 2004 Beko BBL champ depends very much on the Canadian for them to be successful which wasn´t more evident than against the Telekom Baskets Bonn where he was limited to three points, early foul trouble and the annoying defense by German Andrej Magold. Against the Artland Dragons he found his hot shooting touch and when he has a German side kick Danilo Barthel who also is in the zone then getting in position to win is a lot easier for the team. Rautins got hot early having 17 points at halftime while Barthel scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half as their stellar play was balanced out nicely throughout the 40 minute rumble in the Fraport arena. A great aspect to the game of Rautins which helps erase the image that he can only shoot is that he has a great ability to create for his teammates which he demonstrated with eight assists, but has done so in other games this season. In the third quarter, he took a break from scoring and was like a second point guard getting four assists and giving the word extra pass a new type of meaning. ”I just took the advantages and what their defense gave me. I play within the team”, stressed Andrew Rautins. Burtschi knows that the Fraport Skyliners take off or don´t depending on how Rautins plays. “Andy is the leading scorer of the league and when he doesn´t get going, it hurts us. When he does get going it makes us so much stronger especially with the extra pass”, warned Jacob Burtschi. Danilo Barthel had another superb game and he is becoming more and more consistent each week and a few months ago I had the German being a German national player in 2-3 years, but with the rate his development is going now, he better get a call from German national coach Frank Menz next summer. Barthel wasn´t in the mood to shoot from outside so he did damage inside as he shot 80% on 8/10 shooting and had four dunks electrifying the crowd once again with hard dunks. It also seems like with the growing fierce snare like look on Barthel as he is flying to the basket is making him more and more feared by opponents. “Danilo is an emerging star and two years ago when I was here he wasn´t as athletic and maybe hit a three pointer once in a while, but he has improved so much can do so much and is a tough cover. I wouldn´t say that Danilo is feared yet flying into the lane, but teams have to be very concerned when he is getting into the lane”, smiled Jacob Burtschi. “Danilo played great and he will continue to grow as a player and when he gets even more physical, the sky is the limit for him”, warned Andrew Rautins. “Rautins and Barthel are big time players and when there is a big game you know that they will step up. They are the leaders of the team and it showed today”, commented American Jarred Dubois.  It is never easy to see fan favorite Quantez Robertson limping the long hall way from the locker room to the dining area in the Fraport arena as a  hurt snail might beat him in a race for the last pretzel, but he still has humor and craving for the future. “I am happy Danilo Barthel dunks, but the fans will be even more happy when I return, because then they will see even more dunks”, smiled Cincinnati native Quantez Robertson.

After the bitter blowout loss at home to the Telekom Baskets Bonn, it didn´t get any easier for the Fraport Skyliners as 2008 Beko BBL cup winner Artland Dragons came into town with a 7-1 record and being able to boast about wins against Alba Berlin and the Brose Baskets Bamberg. However the Artland Dragons weren´t their selves coupled with the much improved play of the Fraport Skyliners had to play catch up basketball for the whole game and just didn´t have the energy and fire power to compete with Frankfurt. “We let them do what they wanted to do. We have to give  a lot of credit to Frankfurt. They played very hard especially on offense and we weren´t able to react. We had good intensity, but it just wasn´t smart intensity. We had good energy, but you can´t be using so much energy, but be giving Andrew Rautins open three pointers or letting Barthel have drives”, stressed ex Hapoel Holon forward Lawrence Hill. The Fraport Skyliners came into the game having won only one home game against the s.Oliver Baskets Wurzburg and were in dire need to improve their winning percentage at home and were able to do that with an all around strong performance on both sides of the court. “This was a total team effort from start to finish. We had some bumps along the way, but were were resilient and got the win”, warned ex Phoenix Hagen forward Jacob Burtschi. No matter if it is a win or loss for the Fraport Skyliners, head coach Gordon Herbert always has the same expression and sometimes keeping the analysis short and simple is easier then breaking out the x and o´s after a long day at the basketball office. “Our effort and fight against Artland was a lot better than against Bonn. When we had down periods against Artland, we were able to bounce back. We weren´t able to do that against Bonn”, stressed Gordon Herbert.

