The end of last season wasn´t even 3 months old as the Frankfurt Skyliners were back in their practice facility BCM getting ready for the upcoming season. Their run in the Pro A was a short one of only one season as they were back in the easyCredit BBL, a place where they deserve to be in. A big difference to last season was that many guys had departed and many new faces had arrived. Pro A hero´s Booker Cooplin and David Muencat were still on board while new guys like Tre Calvin, Ed Crosewell and Malik Parsons had bolstered the roster. It is always a delight to see clubs from other countries and it is very rare to see a team from the UK as Scottish team Caledonia Gladiators were their foe, an interesting team that is also playing in international club ball this season. The club organized a fan party early in the afternoon and by game time at 5:00 pm, the BCM was as full as I had ever seen it. Perhaps the farewell game of Skyliner legend Pascal Roller 13 years ago had more, but it was a great turnout as interest in the club is immense. The conditions inside were horrible as it was a steamy gym, but it was worth it as it was finally time to play basketball again. The Frankfurt Skyliners played a solid pre season game at home as they had a comfortable lead at the break and broke the game totally open in the third quarter as it was the Calvin and Parsons show as they dominated leading Frankfurt to a comfortable 96-78 victory over the Caledonia Gladiators. “I felt like we played a good game. But we can still get better. But we moved the ball really well and kept up the pressure on defense all game long. I feel liked we talked well on defense”, stated new Skyliner Trey Calvin (183-PG, college: Wright St.). The Scottish team Caledona Gladiators kept it close until halftime, but fell apart in the second half and with fatigue setting in, had no chance of coming back after that. “I feel like we played well in spurts, but had fatigue at times and just haven´t practiced enough 5-5 as a team yet. I feel like we showed good defensive pressure in many phases, but our rotations and getting in passing lanes has to get better”, stressed Caledonia Gladiator Trevond Barnes.

Ed Crosewell at the FT line

Frankfurt didn´t dress David Muenkat. Both teams came out executing their defense well in the first minutes of the first quarter as the Caledonia Gladiators were banging the ball inside and ex Fordham (NCAA) big man Fahro Alihodzic was aggressive in the paint area and scored 3 buckets in a row. Frankfurt also got their offense going as ex Ulm big Man Christoph Philipps scored twice as did new big man Ed Crosewell who played at Providence College (NCAA) also scored twice. Crosewell showed his aggressiveness early on and extreme quickness in the paint that allowed him to give him easy baskets while also showing a sweet left handed hook shot as Frankfurt led 7-6. Rooke Tre Calvin who played at Wright State (NCAA) put some extra spice on the offense hitting back to back three pointers while big man Einaras Tubutis who is back in Frankfurt on a short term contract made a lay in as Frankfurt led 18-8. Frankfurt was moving the ball well and their aggressive defense forced the guests to turnovers. However basketball is always a game of runs and suddenly the Scottish side showed their incredible comeback abilities hurling a 16-4 run into the faces of Frankfurt and taking the 24-21 advantage. In the run the guests received 2 back to back three´s from ex William Jewell College (NCAA2) sniper Patrick Whelan as well as good offensive pressure from Ian Dubose who played at Wake Forest (NCAA) and a runner by Barnes who played at Hampton University and floater from big man Theodore Hughes who played at N Colorado (NCAA). “Dubose is always aggressive. We preach that”, warned Tremond Barnes. But as quickly as one team goes on the run, just as quickly does the other as Frankfurt closed out the high scoring first quarter with an 8-0 run to lead 29-24. Hot shooting from ex Alba Berlin center Jacob Knauf and ex Tuebingen guard Timo Lanmueller supplied the punch. “There were a lot of ups and downs, but we started well. We had some downs on defense, but retaliated and went on a run at the end”, said Tre Calvin.

