pic credit: Austria Basketball Federation:

While the Americans Malik Parsons and Trey Calvin were doing serious damage in an early pre season test game against Scottish team Caledonia Gladiators, there were enough other German players on the Fraport Skyliners trying to shine and get seriously recognized by Denis Wucherer. Ok so veteran German players like Christoph Philipps, Garai Zeeb and Lorenz Brenneke will get their share of minutes, but what about other Germans like Timo Lanmueller (193-SG-2001) and Bruno Albrecht? Ok so Bruno Albrecht has no BBL experience and his journey for minutes will be very difficult, but what about Timo Lanmueller? He already played first BBL minutes as a teenager with ratiopharm Ulm and last season played his first full BBL season with the Tuebingen Tigers. He didn’t play too many minutes against the Gladiators, but hit a trey and played aggressive defense. Those 2 components are his game, but will he slip into Wucherer’s rotation this season? He is 23 years old and could 3 be a charm this season with the Frankfurt Skyliners after not breaking through in Ulm and Tuerbingen? ‘I feel like I still have a lot of potential that I still haven’t yet showed. I have a season of BBL play under my belt. I was able to learn many things and see what works and what doesn’t. It is all a learning process. I’m sure that I can play better than last season. My desire is big for this season. I want to do all I can to help the Skyliners achieve their season goals’, stressed Timo Lanmueller. Unfortunately 3 wasn’t a charm this season as he has played only 14 games averaging 2,4ppg in 10,4 minutes per game. He played most of his games in the first 3 months of the seasons and only 3 games in the last 2 months, but was efficient against FC Bayern Munich and ratiopharm Ulm scoring 6 points a piece. All he can do is to just continue to grind searching for the BBL breakthrough.

Timo Lanmueller who lists Munich sniper Andi Obst as his toughest cover ever as he is hard to defend and you can never leave him alone was born on March 17th, 2001 and has the Austrian-German citizenship. He began his basketball career in Austria with the Vienna Flames and joined the ratiopharm Ulm system at age 15. He was there for parts of 6 seasons and saw everything on the floor from the youth teams right up to the pro teams Orange academy and making his debut with easyCredit BBL team ratiopharm Ulm. Of course it didn’t hurt that he was challenged every season by top young players like Jason George, Zach Ensminger and Nicolas Bretzel to just name a few. I remember David Kramer telling me 8 years ago that he would reach the NBA. Ok so it wasn’t quite enough to get there, but he still was crowned world champion with Germany in 2023. Kramer was never shy of self-confidence. ‘Ulm was very important in my early development. The fact that they have great coaches and players was a plus. I’m so thankful that they took a chance on a kid from Vienna. Danny Jansson and Anton Gavel were key in my development. I think that David Kramer had the biggest impact on me. When I was 15 or 16, I looked up the most to him. He was from Austria like men. We had a very good connection right from the start’, remembered Timo Lanmueller. During his early years, he was invited to play with Germany at the highly respected Albert Schweitzer tournament in Mannheim (11.8ppg, 2.8rpg, 2.8apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 42.9%, 3PT: 36.4%, FT: 78.6%) and help win it together with rising NBA player Franz Wagner. He will always have those stories for his grand parents one day. ‘Franz had always been an unbelievable talent. He grew very late. I remember in the U-16 he was like 195cm and then in the U-18 was 205cm. He just continued to develop really well with Alba Berlin and at Michigan. I’m really happy he has done so well winning the world championships and playing well in the NBA’, stated Timo Lanmueller. Just like for many other players, Covid did derail his development a bit as he played less games, but that gave him the chance to work harder and longer in the gym. In the 20-21 season, he was rewarded by playing 2 easyCredit BBL games. He also had the pleasure of being teammates with Ulm’s identity figure Per Guenther and will never forget him. ‘What I will always remember from him most is that he always wanted to have fun and not be that serious captain. It was always important for him to have fun and enjoy the game. He was an unbelievable leader. It was a cool experience being able to play with him’, commented Timo Lanmueller.

