Pic credit:Dmitrij Zibart

When I left Sunday afternoon at 1.40 in the afternoon to Frankfurt to call a NBBL (U-19) game between Eintracht Frankfurt Skyliners and The NIners Chemnitz academy, I had absolutely no idea that I would witness 2 incredible historical moments in Skyliners history within 24 hours. I mean if you look back in history of the Frankfurt Skyliners dating back to the 1999 season where it all began, there had been some amazing feats no matter if from the BBL, Pro B or youth teams. When looking back at buzzer beaters, there were quite a few in the history. Without digging deep into the Skyliners archives, there were came to mind right away. The first one that comes to mind was Eric Chadfield in 2006 who also did it against ratiopharm Ulm on the same side of the court as Booker Coplin (191-G-1997, college: Augsburg, agency: BIG) did, but not from the corner area, but from the parking lot going to the vicinity towards center court. Kevin Bright had a great one in Vechta in 2014nwhere the incredible ball movement and extra pass from Danilo Barthel sparkled. Quantez Robterson drilled home an incredible one at home against the EWE Baskets Oldenburg and Rickey Paulding a some years ago last season Pro B player Trevian Bell launced a last second jumper from the corner after retrieving a perfect touch down pass from teammate Nils Leonhardt which Tom Brady couldn’t have done better. Who could forget the AJ English buzzer beater in Tuebingen or Aiden Warnholtz’s game winner over the EPG Guardians last season at home that gave him that extra fancy birthday gift. There also have been incredible games and single game player performances over the years like the 10 three’s from Jacob Burtschi in 2015, the masterful series against FC Bayern Munich in 2018 that had an annoying ending for the Skyliners, but showcased their great fighting skills, or the triple double by ex NBA player Isaac Bonga in a Pro B game against Nordlingen in 2017 or the many incredible Dashaun Wood games in his one season in Frankfurt in 2010-2011. I’m sure I forgot some, but these were just some off the top of my head. But the combination of not only buzzer beater, but spectacular buzzer beater from Booker Coplin that could of easily been a Luca Doncic production and the perfect game from Ivan Crnjac back to back were 2 feats that had never happened before in Skyliners history.

This season I’m always especially looking forward to observing and calling Skyliner NBBL youth games. After a few years of not performing so well, this season they have an excellent team led by the trio of Crnjac, Edoka and Omog and 2 incredible players with Max Peters and Julius Messer and a bench where everyone gives 180%. At the moment they are 7-0 and striving for an undefeated season. This could be that season. They are that good. Over the years, I had seen some really good players for the Frankfurt team like Isaac Bonga, Cosmo Gruehn and tin Schubert just to name a few and in the last few seasons a guy by the name of Ivan Crnjac has made waves with his play and rapid development. He reached the JBBL final 4 in 2023 and last season made the jump to a top NBBL performer averaging 17,0ppg and this season once again has made another step in the Pro B becoming an important contributor averaging 11,9ppg and in the NBBL a top player in the league averaging 21,8ppg. That he could achieve something special was no surprise to anyone. He began on fire in the first quarter making 7 of 7 shots while the team scored a mouth watering 41 points. In the second quarter, he made his next 3 shots and was 10/10 at the break. In the third quarter, he hit 2 more three’s and on the last one let out a massive cry as if he was the new lion in Basketball City Mainhatten. I had the fortune of being able to call the game and of course had a field day as my emotions and tone got greater and greater with every hit shot. It was simply pure enjoyment being able to witness this exhibition of incredible shooting. In the fourth quarter he played 4 plus minutes, but didn’t take another shot. I personally didn’t want him to take a shot, because I wanted him to keep that perfect game for his collection of achievements. I mean to be able to go 12/12 is very difficult. I mean if he had been 6/6 0r 7/7, he could of kept shooting, but how disappointing would a shooting stat line of 12/13 looked? ‘I did think about it. I had the perfect game in my head. In between, I did look at the stats. I wanted to keep my perfect record. If I would have had easy ones, I would of shot it, but not any difficult ones’, stressed Ivan Crnjac. He had some open shots, but also some real contested shots. He nailed 6 three’s and made pretty mid distance shots , including a running hook shot and 2 magnificent back door lay in’s. One of those 2 back door lay in’s was a terrific reverse lay up after 2 extra passes. ‘That was a cool play. We actually wanted to run it earlier, but they got a steal. We ran it later and I saw the defender up high, so I went back door. It was a great pass by Max Peters. I also loved my 6th three pointer. That one felt the best. It didn’t feel real’, remembered Ivan Crnjac. Every now and then, you will see perfect games as recently Otis Livingston had one in the easyCredit BBL, but they aren’t often. The whole feat is even more incredible in that his index finger had been taped and he had to shoot differently using more pressure off his 3 fingers. ‘This perfect game means a lot to me. The NBBL is my main team. I’m one of the main guys and am captain. I still want to prove that I belong to the best in my age group. For me this game was a statement to the NBBL that I can play’, stressed Ivan Crnjac. Thanks Ivan for this unforgettable shooting clinic.

