There are important position players for basketball teams and then there are very important position players for clubs that make their team go go go and are as important for the success as that field goal kicker is for an NFL team making that crunch time kick like a Adam Vinateri, that NHL goalie that has to preserve that win at the end despite being shorthanded with a penalty like a Patrick Roy did, or that relief pitcher for Baseball teams that come in and have to help preserve the win with smart thinking decision making and shutting down the opponent with the right pitches in the last innings like a Mariano Rivera. In basketball the point guard position is a very vital aspect for a team being successful especially on the offensive end and in the last years two of the best examples of two guys that were as crucial for the prosperity of their team at the point guard position as cheese is for pizza were the W&W duo of  Dashaun Wood for the Frankfurt Skyliners in the 2010-2011 season and Davin White for Phoenix Hagen last season. Who could forget the MVP season of Wood where he made filling up the stats like Monta Ellis that season a common occurrence. Frankfurt would not have reached the fifth game of the Beko BBL playoffs against Alba Berlin without the Detroit native. His road runner sprints to the hoop that season were as common as Danilo Barthel´s  flights to the basket this season. Last season, Phoenix Hagen had a Cinderella type season reaching their first playoffs. Most will agree that it was a team effort in that David Bell was just as vital as a Adam Hess or Mark Dorris for reaching the promised land. However there was one player who was a level above the rest and that was Davin White. Last season the Arizona native had a MVP type season playing 36 games: Score-1(17.2ppg), 2.3rpg, 4.2apg, Steals-1(2.0spg), FGP: 51.9%, 3PT: 31.0%, FT: 68.4%. He was eurobasket guard of the year and was a first team selection. Like Wood, White also was infected by the road runner bug and could get to the rim quicker before one can shout Volme in Hagen. He didn´t have quite the explosive and consistency of Wood in Frankfurt, but Phoenix Hagen wouldn´t have made the playoffs without their point guard. This season Phoenix Hagen has to do without White who is playing for Lukoil Academic Sofia (Bulgaria-NBL). Phoenix Hagen has a new replacement for White with henry Dugat. He is six years younger than White and can score like White. So far Dugatis averaging 11,5ppg, 2,8rpg and 2,4apg and is shooting an astounding 47% from the parking lot. He played in lower leagues like Mexico and Sweden recently, but still needs some time to get used to the more sophisticated level in the Beko BBL. Despite not having the stats of White yet, White believes that Dugat has the potential to be one of the top guards in the league. “If anyone could replace me in Hagen it would be Henry. He reminds me of when I was younger very athletic but he is a scorer and the way Hagen plays he fits in perfect, and he shoots the three really good. So it will be interesting to see what he does there. If he stays healthy he could get new comer of the year. They have a guard with a winning attitude they will be fine with him at the helm”, stressed ex Phoenix Hagen guard Davin White. It will be interesting to see how the development of Dugat will continue as well as that of Phoenix Hagen. Dugat won´t bring Phoenix Hagne to the playoffs on his own and will need team support, but the club will need a consistent Dugat sooner or later for consistentsuccess.

Since coming into the Beko BBL in 2009, Phoenix hagen has continued to support run and gun basketball and nothing changed last season as they kept practicing it in games, but they also defended a bit better than in previous years as they earned their first playoff berth finishing the 2012-2013 season in eight place with a record of 18-16. They gave a great fight in the first round of the Beko BBl playoffs against the Brose Baskets Bamberg winning game two in Hagen, but were unable to win the series as the depth and experience of the Freak City team was just too much. There were many reasons why the club made the playoffs last season. Having a strong playmaker with Davin White who decided many games with his play, but also was able to put his scoring on the back burner when his shot wasn´t falling and was able to find his teammates. The team chemistry was developed very early in the season and with early success came for team confidence. Their offense also seemed to grow from other years as with a month before the end of the season, the team  scored 80 plus points in 18 of 30 games and average 86 points a game.  One could even be as unfriendly and mention that the team didn´t play defense in order to conserve energy for their offense. They continued to play run and gun, but seemed to play with a bit more consistency than in the past and the club also has found the word DEFENSE in their vocabulary. They were able to hold offensive teams like Oldenburg and Tuebingen to under 70 points and the s.Oliver Baskets Wurzburg who weren´t the strongest scoring team, but are capable of breaking out  especially with a then fit Jimmy Mckinney who logged 34 minutes and was held to eight points. Not sustaining any severe injuries was also a plus for the team chemistry. Head coach Ingo Freyer preaches offense and last season the difference to the first three seasons, it seems like they are playing a type of Euroleague offense compared to BBL offense the last years.

