photo credit: Zibart.de

Timo Lanmueller (193-SG-2001) is a 23 year old Austrian-German 193cm shooting guard that is playing his first season with the Fraport Skyliners. He began his basketball career in the ratiopharm Ulm system playing in their youth program as well as for Pro B farm team Orange Academy. He was able to play 2 easyCredit BBL games. He then moved to the Tigers Tuebingen where he played parts of 4 seasons playing 100 pro A games and last season played 30 BBL games averaging 2.7ppg, 1.4rpg, 1.4apg. He spoke to germanhoops.com after the big 77-70 win in Bonn.

Thanks Timo for talking to germanhoops.com. Congrats on the massive 77-70 win. How big was this win in comparison to other wins this season?

This was an important win. The situation is to remain in the league. This win was huge because we were missing key players with Theodore, Calvin and Cooplin. In other big wins we had bigger rotations, but not against Bonn. We had that next man mentality as other guys stepped up. Garai Zeeb played a great game. He moved the ball well. We fought together and rebounded the ball well. I´m really happy with the win.

Was it tough coming into the game after only a few hours hearing that Booker Coplin couldn´t play?

We had found about it 1-2 days before. It affected us. We as a team have so much respect for Booker. He is part of us. He has a great character and is a true Skyliner. It was a shock when we found out, but we passed the character test and won as a collective.

Did you sense that the Telekom Baskets Bonn were a bit rattled after the tough Basketball Champions League loss to Reggio Emilia?

That is hard to say. I don´t know what their mind set was. We gave 100%. We knew that we were the underdog. It isn´t always easy for the favorite which was Bonn to play a team like us that are battling to stay in the league. Everyone expected Bonn to dominate. We had no pressure.

Frankfurt had the 22-16 advantage after 10 minutes. Did the start surprise you a bit considering the news of Booker Coplin´s not being able to play and the other guys not being able to play?

We had a quick lead at the start. We hit our shots and played good defense which gave us extra confidence. We understood that we had a chance to win.

Do you feel like the quick 10-2 start by Frankfurt took a toll on the team mentally and just having to always come back right form the get go?

Yes I think so.

Darius McGhee has been great most of the season. He gave early support and without him, Bonn would have been trailing by double digits. How special of a player is he?

His qualities as a player are great. He is a scorer that has unlimited range. He can score from anywhere. You have to be on him as soon as he crosses center court. I made a few mistakes on him in the game. He also made a contested shot on me. He is just really hard to stop. All you can do is just make it as difficult as possible. You just hope he has bad shooting percentages.

Bonn didn´t come out into the third quarter with the same intensity as the second quarter. Frankfurt began with a 8-0 run and led 66-56 after 3 quarters. What was key in the third quarter for Frankfurt to pull away?

Our defense and rebounding was key. We kept them to like 27 points in the second half. We did a good job on the defensive end. When you get consistent stops, it makes it a lot easier for the offense.

In the fourth quarter the Telekom Baskets Bonn were like reborn. They held Frankfurt scoreless for 7 minutes and 7 seconds and tied the game at 68-68. Was Frankfurt too relaxed? What was key for Bonn coming back into the game?

Our offense wasn´t executing our plays as well anymore. Bonn shifted up a gear and we couldn´t deal with their aggressive play. We made some turnovers. They are a good enough team to play like this. We just have to be ready for it.

Frankfurt closed the game strong with a 9-2 run. Did Bonn run out of gas?

Maybe a bit. They had had a tough BCL series against Reggio Emilia. But we were fortunate that Malik Parsons took over. David Muenkat also hit a tough three pointer from the corner. I think that we wanted it more at the end. We had that underdog mentality.

Malik Parsons scored 6 of Frankfurt´s last 9 points. He is a walking bucket. Is it almost a given when he has the ball you just let him have the ball and watch him produce?

You always want the ball in his hands. He has such great qualities to score the ball. The game plan of Bonn was to double team him whenever possible. When that happens, you have to find ways around it. He did a good job doing that.

When he is on he is unstoppable. What was his mood coming in? Was he extra focused?

He is more of a quiet guy. But you could see coming in that he was extra focused. When he has a bad game like against Alba Berlin, he takes it personal. He always wants to be a leader.

When you look back at the 40 minutes, what was the Frankfurt Skyliners biggest strength?

The togetherness of the team and our defense.

Kamaka Hepa has been playing better as of late. Has he finally found his groove?

I hope so. He has practiced really hard the last weeks. He was injured for a long time. I hope he found his groove and he can keep helping us.

Patrick Heckman is a force off the bench. What do you appreciate most about his game?

He is a veteran. He is a very good role model. He keeps us together. He is always solid, making the right decisions and not making mistakes. He doesn´t force anything and stays calm. He likes the extra pass and gives us that important veteran leadership.

The Frankfurt Skyliners now have 20 days off. Will it be more an advantage or disadvantage for the further development of the team?

That is hard to say. I hope that our injured players get healthy again. A few days is always good which gives everyone a chance to relax. Of course when you don´t play a game for 2-3 weeks, you can get out of rhythm, but that is no excuse not to give 100% against BG Goettingen.

You played your 11th game playing 7 minutes and having 3/1/1 stats. How tough is it being as efficient as possible?

It isn´t easy when you have a small role. I always try to give my all in a game or practice to help my team as best as I can. I try to hit my shots and play good defense and give my part to the success. I always try to help my team and not think about how much I can score.

What do you try to do better in practice that you can get more minutes?

My strength is to hit three´s and play good defense. I´m always working on having a consistent shot. I had some good and bad defensive games. My goal is to get minutes and for that to happen, I have to play better defense. I have to keep my guy in front of me. I want to become a good defender.

Who will win the Super Bowl?

I think that the Kansas City Chiefs will win. I´m not a fan of them, but they dominate.

Thanks Timo for the chat.