A day later, I was excited to go to the easyCredit BBL game between the Frankfurt Skyliners and ratiopharm Ulm. My main focus was to get a photo signed that I had taken with ex NBA player Isaiah Roby during Covid in 2021 when he was playing a game in Boston with the Oklahoma Thunder as well as get autographs and pics of 2025 NBA draft prospects Ben Saraf and Noa Essengue. My goal was achieved after the game, but that I would see such a climatic end to the game wasn’t something that I expected. On paper, Ulm was the favorite, but how can you go wrong when you have the ultimate leader with Jordan Theodore. He had only been with the team a few weeks and in the first games wasn’t totally in game shape, but between the Braunschweig and Ulm game had been 10 days, and in this time the ex Seton Hall player had made amends and was 100% ready on this night and so were his teammates. Frankfurt had come to play while ratiopharm Ulm didn’t have their usual intensity. It was a typical hard fought game that you can witness on any night in the BBL. Both teams were punching back and forth and no team was able to go on a massive run and manage a big lead. In the third quarter Jordan Theodore steered 13 points and without his great input, ratiopharm Ulm may had been able to run away with the game. Ulm relied a lot on their bigs and getting offensive rebounds and easy baskets throughout the game. In the fourth quarter, the game remained tight, but in crunch-time were able to lead by 4 points. The way Jordan Theodore had played in the game, one may have thought that he could be a hero again the same way he had been in the 2015-2016 season for Frankfurt. But instead the stage was set for Booker Coplin. Ratiopharm was up by 4 points with 1,39 to play and had to put the game away, but no. Enter Booker Coplin who would come to the rescue. After a Saraf miss, Einaras Tubutis nailed 2 free throws as Frankfurt trailed 85-83 with 1,02 to play. David Muenkat then made a clutch steal with 51 seconds to play that led to Muenkat free throws to dead lock the game at 85-85 with 48 seconds to play. American Justinian Jessup then missed a mid distance shot with 33 seconds to play. Malik Parsons then missed a shot with 8 seconds, but Alfonso Plummer lost the ball and it went to Jordan Theodore who quickly kicked the ball to Coplin on the left wing. His trey bounced out, but Tubutis rose higher than everyone else and batted the ball back to Coplin. Coplin must have had a notion that he had no time left to control the ball, so he just tapped the ball on contact to the basket and it went in. Luka Doncic couldn’t of done it better. ”That was a hell of a rebound by Tubutis. That was big balls. He had the awareness to kick it back to Coplin. I never saw a shot like that before. I knew it was going in’, smiled Jordan Theodore. After that it was pure pandemonium in the arena. Booker Coplin is one of few that has gone from the Pro B via Duesseldorf to the easyCredit with Frankfurt. He always plays with so much energy and is a great offensive player that can score, but also fill the stat sheet at ease and on the defensive end make an impact. It was his sixth game of the season where he scored in double figures. The Frankfurt Skyliners have had many incredible finishes in their history, but this could easily be the greatest buzzer beater. Thanks Booker Coplin for this lasting memory. I won’t forget it.