This season Phoenix Hagen had to say farewell to key players Davin White and Adam Hess as well as role player Abe Lodwick who was a type of glue guy coming from the bench that was capable of making big hustle plays. A big part of future success this season could be the importance of being able to hold six players from last season while adding three new parts to the roster this season. The most important player the club kept was Larry Gordon who is a 26 year old 197cm forward playing his fifth professional basketball season. He played his first three seasons in lower leagues Holland and Austria and last season made a very good transition to the stronger Beko BBL playing 37 games and averaging 12.7ppg, 6.4rpg, 1.5apg, FGP: 52.9%, 3PT: 43.0%, FT: 83.2%. He received a Eurobasket.com All-German Bundesliga Honorable Mention. Gordon is a very versatile player that can do just about everything on the court. He defends positions two to four, rebounds well and scores on a consistent rate. He is Phoenix Hagen´s best player. The team was also fortunate to be able to keep David Bell. Bell is a 32 year old 187cm guard that is the only basketball player on earth that looks like baby Hulk and can shoot out the lights on the court. The Oakland California native has a lot of experience having played in the D-league and in Holland, Switzerland or Finland and last season played  37 games: Score-5(15.7ppg), 2.5rpg, 2.5apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 39.9%, 3PT: 38.3%, FT: 90.1%. If he isn´t consistent then it is harder for the team to win. He great combination of shooting and penetrating and drawing fouls is his trademark. Another important player that they held on to was Mark Mr fantastic Dorris who is a 27 year old 188cm guard from Cincinnati, Ohio that could probably open up a special school with his friend Quantez Robertson entitled, “The dunking flight school”. He played at Marshall(NCAA) and since turning professional in 2009 has always been in Germany playing for Cuxhaven, Ludwigsburg and now his third season in Hagen. Last season for Hagen he played  30 games averaging 10.6ppg, 3.0rpg, 1.7apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 43.3%, 3PT: 34.8%, FT: 75.0%. He is a scoring guard that loves to dance into the lane and finish with a mid distance jumper.

The team also kept defensive specialist Dino Gregory. Gregory is a 24 year old 200cm forward/center from Baltimore, Ohio that played with NBA player Grevis Vazquez at Maryland. After playing for the : Sundsvall Dragons in Sweden as a rookie, he also made a good transition tot he Beko BBL last season playing  37 games: 7.3ppg, 6.0rpg, Blocks-1(1.6bpg), FGP: 55.6%, FT: 60.0%. He is very athletic and fits perfect into the playing style of Ingo Freyer and is a very good leaper and rebounder for his size. It will be important that the club establish more of an inside game, so there is more variation in the team game. He won the last two seasons Eurobasket.com Swedish Basketligan All-Defensive Team -12, and Eurobasket.com German Bundesliga All-Defensive Team -13. The team also kept German Ole Wendt who is a 21 year old point guard that comes from the Paderborn school of basketball. He belongs to the next generation of German basketball players. Last season he played  37 games averaging  3.6ppg, 2.0rpg, 1.6apg. He made a tremendous step last season and already shows a remarkable ability to lead a team at such a young age. He is a great defender that just doesn´t lay off his man. He has played for the German U-18 and 20 teams and the next step is the A German national team. The team also kept German basketball dinosaur Bern Kruel who is playing his 21ist professional season and 17^th in Hagen. The 210cm center is 37 and this will be his last season. Kruel is an old school player that isn´t athletic, but can score and pass out of the post. He has seen it all as a professional and won a Beko BBl title in 2004 with Frankfurt.  The club brought in three new players with Henry Dugat, Keith Ramsey and Nikta Khartchenkov. The most important order of business was finding a player that could replace top point guard Davin White. Dugat is a 26 year old 183cm point guard from Dayton, texas that played at Baylor. He is an NBA level PG with a 41 inch vertical – Quick, athletic guard. Known for highlight-reel quality drives, dunks and blocks. Finished seventh all-time with 158 career 3-point field goals made.  Finished career fourth all-time at Baylor with 152 career steals. H eplayed most of his career in Mexico and his first in Europe last season with LF Basket (Sweden-Basketligan, starting five): 36 games: Score-2(20.4ppg), 5.8rpg, Assists-3(4.8apg), Steals-1(2.0spg), FGP: 48.6%, 3PT: 40.2%, FT: 82.7%. The team also brought in a side kick for Gregory and to keep company in the zone with Keith Ramsey. He is a 26 year old 205cm power forward/center from Tennessee. He played at Missouri and as a professional in Spain, Sweden and Israel. Last season he played for  Ironi Kfar Hamaccabia Ramat Gan (Israel-National League) playing 31 games: 12.7ppg, Reb-4(10.6rpg), 2.0apg, Steals-5(2.5spg), 1.3bpg, FGP-1(66.4%), 3PT: 37.5%, FT: 57.1%. His athletic and strong defense will make him a formidable duo with Gregory. The team also brought in Nikita Khartchenkov who is no stranger to Germany. He is a 26 year old 201cm forward that ahs the German/Russian citizenship. He started his career in 2003 with TV Langen and then got experience playing for  BC Khimki-2 Moscow. In Germany he is a journeyman having played for Braunschweig, Chemnitz, MBC, Lepizig and Nurnberg. He also played a season in Romania. Last season he played for Uni-Riesen Leipzig (Germany-ProA): 13 games: 15.5ppg, 4.0rpg, 1.8apg, 2FGP: 42.3%, 3FGP: 36.6%, FT: 78.9%, in Jan.’13 moved to Nuernberger Basketball Club (Germany-ProA, starting five): 18 games: 14.6ppg, 2.3rpg, FGP: 50.6%, 3PT: 41.0%, FT: 83.6%. His best quality is his deadly shooting and his unorthodox shooting technique makes it hard to defend. He already showed an early knack for dropping bombs from outside nailing 15 three pointers as a junior.

