It isn´t slowly ten to midnight yet for the Dragons Rhondorf, but rapidly getting very close to the gong as the club is looking to be saved somehow of their poor season as they are caved into the Pro B south cellar with a record of 3-11. Shortly before Christmas the Dragons Rhondorf hauled in 36 year old basketball dinosaur Anish Sharda who came from ASC Theresianum Mainz (Germany-Regionalliga) after never averaging less than 18,9ppg in the last four years in the Regionalliga. The American who recently got the German citizenship brought 137 career Regionalliga and 116 Pro B games to the Dragons Rhondorf and scored 11 points in his first game in a loss to the RheinStars right before Christmas. Over the years he has had some nice battles against the Fraport Skyliners Juniors and had a 4-3 record against them scoring in double figures in four of the seven games coming into the game in Frankfurt. Sharda could be that key new component that will help get the Dragons Rhondorf out of the cellar as his consistent scoring and strong playmaking will be a huge advantage. Sharda led the Dragons Rhondorf to Frankfurt and met a 9-5 team that have been playing good basketball as of late having won three of their last four games. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors had won the first contest in Rhondorf 75-68 thanks to 11 three´s and a strong Pro B debut by Swedish shooting star Elijah Clarance who scored 21 points while the Dragons owned the boards. In the first contest of 2019, both teams had their ups and downs during the course of the 40 minutes, but the Fraport Skyliners Juniors controlled the game and allowed a massive fourth quarter come back by the Dragons Rhondorf, but were able to salvage an overtime period getting a last second sprint and bucket by Elijah Clarance for the 83-81 win. After the tough loss Dragons Rhondorf head coach Thomas Adelt had that look as if he had seen a basketball ghost as for the third time in a row his team was close to winning, but were denied again. “We had too many turnovers in the first half and got in a hole because we were too sloppy. In the second quarter we fought and pressed well and were in a good position to win the game. It´s tough to lose the game on a last shot. We have worked so hard to win these games, but then we lose. I think that in the deciding moments we aren´t there mentally”, warned Thomas Adelt. Frankfurt was lucky that they escaped with a win. “This wasn´t our best game. Our ball movement wasn´t consistent today. We started off well in the first few minutes, but then their press made us play hectic. We had more ups and downs in the second half. We were a little sloppy at the end, but came out with the win”, added guard Len Schoormann. It was only Anish Sharda´s second game and he still getting used to things, but he had his moments hitting for 8 points and making some nice plays at both ends of the court. “I thought that our press was great and it kept us in the game. But we could of overall executed better on offense”, added ex TV Langen guard Anish Sharda.
Month: January 2019
Tired Legs And Short Shots Doom The Fraport Skyliners Giving The Hakro Merlins Crailsheim The 91-77 Win
The holiday season is always a memorable one off the court for the players, but in the last week, it was anything but noteworthy as the Fraport Skyliners had to face ratiopharm Ulm twice in the easyCredit BBL and Eurocup and lost both games. The first game cost the club rookie Trae Bell_Haynes and Akeem Vargas who will be out for a long period of time. The 2016 Fiba Europe Cup winner had had enough of the ratiopharm Ulm team and now had no other choice but to come home and have to take care of business with cellar team Hakro Merlins Crailsheim who came into a game with a 1-12 record while the Fraport Skyliners were doing their own type of balancing act in 12th place with a 5-7 record and three wins away from the last playoff place. The game also remarked the return of an old Skyliner friend Konrad Wysocki. The last time the German who played at Ivy League school Princeton wore a Skyliner jersey, Barack Obama was just beginning his first term as president, Derrick Allen was his teammate and still in his twenties and Dennis Schroeder was a huge basketball talent on the Braunschweig playgrounds. The 36 year old Wysocki played for the then Deutsche Bank Skyliners Frankfurt (Germany-1.Bundesliga) playing 36 BBL games averaging 6.0ppg, 4.3rpg, 1.4apg, FGP: 59.6%, 3PT: 29.3%, FT: 43.8%. He returned back to the Fraport arena having a BBL record of 3-2 against his old time since his departure in 2009. He was perfect with the EWE Baskets Oldenburg posting a 3-0 record and winning two nail bitters by two points, but had lost both contests with the Hakro Merlins Crailsheim. It was pretty much a game that both sides had to win badly with Crailsheim a tad more and did as the Fraport Skyliners despite having injury problems and fatigue gave an unsatisfactory performance losing to the Hakro Merlins Crailsheim 91-77. After the big win a relaxed Konrad Wysocki exited the locker room with a big smile and was right away greeted by his ex team attendant Wulle Buhr and after rapping about the good old days, he greeted me and commented on his return back once again after a few years in the Pro A. “Obviously the faces change over the years, but then you see some of the familiar faces from then and the memories return. This was a big win for us. It has been a tough season losing some close games. We really needed this win very much. Maybe this is the start of seeing more wins”, stated ex Fraport Skyliner Konrad Wysocki.