The sniper who lists Per Guenther, Andi Obst, Franz Wagner, Rasid Mahalbasic, and Jakob Poelti as his 5 best teammates of all-time then made a change in mid season joining the Tigers Tuebingen in December 2020. As Covid was in full swing, he was able to take advantage of tough times and rapidly find a role with the Tigers as he played 21 games averaging 8.9ppg, 2.1rpg, 2.2apg, FGP: 56.9%, 3PT: 39.8%, FT: 85.2%. He scored in double figures 11 times including 19 points against Kirchheim and 17 points against Rostock. In his 4 years there, he gained about as much experience as a young player can seeing 2 different leagues as he played 100 Pro A games and 30 easyCredit BBL games. A man who was very vital for him being able to get the valuable minutes needed to develop further was rising coach Danny Jansson. He had already had him as coach with Orange Academy. ‘He coached me the last 6 years and was a very important coach in my career. The most important thing that I learned from him was to defend. I remember that in the JBBL (U-16), I wasn’t known as a defender. He told me if you want to play, you need to defend. I wanted a spot so I defended. I improved week by week. I’m thankful for all his defensive drills that helped my game’, expressed Timo Lanmueller. In his last 2 Pro A years, he continued to be a key role player with his shooting and defense averaging 6.8ppg, 1.7rpg, 2.0apg, FGP: 45.8%, 3PT: 36.8%, FT: 84.9% and 7.3ppg, 2.2rpg, 2.2apg, FGP: 59.0%, 3PT: 36.0%, FT: 72.0%. In those 2 years he scored in double figures 17 times including 19 points against Kirchheim and 18 points against PS Karlsruhe. He not only benefited from the great Jansson, but also from teammates like Zac Seljaas and the ultra veteran Till Joscha-Joenke. ‘Zac was a role model for me. He is a very competitive player that always gave 100% and wanted to win. He is a strong rebounder and hits his shots. I learned how to move better off ball and how to prepare my shot better from him. I spent a lot of time off the court with Till. He taught me how to be professional. He also taught me how to be more competitive and win games. He helped me develop the right kind of mind set. He was a very good mentor for me. He is a very good friend of mine’, added Timo Lanmueller. In his last season, he played in the BBL and did what he could in 14 minutes per game averaging 2.7ppg, 1.4rpg, 1.4apg. He didn’t get many shots, but added experience to help him make the next step with Frankfurt this season. ‘In the BBL, I learned to take my shots quicker. You don’t have as much time as in the Pro A. The looks are also different in the BBL. I also leaned that you have to hit shots more consistently. You don’t have as much time around screens. You have to have patience to get good looks. I learned also to become more intelligent and know when to attack and how to create advantages for me’, warned Timo Lanmueller.

The guard who names Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Steph Curry, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar on his personal NBA Mount Rushmore understood it was time for a change and joined the Frankfurt Skyliners. There were many attractions for him. One was how coach Wucherer coached, but being able to be teammates with guys from the past also helped. ‘Wucherer is a coach that likes to have competitive players that like to defend and play intelligent. My role will be to bring positive energy, play physical defense and hit my three’s consistently’, said Timo Lanmueller. He followed the very exciting Trier series last season and was really impressed with Wucherer’s defensive philosophy. ‘I noticed that Wucherer likes his team to defend. You can’t hit 50% from outside every game. Some days you don’t hit everything and you have to win games with that fighting mentality on the defensive end. I can identify easily with his philosophy and believe I will fit in well’, stressed Timo Lanmueller. It may be 6 years ago since he won the AST, but he still has sweet memories playing with Bruno Vrcic and Lorenz Brenneke and like I believe that nothing can rattle Brenneke on the court. ‘Yes he is fearless. He already showed his potential back in 2018 at the AST and developed well the last years in Frankfurt. He also still has much potential. I’m happy to be his teammate again’, added Timo Lanmueller. After getting early experience with German youth national teams, he decided to put on the jersey for Austria and has been part of the national team since 2022. ‘I think that Austrian basketball developed further in the last years. Our U-18 reached 4th place in the B division. We have young guys playing in Germany, Spain and Italy. We aren’t still yet where we want to be, but we are working hard and want to make a push forward. Our ultimate goal is to reach a European championship or World championship’, stated Timo Lanmueller. At the 2023 FIBA Eurobasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers, he played 11 games averaging 21 minutes and 7.5ppg, 1.6rpg, 2.0apg, FGP: 50.0%, 3PT: 36.8%, FT: 59.3%. He is on his way of possible becoming an impact player there. ‘I think that I have a good chance. I showed in the last windows that I can get between 15-20 minutes. I want to build on that. I want to help the team win games as best as possible’, commented Timo Lanmueller.

Timo Lanmueller who names Jordan as his GOAT watches a lot of Euroleague and would compare his game to guys like Sergio Lull or Kyle Guy. One could classify him as that typical 3 and D player, but he has so many more strong attributes that allows him to sparkle on the court. ‘I have a good IQ. I also think that I’m a good pick and roll player. I wasn’t able to show it as much last season, but did as a youth’, said Timo Lanmueller. If the Fraport Skyliners want to be able to be competitive again this season in the easyCredit BBL, then they will have to play good and hard defense something they did consistently last season in the Pro A. The young German is prepared to give his best and will also continue to grind in the lab so he can become exactly the kind of defender that he wants to become. ‘I like to play aggressive and take away other players strength. I want to develop my athleticism even more in the next years and also be more explosive physically so I can become a good BBL defender’, warned Timo Lanmueller. But it isn’t only on defense where he will continue to grind in the gym, but also on becoming an even more lethal offensive player. ‘ I’m working a lot on my catch and shoot as well as off the dribble and off the pick and roll’, stressed Timo Lanmueller. It will be interesting to see if Timo Lanmueller gets another chance next season with the Skyliners or not? It looks more like he will continue to grind and most likely find a new challenge elsewhere.