3,660 fans were in the Fraport arena to see the game which was very low for a Saturday afternoon game, but on the other hand having a game on a Saturday afternoon is even rarer for the Fraport Skyliners as the game was originally scheduled for the evening, but bounced back three hours. The first minute, both teams got out their holsters and started firing from way down town as Andrew Rautins hit a three pointer which was followed by consecutive threes from Brandon Thomas and David Holston. Before the last late fan was in their seat, the Artland Dragons had quietly jumped out to an 8-3 lead as Thomas showed his passing touch with a back door pass to Ohio native Antonio Graves. However the Fraport Skyliners were less than impressed and took a chapter out of the early Dragon run and started a 13-0 chapter two to take the 16-8 lead. Barthel started the run with a sweet shot over Hill as both would duel all day long with the American winning it on the stats sheet and Barthel in the win column. Rautins nailed two three pointers in the run, Johannes Voitmann added power inside with a lay in and Jacob Burtschi also found his stroke early connecting from downtown. Frankfurt found a nice rhythm on offense which was enforced by Rautins getting going  and forcing Artland to tough shots and keeping David Holston in check as he couldn´t get his team going. Graves stopped the run with a lay in, but Frankfurt closed out the first quarter with a 4-0 run as Kevin Bright added to the scoring onslaught with a three pointer and Rautins stroked home another shot from the parking lot as the Fraport Skyliners led convincingly 22-10 after 10 minutes. “Our focus is always defense. When we are aggressive on defense, our offense follows and that is what happened”, stressed Andrew Rautins. “Our energy was used in the wrong way allowing them to shoot the way they wanted to”, added Lawrence Hill. The Fraport Skyliners were shooting 57% from the field and 100% from outside while the Artland Dragons were shooting 25% from the field and 29% from outside. Frankfurt had the 10-8 rebound edge, but five turnovers while Artland had four turnovers.

In the second quarter, the Fraport Skyliners contained their lead despite the Artland Dragons trying to keep the score close let the home team lead by as much as 13 points, but at half time were only down by five points. Ex Alba Berlin forward Guido Gruinheid started the second quarter with a three pointer which was met with a nifty penetration and lay in by Konstantin Klein who has a special knack for scoring in traffic using his body like a young  bull. The Artland Dragons then went on a 7-0 run as young German Michael Wenzl used his muscle and got to the free throw line twice making four free throws. Hill then knocked down his first of three three pointers in the second quarter as he was an instruemental part as to why Artalnd wasn´t blown out early as was reserve point guard Bastian Doreth who dished out seven assists in the quarter as he cut the Frankfurt lead to 25-20. Then it was time for Jacob Burtschi to give his spice to the offensive soup as Rautins was on the bench with his second foul with a mid distance jumper and three pointer as Frankfurt led 30-20. Then it was time for the Artland Dragons to counter with a 5-0 run to cut the lead back to 30-23 as Topper nailed a catch and pop three pointer and Hill scored a mid distance jumper. The game of runs continued as Frankfurt now went on a 8-0 run to lead 38-25. Burtschi started the run with  a three pointer from the top of the key, followed by a seemingly impossible angle shot from the corner by Rautins that only Larry Bird could of made but blindfolded and Voigtmann then was set into action with a thunderous dunk by Rautins. Just when you thought Frankfurt was going to run away with it, Artland came storming back as Hill dropped consecutive three pointers to cut the Frankfurt lead to 38-31. Artland then had a massive break down inside as Rautins was as alone as a forgotten jack o lantern in July that is still sitting on a porch as Burtschi found him back door for an easy reverse layup. The Artland Dragons scored the last basket of the second quarter as 206cm American Kenny Frease used the ultimate mismatch against Skyliner 184cm Max Merz as it looked like a more than nicely  nourished cow going up against a helpless calf getting the lay up as the buzzer sounded as Frankfurt led 40-35 at halftime. “I had two fouls and the guys did a good job picking up the slack and just hit shots. Burtschi hit big shots”, stressed Jacob Burtschi. “We made a good run with Doreth. Our guys are always ready. He came in and did his job”, added Lawrence Hill. The Fraport Skyliners were shooting 56% from the field and 75% from the three point line while the Artland Dragons were shooting 8% from the field and 44% from the three point line. Both teams had 15 rebounds and Frankfurt 10 turnovers and Artland eight turnovers.