Trevond Barnes at the FT line

In the second quarter the Frankfurt Skyliners had a bad start, but the Caledonia Gladiators couldn´t take total advantage of it scoring only 7 points as ex Fresno State point guard Isaiah Hill made a pretty pull up jumper as he found his spot perfectly and Hodzic scored twice, but still trailed 30-29. Frankfurt finally scored their first field goal at the 6,33 minute mark of the second quarter as Tre Calvin scored back to back pull up jumpers. He could very well be that player that the club will rely on most taking those vital shots in phases where they need a boost. “I like to take responsibility. My role is to get open guys get the ball and when the shot clock is down to take those shots. I like taking the tough shot”, warned Tre Calvin. Frankfurt had the 34-29 lead, but The Caledonia Gladiators weren´t quiting as big Man Tanner Stuckman who balled at Quincy (NCAA 2) and Barnes contributed lay ins to close the gap to 34-33. But Frankfurt now took control going on a 11-1 run to lead 45-34. Key in this phase was the potent bench of Frankfurt. Frankfurt had very able bodies that came in and they produced. New Skyliner 20 year old German Malick Kordel who came from Regionalliga team Wulfen and who will mostly paly with Frankfurt´s Pro B team scored twice, while Bruno Albrecht nailed a three pointer and Malik Parsons who played at Northwestern Oklahoma State University (NCAA2) proved that there is always talent in division 2 as he averaged 24,0ppg as a senior made a hard 2 handed dunk. The first impression was that there was a young Quantez Robertson in the building from the young days. “He is definatley a freak athlete. He can jump out of the building and is flashy with the ball. We will really need him at the guard position this season”, warned Tre Calvin. Frankfurt kept the lead, but couldn´t get fully away from the guests as Dubose took advantage of Frankfurt napping on the boards as he made an offensive rebound and put back and Whelan nailed another trey as Frankfurt led 45-39. But whenever the guests were pressing, Frankfurt had an answer as ex Trier guard Garai Zeeb with little on the shot clock made a crazy step back three in ala Steph Curry mode for the 48-39 lead. “That shot was crazy, but I watch that every day in practice”, laughed Tre Calvin. Isaiah Hill closed out the second quarter with a key three pointer at the buzzer as the guests trailed 48-42. “We focused more on defense this quarter. We know that we will face a lot tougher teams in the BBL. Our offense was slow, so we focused on defense”, stated Tre Calvin.

Ian Dubose with the lay in

In the third quarter the Caledonia Gladiators had a poor start which the Frankfurt Skyliners took total advantage of breaking open the game and never looked back. Frankfurt began with a lethal 11-0 run to extend their lead to 59-42. In the run, the Frankfurt Skyliners were led by Malik Parsons who steered 5 points with a trey and lay in, but overall spread the scoring love around as ex Duesseldorf guard Booker Coplin made an easy lay in as his motor is simply electric, Knauf made a pretty step back jumper as his shot is sheer beauty and Tubutis made a lay on transition. The Caledonia Gladiators made their first field goal of the third quarter at the 6,28 minute mark as Hodzic made a lay in. Frankfurt was able to get their lead to 20 points as the guard duo of Calvin and Parsons were simply unstoppable as Frankfurt had the 68-48 advantage. Here and there the guests showed flashes of offensive fire as they went on a 5-0 run to trail only 68-53 as Whelan connected on the three ball and Dubose showed some athleticism flying to the rim and tapping in a miss. Frankfurt continued to play aggressive and get good support from their bench as Kordel scored again inside while Parsons continued to be a pest with his drive as Calledonia had no way of slowing him down. Barnes also added some points, but the guests couldn´t make any ground as they trailed Frankfurt 75-57. “We took over. We are confident and know we can score the ball. We did a good job getting to our spots and executing. We also continued to get out on transition and get easy baskets”, stated Tre Calvin. “We didn´t execute well and that led to their offense executing well. We began getting tired and they got the momentum”, added Trevond Barnes.

Trey Calvin from downtown

In the fourth quarter the Frankfurt Skyliners showed no let down, but just finished the game strong and took advantage of the guest´s fatigue. Frankfurt as usual received instant offense from Malik Parsons who scored on transition and sniper Timo Lanmueller added a three pointer for the 80-62 Frankfurt lead. One could notice the fatigue on the faces of the Caledonia Gladiators as they were stopped 4 times. Stuckman finally got the guests their first field goal of the fourth quarter with a trey,but they still trailed 83-65. Hill and Knauf then offered an offensive showcase as Knauf drilled home two three´s while rookie Hill scored back to back. The guard who plays like Chris Paul first scored skipping into the paint area and finishing with authority and then making a tough deep three, but the Gladiatiors still trailed 89-70 with a few minutes left. Fraser Malcolm who played at Black Hills State University (NCAA2) and in Iceland when he was an 18 year old in 2014 nailed a trey, but Frankfurt always had an answer as Tubutis scored inside and Calvin stroked home another three pointer for the 94-75 advantage. Korvel added an exclamation point with a dunk as he had a super game with 8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. Stuckman made a lay in for the last basket. “It wasn´t a pretty game, but I´m proud how we finished the game strong”, stressed Trey Calvin. The Frankfurt Skyliners were led by Trey Calvin with 19 points while Malik Parsons added 18 points and Jacob Knauf 14 points while the Caledonia Gladiators were led by Fahro Alihodzic with 13 points while Trevond Barnes, Patrick Whelan and Ian Dubose added 12 points a piece. The Frankfurt Skyliners shot 50% from the field and 41% from outside and had 42 rebounds and 19 turnovers while the Caledona Gladiators shot 395 from the field and 35% from outside and had 39 rebounds and 17 turnovers.