The Fraport Skyliners continue to struggle through the season and it showed most against the lowly Hakro Merlins Crailsheim as they had good moments on offense, but their defense continues to be their achilles heel as they can´t rely on this part of their game. Of course the many injuries as well as the many games they have had in recent weeks have had their toll on the club, but still showing effort is something that doesn´t take the most talent and is something any team can always display, but that is something the club has had problems sticking to. After the loss ex Georgetown guard Jason Clark had a long face as he tried to digest another loss after losing back to back games in Ulm and explained what went wrong this time. “We can´t give fatigue as a reason why we lost this game. Every team goes through stretches like this where they have injuries, but this is what we play for. We have to find a way to win these games. Yes were tired, but we can´t have a performance like this. We have to do the little things right and show effort. I have a lot of respect for Crailsheim and they played a hell of a game, but at the end of the day we are a way better team than what we showed. We have to win these kind of games. This game was winnable”, warned Jason Clark. After the huge victory, the diminutive 180cm point guard Dewayne Russell who seems like a few centimeters smaller felt a lot larger than he was after the game even if he didn´t show it as his hot shooting third quarter where he scored 15 points carried the team to the win. The ex Grand Canyon(NCAA) stand out was as humble as could be about the performance of his team. “We played well. This was one of the few complete games we have played this season. Coach did a great job preparing us and our veterans Wysocki and Turner kept our heads up. We did a good job staying together when they had runs. We executed very well what we wanted to against their different coverages”, stressed Dwayne Russell.
The NCAA Experience Will Help Jonas Sauer(ScanPlus Baskets) Become A Better Player But Also Help Get New Life Experiences
Jonas Sauer is a 19 year old 187cm guard that is playing with the ScanPlus Baskets Elchingen (ProB). He began his career with the ratiopharm Ulm U19 team (NBBL). Last season he was German NBBL Group 4 Regular Season Champion and reached the German NBBL Semifinals. He spoke to germanhoops.com about his basketball career.
Jonas thanks for talking to germanhoops.com Where are you at the moment and ho is basketball life treating you at the moment?
I’m with ScanPlus Baskets Elchingen, playing for their 1st and 2nd team. The 1st team plays ProB Germany. Besides that I’m in my senior year in German Highschool. Basketball life is treating me pretty good right now.
Talk a little about how you found a love to basketball and your early years? Was basketball always your first love or did you enjoy other sports?
Since I was a little kid I always had a basketball with me, no matter where I went. Since my dad played at a high professional level I kind of had the love for basketball in my genes already. I started playing for Ulm since I was 6 years old. Besides basketball I did gymnastics when I was like 7 and then started with track & fields and did that for quite some time.
The Dragons Rhondorf Need To Quickly Conjure Up Victories At 10 to Midnight To Save The Season
At this time last season, the Dragons Rhondorf were in a way living in a fairy tale as they had experienced a great start to the season which carried them until the new year and had many jolly faces in the Dragon Dome. They were playing great team ball and most important winning games something that hadn´t been the case two seasons ago in the Pro A and the season before that left them in the playdowns saving their season with severe effort that almost bit them in their butts. A big reason for their success last season was there once in a century perfect acquisition in Kam Taylor who was the all around player any Pro B coach would love to have. A guy that filled the stat sheet like a mini Russell Westbrook and the kind of guy that had those perfect white teeth for that Crest commercial and had the jovial friendly smile that would invite any person from 8-80 to go out and have a tasty dinner and talk about life with him. Kameron Taylor was the team last season, but one can´t forget that head coach Thomas Adelt also had the correct supporting cast as unsung hero Viktor Frankl-Maus was one of the top point guards in the league and guys like Thomas Michel and Valentin Blass were the perfect supporting cast that had consistency and team play plastered into their heads the way Kyre Irving has that next Uncle Drew commercial in the off season. Times were great a year ago and overall the season was a good one even if their playoff run ended way to early. A year ago the Dragons Rhondorf had a 10-4 record and was one of the top teams in the Pro B south with the ScanPlus Baskets and a year later they are in the Pro B cellar with a 3-11 record and reeling for their basketball lives. The Dragons Rhondorf have had numerous problems this season that have reflected their current standings position in the Pro B south and problems that the club just haven´t been able to correct so far. The Dragons Rhondorf desperately need to quickly conjure up victories at 10 to midnight to save the season.