In the third quarter, the Fraport Skyliners continued to have the upper hand as Artland cut the lead won to four, but in the second part of the third quarter let the home team get their lead back to plus ten points as they just couldn´t slow up their offense. The Skyliners German duo of Barthel and Voigtman started the scoring in the third quarter as the big man found Barthel for the lay up. Holston who had been kept to three points and no assists in the first half got going as he nailed a three pointer as Frankfurt led only 42-38. After a Voigtmann la yin and one, Brandon Thomas who has been a scorer his whole life displayed his passing touch faking a shot and setting up Wenzl for an easy bucket as Frankfurt led 45-40. Artland continued to stay on the heels of Frankfurt as Hill hit a buzzer beater at the shot clock buzzer and Thomas connected from downtown, but at the same time continued to lack focus on defense and Frankfurt had loose ball luck as Barthel was all alone down low and all of a sudden got a ball in his hands and jammed home the ball and Klein made an easy bucket as the passing of Rautins continued to dismantle Artland as they trailed 49-45. Frankfurt really stepped up their defense a notch more in the third quarter with the help of two big time hustle plays by Konstantin Klein who came from behind and stole a ball from Michael Wenzl from his hands and stripped the ball from Holston. “Klein has really come into his own. He had some minutes last season to 20 plus minutes this season. He still makes mistakes but is improving so much”, warned Jacob Burtschi. The aggressive defense was enforced by a 6-0 run as Frankfurt led 55-45. Rautins hit another three pointer, Barthel scored inside and made free throws. Hill continued to be a thorn in the side of the Fraport Skyliners scoring inside twice as Artland trailed 57-49. Holston and Bright then traded baskets as Frankfurt led 63-51. Bright then made a rookie mistake fouling Topper behind the three point line and the American hit all three. Barthel closed out the third quarter with a dunk and Dubois made a beautiful dribble penetration finding the German for the monster dunk as Frankfurt led 65-54. “Basketball is a team game and we helped each other recover well in this quarter. Defense has to continue to be our staple”, warned Andrew Rautins. “Frankfurt increased their defensive intensity. We relaxed too much. You can´t let Klein make those steals or let Barthel get easy dunks. It was like a battle for Frankfurt and they came to battle”, stressed Lawrence Hill. The Fraport Skyliners were shooting 51% from the field and 56% from the parking lot while the Artland Dragons were shooting 43% from the field and 47% from the parking lot. Frankfurt had the 25-22 rebound advantage and 12 turnovers while Artland had 14 turnovers.

When your playing a strong Fraport Skyliner team where the offense is working on all cylinders, playing catch up gets more and more difficult as you get more worn down and the Artland Dragons just ran out of energy and couldn´t cut the lead down to less than 9 points. The fourth quarter belonged to Beko BBL rookie Jarred Dubois who scored all of his 11 points. Barthel scored the first five Skyliner points with another dunk and lay in as Frankfurt led 70-54. Artland then went on a mini 4-0 run as Wenzl who had to start the game in place of injured ex Skyliner Anthony King and scored another put back and ex Braunschweig American Thomas also scored inside as Artland trailed 70-58. Dubois then scored a last second shot over Thomas as the shot clock buzzer sounded and Rautins found Barthel with his eighth assist. Hill then hit another three pointer as his engine was on all afternoon long and Voigtman notched another assist finding Bright for an easy bucket as Frankfurt led 77-63. Here and there, Frankfurt made some errors under the boards giving up some offensive rebounds, but the mistakes were compensated with Dubois getting to the foul line twice and Voigtmann getting another dunk as Frankfurt led 83-66. With a few minutes left, Artland had one last hurrah left going on a 8-2 run to cut the Frankfurt lead to 85-74, but it didn´t matter as time was running out. Hill scored inside again, Doreth made a runner and Holston and Thomas scored inside. Dubois closed out the game out with 4-0 run with free throws and a lay in high off the glass giving the Fraport Skyliners their second home win of the season. “We kept fighting for 40 minutes and concentrate don defense and executed on offense. This was my second professional game and a win like this gave me  a lot of confidence. My biggest goal is get the team going and do what it takes to win”, stressed Jarred Dubois. “One can´t always win with three pointers, so we balanced it out attacking the rim”, added Jacob Burtschi The Fraport Skyliners were led by Andrew Rautins with 24 points. Jacob Burtschi, Jarred Dubois and Johannes Voigtmann chipped in with 11 points a piece. The Artland Dragons were led by Lawrence Hill with 20 points. David Holston contributed 12 points while Brandon Thomas had 11 points and Michael Wenzi 10 points. It was the best game of Lawrence Hill as a Dragon as he showed a special cleverness in his game and scoring knack inside and out. “Hill is a stud. I respect every player and always strive to get to that type of level. He was a dual threat inside out”, stressed Jacob Burtschi. The Fraport Skyliners had a stellar shooting afternoon shooting 54% from the field and 48% from outside while the Artland Dragons shot 43% from the field and 38% from outside. Frankfurt won the rebounding battle 34-31 and both teams had 16 turnovers.