My basketball highlight every season continues to be the German U-16 and U-19 youth championships. I have been covering youth basketball now for more than a decade and for me personally it´s exciting to see how young kids develop over a 2-3 year period and see how they turn into men and mature with basketball. It isn´t just the games that are enticing to watch, but there is so much around the tournament that makes the weekend so special. For the second time in a row, the girls´s semi-finals and final was added to the boys U-16 and U-19 semi finals and final games, but for the first time, an extra day was added which was the best decision ever. In the past the boys tournament was on 2 days with 4 semi final games packed into one day Saturday that gave everyone so much more stress. Try doing play by play of 4 games with about 20-30 minutes in between for a break. If your really unlucky, there may be a long line at the rest room and losing those extra minutes can be really annoying especially for the voice. The 2025 RSM Ebner Stoltz Top 4 in Berlin had 2 boys games per day which made it so much easier on every one. My Friday and Saturday work days didn´t officially begin until 17,00 with commentating so I had hours time before to do sight seeing. I could have done more sightseeing, but I also wanted to have the atmosphere of the arena so I was there 2 hours before to prepare and meet people in the basketball world that I don´t usually see too much during the season. As usual the 2025 edition was another incredible experience as everything was organized perfectly and even better was that each game was a great advertisement for youth basketball in Germany.

I made the trip 1 day earlier and arrived in Berlin on Thursday evening via a 5 hour train ride. I had a lot of time on Friday and went on a long walk and noticed that no matter what you do, you can´t hide from the Spree river as it weaves in and out of the city a lot like the Charles river in Boston. After getting some fresh air and exercise, I commenced on a regular occurrence which was going to the arena about 4 kilometers away with the Baskets Juniors Oldenburg for the first JBBL semi-final. This tradition was started last season and both times they won. I was the team´s good luck charm. Head coach Dejan Stojanovski had no problem with my company. There was only one difference to last season in that this season, they had traveled with 3 mini buses as last season they had the easyCredit BBL team bus. I arrived in the arena at 3.00 pm and took in the atmosphere and spoke with people I knew. The game began at 5.00pm and like last year, I commentated the game from an area high up in the stands. It wasn´t the most comfortable seating, but hey what you do for the game of basketball. The Top 4 began with a bang as game 1 had thriller aspects as the Nurnberg Falcons wanted to play spoiler as the massive underdog actually had possession with 20 seconds to play, but couldn´t win. The Baskets Juniors Oldenburg took care of business in overtime winning 101-94. It was an incredible individual performance by Djordje Klaric with 41 points and Nurnbergs Emanuel Soldo with 40 points. It was only the second time in club history that a player from each team had 40 points or more. The first time was in 2023 in the JBBL final was Matthieu Grujcic had 52 points and Ivan Crnjac 41 points. Mati Oldiges had 20 points and Nemanja Prodanic 18 points. The second JBBL game paired Alba Berlin and Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg which was for many the real JBBL final. It was the fourth JBBL appearance for Ludwigsburg head coach Ross game, but Alba Berlin was able to pull away in the fourth quarter. They were fueled by the long ball as Philip Holsten and Luca Kappel hit big shots. It also didn´t hurt as the Alba fans were present all night long and they had famous assistance from NBA brothers Moritz Wagner and Franz Wagner. Alba Berlin captain Jona Drucke had a monster game with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 11 assists. The only negative aspect to the win was losing Philip Holsken who broke his arm. I did play by play with Hanno Stein and German basketball legend Dirk Bauermann. Doing games with Dirk Bauermann is always a highlight. That was a great first day and I was back in the hotel at 10:30 and closed out the night with a margarita pizza.