Head coach Ingo Freyer is coaching his fifth season in the Beko BBL with Phoenix Hagen. He had a nice playing career playing for the German national team, in Italy and winning the Korac Cup with Alba Berlin in 1995 has made a solid transition to coach coaching three seasons in Wedel and now is behind the helm for his 7^th season with Phoenix Hagen. He is the bonafide players coach that gives his players freedom. Experience in the Beko BBL has improved his coaching as last seasons playoff appearance the first since 2004 was no fluke in an always more competitive land growing Beko BBL. He has given the name run and gun a totally new meaning in the Beko BBL as sometimes just seeing their guards shoot, shoot, shoot makes one think that one is on the playground. Important was keeping consistency within the roster, but this season the team will be on the radar of teams and wont have that surprise factor as last season as no one predicted their good finish. The good last season gives the returning players very much confidence and that should be a big help this season. A big part of where Phoenix Hagen will be how consistent Henry Dugat will be. It is never nice to put so much pressure on one player, but Davin White was the best performing player on that team since they entered the Beko BBL in 2009 and he carried the team last season and in a way with the many role players this season will need a leader like that again. It also will be interesting if Phoenix Hagen can erase the notion that reaching the playoffs last season was a fluke, but one thing is for sure, getting there this season won´t be any easier as team continue to get more competitive each season.

The Deutsche Bank Skyliners swept the season series in 2009-2010 with Phoenix Hagen stomping all over them in Hagen 93-64 as Derrick Allen led all scorers with 22 points, Aubrey Resse chipped in with 18 points and Grayson Moyer had one of his best games as a Skyliner with 15 points and five assists. In the return game in Frankfurt, Phoenix Hagen lost 89-76. Skyliner captain Pascal Roller led Frankfurt with 18 points and five assists and Derrick Allen produced 17 points. Last season, The Deutsche Bank Skyliners outrebounded Phoenix Hagen 66-49 in both games. Last season, the Skyliners also won the season series with a 90-85 win as Jermaine Bucknor led the team with 19 points and six rebounds and 92-53 romp at home getting 24 points and eight rebounds from Roger Powell and only six points and seven assists from Dashaun Wood. In the first game in the 2011-2012 season, the Fraport Skyliners romped Phoenix Hagen 83-65 as fans saw the last Beko BBL game of Jon Leuer who erupted for 27 points and Jimmy Mckinney had 21 points. In the return game, the Fraport Skyliners stomped all over Phoenix Hagen 92-47. Five players scored in double figures as the team was led by Devin Gibson with 16 points. Last season  Fraport Skyliners lost the first game against Phoenix Hagen in their own living room in embarrassing fashion 107-102 as they their opponent gave them a display of how to play run and gun basketball. Phoenix Hagen shot an amazing 51% from the field and 60% from the three point line. In the return game in Hagen, the Fraport Skyliners had their nerves under control in crunch time slipping by Phoenix Hagen on the road 81-78 as Frankfurt was led by Dawan Robinson with 25 points and ex Giessen players Ryan brooks chipped in with 14 points and Laquan Prowell with 13 points. The Fraport Skyliners enter the game against Phoenix Hagen with a two game winning streak and want to get up to 500 at home with a win to get to a record of 3-3 in their own living room. “We have to play very good transition defense. Our staple this season is solid defense and we will have to do that”, stressed Andrew Rautins. Phoenix Hagen also enter the game with  a two game winning streak having defeated TBB Trier and the Neckar Riesen Ludwigsburg. Fraport Skyliners Jacob Burtschi will be extra motivated to battle against his ex team. “The blue print of Phoenix Hagen is run and gun. They lost Davin White and I don’t think that they are as strong as last season. They did add more athleticism and depth inside. They can lose by 30 or beat  a top team by 20 points. We have to slow them down and play our game”, warned Jacob Burtschi. The duel of the game will be sharp shooters Andrew Rautins and David Bell. I think we will see a nice shooting clinic between Rautins and Bell, but Rautins will win”, smiled Quantez Robertson.