Kellon Thomas (EVL Baskets Limburg) My Height Has Never Been A Problem Because I Always Found Ways To Compensate My Height
Kellon Thomas is a 25 year old 180cm point guard from Indianapolis, Indiana playing his rookie season in Germany with EVL Baskets Limburg (Germany-2.Regionalliga). Currently at the mid season mark, he has led the team to a 8-3 record averaging 32,0ppg, 6,0rpg and 5,0apg. He began his basketball career at Southport High School and in his senior year averaged 21.4ppg, 5.6rpg, 4.3apg and also played quarterback on Southport’s football team. He began his NCAA career in 2012 and played four years there playing 106 games. His best season was his last season where he played 32 games averaging 12.3ppg, 2.1rpg, 2.6apg, FGP: 41.8%, 3PT: 31.5%, FT: 72.6%. He played on emore year of ball at IUPUI (NCAA) playing 31 games averaging 9.6ppg, 2.0rpg, 2.7apg, FGP: 35.1%, 3PT: 34.8%, FT: 90.6%. He spoke to germanhoops.com about basketball before the start of the season.
Hi Kellon thanks for talking to germanhoops.com Where are you at the moment and how was your summer?
Hey Miles, I am in Limburg Germany at the moment.
Congrats on signing with German Regionalliga 2 team EVL Limburg. You could have been a rookie last season but wasn’t. What were the reasons for not being a rookie? Did you need time to find yourself or didn’t the right offers come?
Last year I sat out and didn’t play because of issues with my previous agent. It was a misunderstanding.
There are so many players in the world and also a lot of teams, but still many more players. Do you feel after looking back at your NCAA career where you averaged 12,3ppg at a very good basketball institution and Kent State that teams in general didn’t see your true abilities until now with EVL Limburg head coach Danny Stahlbohm?
When I played at Kent State, I had my best year stats wise and I think some people or coaches do not understand the sacrifices some players have to make for their teams. Just because a player doesn’t average big numbers, doesn’t mean he isn’t capable. It just means he did what the coach told him to do or whatever was needed for the team to win.
Connor Wood (Uni Baskets) Everybody At Carleton Taught Me To Have That Drive To Win
Connor Wood is a 25 year old 193cm guard from Guelph, Ontario playing his second professional season and first in Germany with the Uni Baskets Paderborn. Currently through 15 games he is averaging 12,2ppg, 2,3rpg and 2,7apg while shooting an astronomical 47,1% from outside. He played his rookie season with Niagara River Lions (NBL Canada) playing 44 games averaging 9.2ppg, 2.8rpg, 2.2apg, FGP: 54.0%, 3PT: 36.6%, FT: 74.2%. He played at Carleton University (CIS) from 2012-2017 playing a total of 124 CIS games. In his senior season he played 23 games averaging 17.4ppg, 4.0rpg, 2.6apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 49.1%, 3PT: 48.3%, FT: 79.5%. He won 5 CIS titles and 2 OUA titles. He spoke to germanhoops.com before his arrival in Paderborn.
Hi Connor thanks for talking to germanhoops.com Where are you at the moment and how was your summer?
Currently I’m in Paderborn doing preseason with the team. My summer was good got some time to travel and continue training.
Before we get into the heart of the interview, I have to ask you what is the secret of becoming an amazing shooter at Carleton (CIS)? So many guys have done it in the past not to mention your ex teammate Philip Scrubb?
I think it’s all about reps just making sure you are shooting the ball enough. It’s different for everybody but if you get enough shoots up anybody can become a great shooter.
After playing your rookie season in Canada last season with the Niagara River Lions (NBL), you will be making your debut in Europe in Germany with the Uni Baskets Paderborn. What do you know in general about the country Germany and it’s basketball? Did you talk to the Scrubb brothers or Tyson Hinz about their experiences in Germany to help make your decision easier?
Yea I talked to them and heard good things mostly talking about the cities and experience. Tyson told me to make sure I’m comfortable with the coaching staff and how they’re running things which I think I’ve found a good spot here in Paderborn for that. I enjoy the ball movement and pushing to get the best looks on offence since that was what I was used to at Carleton.
How did you personally experience your second summer transfer period? After a solid rookie season in Canada with what expectations did you go into this summer and did you get many offers and how thankful are you of Matt Slan’s work of getting you the Paderborn gig?
It was a much more detailed experience last summer I was just training not sure what was going to happen where this summer with Matt I knew we were going to work hard to find a good opportunity overseas. I was getting some looks and got a good offer by Paderborn welcoming me to their team. I’m very thankfully for Matt’s work! Last year I was waiting till fall without much interest so it was a nice change to have interest a lot earlier and actually get an offer overseas. Which is thanks to the effort Matt put in.
German Hoops 