Dominik Dolic Won 2025 NBBL top 4 MVP

Day 2 on Saturday had the 2 NBBL semi-finals on the bill. Once again I had a lot of time to spare so I went on another long walk and even was rewarded with longer spurts of sun as earlier in the morning there had been showers and it had been unseasonable cool for that time of the year. I got back to the hotel at about 1.30 and then prepared for an hour for my 2 broadcasts that day. Before the 2 NBBL games, there were the girls 2 U-19 semi final games. I watched a little of those games and also mingled with the basketball faces of Germany. The first game of the day was 2023 champion Alba Berlin against powerful ratiopharm Ulm. Both teams like to play fast despite Alba Berlin having 5 players bigger than 204cm. After a good first quarter by Alba Berlin, ratiopharm exploded in the second quarter and led by 16 points at the break. Perhaps the Wagner brothers should have come to root as they were absent. Basketball is a game of runs and it was obvious that Alba Berlin would punch back. Alba Berlin couldn´t get over the hump as ratiopharm Ulm stayed true to their game with great 1-1 play and led 77-62 with 10 minutes to play. Alba Berlin finally punched back in the fourth quarter trailing only 81-76 in crunch-time. Danish forward powered ratiopharm Ulm to the win with 6 points to finish with 24 points as the team shot a great 64% from the 2 point range. Jervis Scheffs showed his 1-1 qualities again leading all scorers with 25 points. The second NBBL semi-final game showcased FC Bayern Munich and Rasta Academy. Munich was hot for revenge after losing to them last season, plus they hadn´t been in a final since 2019. I was hoping to see Ivan Khrachenkov, but he wasn´t there. He actually remained in Munich to play 1,45 minutes in a 18 point blow out over MBC. It is a pity he doesn´t play more minutes consistently in the BBL. Vechta led early, as it took Munich some time to find their rhythm, but when they did they took control of the game and led 42-35 at the break. But Rasta Academy fought back with their fast play and even led 56-52. But Munich fought back and overtime was forced at 60-60. In overtime, Rasta Academy never stopped to fight, but couldn´t totally slow down the guard terror of FC Bayern Munich as Ivan Volf hit the game winner with 11 seconds. FC Bayern Munich simply had more depth and more individual class for 45 minutes. It wasn´t FC Bayern´s best game, but they would save their best for last. I commented both games with Rasta Vechta head coach Christian Held and German U-19 national coach Alan Ibrhimagic

Sunday was final day and on this day, I had not much free time. The first JBBL final began at 10:30, because the Girl´s game was sandwiched in between with the boys final at 4:30. Once again I was able to drive with coach Stojanovski to the arena. I arrived at 9.00 am. Once again I spoke with people and prepared for my last 2 telecasts. The first JBBL final had Alba Berlin facing the Baskets Juniors Oldenburg. Alba Berlin was mega focused for revenge while Oldenburg wanted to win back to back. Alba Berlin wanted to play quick for 40 minutes and overpower Oldenburg while they wanted to slow down the game. The first quarter was tight, but in the second quarter, Alba Berlin was able to get away and would never look back leading 38-30 at the break. Alba Berlin had more weapons and many different guys step up like Luca Kappel or Sancho del Pino or Ilya Fohl who all gave their 2 cents to the success scoring in bunches in quarters 2-4. Oldenburg had 3 main scores with Klaric, Oldiges and Progdanic who combined for 41 points, but it was Klaric who was held to only 15 points. Alba Berlin tired him out being physical and forcing him inside much more instead of letting him shoot the three. The big surprise was Luan Lauer who sparkled with 24 points, but it wasn´t enough as Alba Berlin controlled the game until the end. The team won it for Philip Holsken. Daniel Gwaniho ripped off the roof with a massive dunk. Ilya Fohl led Alba Berlin with 14 points and Jona Drucke was named MVP. I witnessed head coach Norbert Opitz get a special shower when he entered the dressing room. If Oldenburg reaches the top 4 next season, I might not be a guest in the bus this time. I had a break from 12-45 until 4.30 until the NBBL final. I kept working interviewing a few of Alba Berlin´s U-16 winners. I was also wondering would Ivan Kharchenkov (198-SG-2006)v fly up for the game or not. I personally felt that Munich didn´t need him, but on the other hand, I wanted to see him win a title in person. The last time I had seen him play was in November 2023 in a Pro B game. I would get my wish to see him play again. I actually knew around 3.00 that he would play. A nice woman approached me and I wasn´t sure who she was, I mean I can´t remember all faces. She just uttered the words “I´m the mother of Ivan”. I then remembered meeting her after the Top 4 in Frankfurt in 2023. We talked a bit and she told me some exclusive things especially about his college future, but things I will keep to myself. We said goodbye, but we would see each other again a few hours later. When the players walked on the court, I was happy to see that Ivan Kharchenkov was really in the building. I liked ratiopharm ulm´s chances, but also knew that FC Bayern Munich would play better than the night before. But like against Rasta Vechta, they began slow again trailing 10-3 early as their shots weren´t falling and Ivan kharchenkov was 0/4. Ratiopharm Ulm led 18-12 after one quarter. FC Bayern Munich fought back and was led by Dominik Dolic who had 8 points on a run to help them lead 41-38 at the break. In the third quarter the lethal Bayern guard terror got three´s from Dolic and Nicholas Sermpezis to lead 55-48, but ratiopharm Ulm always had an answer and were still in reach after 30 minutes trailing 60-57. However in the fourth quarter, they had no more answers as FC Bayern Munich punched one last time with a 14-2 run to decide the game. 5 different players scored in the run. After the title, I was on the court and got nice quotes from Ivan Kharchenkovv for my post game article. His mom was on the court again as a mother would be supporting their son. You could see how proud she was. Unfortunately his dad couldn´t be there. I loved when she scooted away and swiped the NBBL trophy and gave it to Ivan and then demanded to take a picture of us. I thought that was cool. She then said goodbye as she had to catch her train back to Munich as she had to work at 5:30 am. She parted saying to me, “thanks for all your support for Ivan the last years”: That made my day. I commented the finals with Dirk Bauermann and Alan Ibrahimagic.

Ivan Kharchenkov during the German national anthem

Like last year, I met so many great basketball people. I connected with Jamie Duncan again. I had interview him more than a decade ago when he was in the Bamberg organization. He had been away the last decade coaching in Asia and Australia. Some guys have all the luck. It was also great reconnecting again with Sean Mccaw. I met him the first time in 2007 before a game in Frankfurt when he was playing with Jena. He gave me a copy of his new book then “Same Name Different Game”. I hadn´t seen him more than 10 years ago in Braunschweig and since then never again. He did have me on his podcast in 2022. I also bumped into Martin Ides again after more than a decade. I remember covering him in 2012 when he was a coach with Nurnberg. He had helped Nurnberg´s U-16 JBBL team reach the 2025 TOP 4. I also met Predrag Lukic who had been in Asia more than a decade and now recently was named assistant coach for the Crailsheim Merlins. We had done interviews and now had met for the first time. Other well known basketball figures I saw and talked to were Dario Jerkic, Chris Ensminger, Hendrik Gruehn, Alexander Nadjfeji, Bogdan Radosavljevic, Sven Schultze, Anton Gavel, Arne Woltmann, Jan Jagla, Stefen Hamann, Emir Mutapcic, Patrick Flomo, Ralph Held, Achmadschah Zazai, Khee Rhee, Gerrit Kersten-Thiele and Patrick Femerling. I was really looking forward to seeing my buddy Joe Asberry, but unfortunately he couldn´t be there as he had torn his ACL. Get well Joe. I also want to give a big shout out to Uwe Albersmeyer who was the CEO of the NBBL gGmbH and retired after a long career. He organized the first top 4 in Paderborn in 2007. He had seen how far this event has come and grown over the years. Thanks for always organizing an incredible event year in and year out. Enjoy your retirement. I really enjoyed the 2025 Top 4 again. The only negative aspect for me personally was having a cold and not feeling fit, but when you love basketball as much as me, you have to fight through sickness. All in all it was another great presentation with incredible games and great advertisement for German basketball.